Terracing, balustrades and arcades to Royal Parade

Terracing, Balustrades and Arcades to Royal Parade

A piece of urban planning constructed on three levels, providing an ascending roadway from Ramsgate harbour to Nelson Crescent. Built between 1893 and 1895 to the designs of the borough engineer W A Macintosh Valon with Pulham and Sons, the structure comprises a series of brick arches supporting a roadway, with retaining walls along the face of West Cliff.

The construction employs red brick laid in English bond with terracotta and stone dressings and Pulhamite cement render over a hardcore base. The Pulhamite render is in a variety of colours and emulates different strata of rock. At the lower level facing onto Military Road, a series of arches supports the roadway as it rises from north-east to south-west, housing warehouses of one and two storeys accessed through these arches. At the middle level, a further series of brick arches runs along the northern side of Royal Parade, with infill of Pulhamite rockwork which includes planting troughs and seating areas.

The front facing onto Military Road features a series of 28 bays that follow the curve of the road and harbour wall. The eight bays at the far right are divided by wide pilaster buttresses that rise the full height of the wall and terminate in piers forming part of the balustrade beside the road. Both buttresses and piers have raised panels at their centre. Bays at this end have a central doorway flanked by windows, all with segmental arched heads and projecting keystones. The balustrade has vase-shaped balusters with alternate piers supporting a cast iron lampstand with globe lamp. As the road rises, the bays become taller and the pilaster buttresses are replaced by semi-circular relieving arches with moulded edges. Between these arches are circular panels with moulded surrounds in the form of keyed oculi, with the centre of each panel and the keystones of the relieving arches in terracotta, displaying the arms of Ramsgate and Kent. Doors and windows are set in recessed walling with round-arched heads. At the western end, the arches encompass two floors with central double doors to each storey, the upper floor approached by flights of metal steps. The retaining wall at the further western end is built of stock brick and abutted by the former Smack Boys' Home (Grade II), the Sailors' Church and former Sailors' Home (Grade II), and the flight of steps known as Jacob's Ladder (Grade II).

The retaining wall to the northern side of Royal Parade begins at its eastern end with a flight of steps turning the corner into Sion Hill. This has a balustrade with vase balusters and brick piers, divided from the wall by a dentilled cornice. To the left is a series of thirty large niches with segmental heads. Individual arches are filled by Pulhamite rockwork that overlaps with the arched brick frames, so that brick piers appear to emerge from the rock in some cases. The eleventh and twelfth arches from the right support a flight of steps, causing the top of the wall to rise diagonally, after which the balustrade is replaced by later twentieth-century metal railings. A dogleg staircase with wrought iron railings occupies the thirteenth bay from the right. The arches and Pulhamite infill revert to plain walling, divided by pilaster buttresses. A bronze plaque in a shaped frame records the completion of the work in 1895 and the names of the mayor and councillors at the time, as well as the borough engineer and designer W A Macintosh Valon.

At the lower level facing onto Military Road, warehouses of one and two storey height are accessed through the arched doorways facing the road. The majority have now been converted to retail premises.