Gun emplacements on the eastern ramparts with original
smooth bore guns mounted on replica carriages.
In the eighteenth century barracks were built
within the walls of the Castle like those in the inner
bailey. Many of the towers were lowered to create platforms
for modern artillery or give clear field of fire to the new
batteries. The keep was modified with
brick vaults, or ‘bombproof arches’ built over the main apartments
on the top floor in the 1790s. The complex of tunnels
in the cliff face was started in the eighteenth century too.
In the nineteenth century the defences were
further strengthened during the Napoleonic Wars. The report
of the Royal Commission on Defence published in 1860 led to
the further strengthening of the Western
Heights, and also the construction of Fort
Burgoyne, to deny to any foe the high ground to the north
east of the Castle. Further fortification of the castle took
place in the 1870s with gun replacements and magazines for
the ramparts on the line of the old eastern curtain wall.
Other cliff edge batteries were rebuilt to mount heavy guns
covering the harbour.
One of the most impressive remains of the Victorians’ work
at the Castle is the Officers’ Mess built in 1856-58.
The Officers' Mess of 1856-8, which commands fine
views of the harbour and Channel.
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