Where is this and what was its original use?

Yesterday’s Answer

The Napoleonic Redoubt is on Woodhill Road close to the junction with Well Lane.  ‘Redoubt’ is defined as ‘a fieldwork enclosed on all sides’ and there would have been others created at that time, traces of which have not survived.

The Redoubt at Harwich, also built during the Napoleonic wars, is quite different and more like a fort.

There were strong fears of an invasion in the early 1800’s which resulted in a line of defences being built from East Sussex to Suffolk.  These included some 29 Martello Towers built between Felixstowe and Jaywick, and a further 27 between Folkstone and Dymchurch.  Additionally the Royal Military Canal, some 28 miles long, was built from Hythe almost to Hastings.  These were supported by the major military fortification of Dover Western Heights and Chatham Dockyards.

Although Napoleon’s final defeat came at Waterloo (Belgium) in 1815, the major losses he incurred against Russia in 1812 greatly reduced the possibility of an invasion, so work on the East/South coast defences ceased at this point.