The Western Heights Preservation Society held one of their Open Days today so my camera and I decided to visit. This picture is taken nearly at the bottom of the Grand Shaft.
"It was designed by military engineer General Twiss, and built in the first decade of the 19th Century. It takes the form of a triple helix staircase (providing three sets of steps in the same shaft) with a central light well. The 140ft deep shaft provided pedestrian access to the Western Heights fortress, in particular the Grand Shaft Barracks, from Snargate Street at the foot of the cliffs. A tunnel leads from the bottom of the shaft to a guard room in the street. The three sets of stairs contained within the shaft are said to have been dedicated for 'Officers and their ladies', 'Sergeants and their wives', 'Soldiers and their women'; but the original reason would have been to deploy as many troops as possible in the time of an attack. The barracks were unfortunately demolished in the 1960s and the shaft fell into a dilapidated state. Fortunately, the Shaft was fully restored during the 1990s, with a new guard room built at the bottom."
I found it fascinating that someone had reportedly ridden their horse up the staircase for a bet (poor horse) and that it took a regiment of men 11.5 minutes to descend or ascend the stairs.
All I can say is it took me quite a while to get down there and even longer to get back - my knees are still recovering! It's probably some 50 steps to get to the start of the Shaft and from memory the number of stairs is around 150 each way ...
I'm adding this in as a half and half because it was only possible to get half of the Shaft in the picture and it's half window half wall (loosely speaking)!
Wow! What a gorgeous shot! It is a real marvel of engineering to build this. So glad it is preserved.
Well done on the photo as well as the stair climbing to get it!
It's A FAV!
BTW - your duplicate challenge of the gif is a great idea. Would be delighted to learn how to do it. Good luck to you as well and looking forward to what you come up with!
Well done on the photo as well as the stair climbing to get it!
It's A FAV!
BTW - your duplicate challenge of the gif is a great idea. Would be delighted to learn how to do it. Good luck to you as well and looking forward to what you come up with!
Great background information too.