Dover Castle is situated at
DoverDover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; west of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
,
KentKent , originally Cantia, is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the River Thames estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent...
and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history.
Roman
This is suggested on the basis of the unusual pattern of the earthworks which don't seem to be a perfect fit for the medieval castle, although archaeological excavation at the Castle has found no evidence of prehistoric activity.
The site also contained one of Dover's two 80 foot (24 m) high Roman lighthouses (or
PharosesWith a height it was identified as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World by Antipater of Sidon. It may have been the third tallest building after the two Great Pyramids for its entire life.-History:...
), one of which still survives. On the site is a classic montrol (campsite) where the Normans landed after their victorious conquest.
Saxon and early Norman
After the
Battle of HastingsThe Battle of Hastings was the decisive Norman victory in the Norman Conquest of England. It was fought between the Norman army of Duke William of Normandy, and the English army led by Harold II...
in October 1066, William the Conqueror and his forces marched to
Westminster AbbeyThe Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, which is almost always referred to popularly and informally as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in Westminster, London, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster...
for his coronation. They took a roundabout route via
Romney-British Commonwealth:*Val Romney , English cricketer*Cyril Romney , Chief Minister of the British Virgin Islands from 1983 to 1986*George Romney , English portrait painter...
, Dover, Canterbury, Surrey and Berkshire. From the
Cinque PortsThe Confederation of Cinque Ports is a historic series of coastal towns in Kent and Sussex, at the eastern end of the English Channel where the crossing to the continent is narrowest...
's foundation in 1050, Dover has always been a chief member - it may also have been this that first attracted William's attention, and got Kent the motto of
InvictaInvicta was used in Roma invicta meaning "Unconquered Rome" and is the motto of the county of Kent, England.-Theories of origin:...
. In the words of
William of PoitiersWilliam of Poitiers , Norman chronicler, was born in Les Préaux, near Pont-Audemer, and belonged to an influential Norman family...
:
- Then he marched to Dover, which had been reported impregnable and held by a large force. The English, stricken with fear at his approach had confidence neither in their ramparts nor in the numbers of their troops ... While the inhabitants were preparing to surrender unconditionally, [the Normans], greedy for money, set the castle on fire and the great part of it was soon enveloped in flames...[William then paid for the repair and] having taken possession of the castle, the Duke spent eight days adding new fortifications to it'. The Castle was first built, entirely out of clay. It collapsed to the ground and the clay was then used as the flooring for many of the ground-floor rooms.
This may have been repairs and improvements to an existing
SaxonAnglo-Saxons is the term usually used to describe the invading Germanic tribes in the south and east of Great Britain from the early 5th century AD, and their creation of the English nation, to the Norman conquest of 1066...
fort or
burghA Burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United Kingdom...
, centred on the Saxon church of
St Mary de CastroSt Mary in Castro, or St Mary de Castro, is a church in the grounds of Dover Castle, Kent, south-east England. It is a heavily restored Saxon structure, built next to a Roman lighthouse which became the church bell-tower...
, although archaeological evidence suggests that it was actually a new motte and bailey design castle built from scratch nearby.
Henry II to early modern times
It was during the reign of
Henry IIHenry II, called Curtmantle ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France...
that the castle began to take recognisable shape. The inner and outer baileys and the great Keep belong to this time. Maurice the Engineer was responsible for building the keep. The keep was one of the last rectangular keeps ever built.
In 1216, a group of rebel barons invited
Louis VIII of FranceLouis VIII the Lion reigned as King of France from 1223 to 1226. He was a member of the House of Capet. Louis VIII was born in Paris, France, the son of Philip II Augustus and Isabelle of Hainaut...
to come and take the English crown. He had some success breaching the walls but was unable ultimately to take the castle (see The
First Barons' WarThe First Barons' War was a civil war in the Kingdom of England, between on the one side the forces of a number of rebellious barons, led by Robert Fitzwalter, supported by a French army under the future Louis VIII of France, and on the other King John...
)
The vulnerable north gate that had been breached in the siege was converted into an underground forward-defence complex (including St John's Tower), and new gates built into the outer curtain wall on the western (Fitzwilliam's Gate) and eastern (Constable's Gate) sides. During the siege, the English defenders tunneled outwards and attacked the French, thus creating the only counter tunnel in the world. This can still be seen in the medieval works.
By the Tudor age, the defences themselves had been superseded by gunpowder. They were improved by Henry VIII, who made a personal visit, and added to with the Moat Bulwark.
During the
English Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. The first and second civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war saw fighting between supporters of...
it was held for the king but then taken by a
parliamentarianThe Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. The English Parliament traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot. In 1066, William of Normandy brought a feudal system, by which he sought advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
trick without a shot being fired (hence it avoided being ravaged and survives far better than most castles) in 1642.
Napoleonic
Massive rebuilding took place at the end of the eighteenth century during the
Napoleonic WarsThe Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played...
.
William TwissGeneral William Twiss, , was a British Army Royal Engineer, responsible for the design of many military defenses.Probably born in Kent in 1744 or 1755, Twiss worked in the ordnance office at the Tower of London from 1760, before becoming overseer of works at Gibraltar. Receiving a commission in...
, the Commanding Engineer of the Southern District, as part of his brief to improve the town's defences, completed the remodelling of the outer defences of Dover Castle adding the huge Horseshoe, Hudson's, East Arrow and East Demi-Bastions to provide extra gun positions on the eastern side, and constructing the Constable's
BastionA bastion is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall , facilitating active defense against assaulting troops...
for additional protection on the west. Twiss further strengthened the Spur at the northern end of the castle, adding a
redanRedan is a term related to fortifications. It is a work in a V-shaped salient angle toward an expected attack...
, or raised gun platform. By taking the roof off the keep and replacing it with massive brick vaults he was able to mount heavy artillery on the top. Twiss also constructed Canon's Gateway to link the defences of the castle with those of the town.
With
DoverDover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; west of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
becoming a garrison town, there was a need for barracks and storerooms for the additional troops and their equipment. The solution adopted by Twiss and the
Royal EngineersThe Corps of Royal Engineers, usually just called the Royal Engineers , and commonly known as the Sappers, is one of the corps of the British Army. It provides combat engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces...
was to create a complex of
barracksBarracks are living quarters for personnel on a military post. They are typically very plain and all of the buildings in the housing unit are often uniform structures.-History:...
tunnels about 15 metres below the cliff top and the first troops were accommodated in 1803. At the height of the Napoleonic Wars, the tunnels housed more than 2000 men and to date are the only underground barracks ever built in
BritainThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
.
At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the tunnels were partly converted and used by
the Coast Blockade ServiceHer Majesty's Revenue and Customs is a non-ministerial department of the British Government primarily responsible for the collection of taxes and the payment of some forms of state support....
to combat
smugglingSmuggling, also known as trafficking, is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons past a point where prohibited, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
. This was a short term endeavour though and in 1826 the headquarters were moved closer to shore. The tunnels then remained abandoned for more than a century.
The secret wartime tunnels
The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 saw the tunnels converted first into an air-raid shelter and then later into a military command centre and underground hospital. In May 1940,
Admiral Sir Bertram RamseyAdmiral Sir Bertram Home Ramsay KCB, KBE, MVO was a British admiral during World War II. He was an important contributor in the field of amphibious warfare.-Early life:...
directed the evacuation of French and British soldiers from
DunkirkDunkirk is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.It lies 10 kilometres from the Belgian border. The population of the city at the 1999 census was 70,850 inhabitants...
, code-named
Operation DynamoThe Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo by the British, was the evacuation of Allied soldiers from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940, when British, French, and Canadian troops were cut off by the German army during the Battle of Dunkirk in the...
, from his headquarters in the cliff tunnels.
A military
telephone exchangeIn the field of telecommunications, a telephone exchange or telephone switch is a system of electronic components that connects telephone calls...
was installed in 1941 and served the underground headquarters. The
switchboardThe term switchboard, when used by itself, may refer to:*Telephone switchboard*Electric switchboard*Printed circuit board*In computing, Switch board...
s were constantly in use and had to have a new tunnel created alongside it to house the
batteriesAn electrical battery is a combination of one or more electrochemical cells, used to convert stored chemical energy into electrical energy. Since the invention of the first Voltaic pile in 1800 by Alessandro Volta, the battery has become a common power source for many household and industrial...
and chargers necessary to keep them functioning. The navy used the exchange to enable direct communication with vessels, as well as using it to direct air-sea rescue craft to pick up pilots shot down in the Straits of Dover.
Later the tunnels were to be used as a shelter for the Regional Seats of Government in the event of a nuclear attack. This plan was abandoned for various reasons, including the realisation that the
chalkChalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. It forms under relatively deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores. It is common to find flint and chert...
of the cliffs would not provide significant protection from radiation, and because of the inconvenient form of the tunnels and their generally poor condition.
Tunnel levels are denoted as A - Annexe, B - Bastion, C - Casemate, D - DUMPY and E - Esplanade. Annexe and Casemate levels are open to the public, Bastion is 'lost' but investigations continue to gain access, DUMPY (converted from WWII use to serve as a Regional Seat of Government in event of an atomic war) is closed, as is Esplanade (last used as air raid tunnel shelters in
WWIIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
). DUMPY is an acronym for Deep Underground Military Position Yellow.
A statue of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay was erected in November 2000 outside the tunnels in honour of his work on the Dunkirk evacuation and protecting Dover during World War II.
The castle today
The castle, secret tunnels and surrounding land are now owned by
English HeritageEnglish Heritage . is a non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government with a broad remit of managing the historic built environment of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
and the site is a major tourist attraction. The
Lord Warden of the Cinque PortsThe Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century but may be older. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was originally in charge of the Cinque Ports, a group of five port towns on the south coast of England. Today the...
is officially head of the castle, in his conjoint position of Constable of Dover Castle, and the Deputy Constable has his residence in Constable's Gate.
Film and TV
- The castle has 'played' the Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London , is a historic fortress and scheduled monument in central London, England, on the north bank of the River Thames...
in To Kill a KingTo Kill a King is an UK 2003 English Civil War film directed by Mike Barker, starring Tim Roth and Dougray Scott. It relates the relationship between Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax in the post-war period from 1648 until the former's death, in 1658. It deals with the corruption of Parliament...
, Lady JaneLady Jane is a 1986 British costume drama romance film directed by Trevor Nunn, written by David Edgar, and stars Helena Bonham Carter in the title role. It tells the story of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days' Queen, on her reign and romance with husband Lord Guilford Dudley. The film features several...
, The Other Boleyn GirlThe Other Boleyn Girl is a historical fiction novel by Philippa Gregory. Two film adaptions of the novel have been produced:* The Other Boleyn Girl , television drama film produced by the BBC...
, and the initial scene of Kevin & Perry Go LargeKevin & Perry Go Large is a 2000 comedy film based upon the Harry Enfield sketch Kevin the Teenager. The film was directed by Ed Bye and was written by Dave Cummings and Harry Enfield. Enfield, Kathy Burke and Louisa Rix all return to their roles after previously appearing in Harry Enfield's...
.
- The 1996 version of The Wind in the Willows
The Wind in the Willows, released on video in the U.S. as Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, is a 1996 adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's classic novel The Wind in the Willows , although it differs substantially from the novel...
- The 1990 film version of Hamlet
Hamlet is a 1990 film based on the Shakespearean play of the same name. Mel Gibson has the title role as the young Prince Hamlet, Glenn Close plays his mother, Queen Gertrude, Alan Bates plays his uncle, the now King Claudius, Paul Scofield appears as the ghost of Hamlet's Father, Ian Holm plays...
, directed by Franco ZeffirelliFranco Zeffirelli is an Italian film director. He is also an opera director, designer and producer of opera, theatre, film and television, and a politician....
.
- The castle served as a destination in the US TV series Treasure Hunters
Treasure Hunters is a reality television series on NBC and Global Television in which ten teams of three solve puzzles and complete challenges in hopes of solving the ultimate puzzle and winning the grand prize. Teams travel across the United States and Europe in search of seven "artifacts" which...
.
- The castle was used as a filming location for the Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien time-traveller known as "the Doctor" who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box...
serial The Mind of EvilThe Mind of Evil is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 30 January to 6 March 1971.-Synopsis:...
.
- Scene of a 2002 Christmas original Most Haunted Live event.
St Mary de Castro
Saxon church, rebuilt in the Victorian era.
External links