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History of Dover by me! Dover is the nearest town to France, the narrowest point and village
being at the village of St Margarets Bay. Dover has had a long and interesting history from the Neolithic to the Nuclear age
and New Millennium.
The town was originally a village founded around 2000BC near to a stream now called the River Dour in a valley between settlements
at Walmer and Sandgate. At this time Great Britain was joined to the continent and it was only after the Channel was formed
that Dover became a fishing and seafaring community.
This was several thousand if not million years ago when the famous
White Cliffs of Dover formed thanks to the uplifting of the Southern coasts and the formation of the English Channel as water
broke through the narrow neck of land joining us to France.
Not long after this (well thousand years or so) people were
sailing the channel and we know this thanks to a Bronze Age Boat found in Bench Street during the building of the A20 dual
carriageway through the town. This sailed in the Bronze Age and is the worlds oldest seagoing boat. It is now on display in
Dover Museum in the Market Square.
In Iron Age times the first defences on the Eastern Heights where Dover Castle now stands were established and they consisted
of an Iron Age fort with defensive earthworks.
The Romans try to land at Dover several years before they landed further
up the coast at Deal. They did not succeed at Dover due to the barbaric (as the Romans called them) warriors stood on the
cliff tops throwing stones and rocks at them. In AD43 the Romans landed at Deal and established a settlement called Portus
Rutaepiea in the on an island in the Wantsum Channel separating Kent from the Isle of Tanatus (now Thanet). This was a sprawling
town and had a large monument depicting the conquest of the Britons by the Romans and this served as a gateway to the town.
A large cross now marks this on the ground in the ruins of Richborough Castle near Sandwich in the north of the district.
When the Romans finally settled in Dover around AD125 they developed the natural harbour formed by the Dour. They also
built 2 Roman lighthouses The Pharos in the grounds of Dover Castle is the tallest intact Roman building in the country. This
was used along with the Bredanstone lighthouse built at the Western Heights (now in the Drop Redoubt Fort) to guide shipping
into the harbour.
The Romans also built a fort in the centre of Dover called the Classis Britannica and this was the main
base for the Roman Army in the town and country. In 1971 an excavation during the building of York Street By-Pass discovered
a Roman Mansio or Hotel and this was built in the 2nd century. It has been dubbed Britains Pompeii by Archaeologists for its
extensive wall paintings, many still intact. These were also the oldest wall paintings discovered in the 1970s. These walls
survive to 9ft high in places and beneath the pink mortar floors is an under floor heating system! Parts of the Classis Britannica
fort can also be seen here. The Roman Painted House as it is called is located in Dovers New Street, just off York Street
in the town centre and is open as a tourist attraction throughout the year.
The Roman name for Dover was Dubris or Portus Dubris. This means The Waters after the River Dour and this is also where the
modern spelling of Dover originates taking on the same meaning.
When the Saxons arrived they renamed the town Dofras and built several wooden huts by the harbour and this gradually grew
into a fine medieval town. A fine Saxon church stands within Dover Castle the St Mary in Castro (meaning in Castle) was built
in the 10th-11th centuries. The nearby Roman Pharos was actually used as a bell tower for the church until the church tower
was built. It was restored in the 19th Century.
In 1066 the Normans burnt much of the town to the ground because of resistance from the Saxons. William the Conqueror (William
I) then rebuilt it and started building a new castle on the Eastern Heights in the area where the Iron Age fort stood. This
was continued in the 1180s when Henry I began building the Keep of the castle that we see today. The fortifications around
the Keep surrounding the Outer Bailey were completed in the 12th Century making it one of the earliest concentric fortresses
in England.
The castle has been garrisoned since it was built right up to and during the World War II. In the 13th Century
when Hubert De Burgh held it for King John against invading French forces the French honeycombed the cliff beneath the castle
with underground passages. These were used as air raid shelters in the Second World War.
There are also extensive Napoleonic
tunnels under the Castle and an Underground Hospital that was used in the World Wars when the area was known as Hellfire Corner.
This was where Admiral Ramsey commanded the evacuation of Dunkerque (Dunkirk). The Maison Dieu or Hospice (now the town hall)
was founded in 1260 by Hubert De Burgh. It cared for travellers and pilgrims that travelled through the town.
The defences on the Western Heights were established during the Napoleonic times and were established encase of a war with
France at this time. They include the Drop Redoubt Fort, St Martins Battery, the Citadel (now a Asylum Refuge and before hand
a Borstal), many defensive ditches and the Grand Shaft.
The Grand Shaft is a unique triple staircase cut into the cliffs so that
soldiers could get down from the Western Heights to the port encase of attack. The Grand Shaft is open in the summer months
and the Western Heights is a nature reserve partly owned by the White Cliffs Countryside Project and English Heritage that
can be explored all year round.
There are also the remains of theKnight's Templars
Church in the area formerly known as Braddon within the Western Heights. This is believed to have been built by the
Knights Templars of Temple Ewell (hence the name!).
English Heritage owns the castle that is open all year.
Crabble Corn Mill was built in 1812 to provide flour to Napoleonic troops
stationed on the Western Heights. It ceased to produce flour in 1890 and is now a tourist attraction.
There were many
other mills along the Dour as well including Crabble Paper Mill (now a housing development on Crabble Hill), Buckland Paper
Mill (recently being developed by the South East England Development Agency or SEEDA), Buckland Flour Mill (now a Gym, Taxi
firm and awaiting permission to become a museum) in London Road and many more stretching the length of the river.
Many other historic buildings in the town include Westmount in London Road
originally built as a manor for a coal miner from County Durham and originally called Mount Ellis after the persons surname.
It was used as a school for boys for a while until Castlemount School was built (now demolished and the site of Monastery
Gardens, Pharos Drive and Heritage Gardens). More recently it has been a adult education centre and is now being developed
possibly into housing. It stands just off Folkestone Road and has 19 acres attached!
St Edmund's Church in Priory Road is a small chapel and has had many uses
including a barn until it was re-consecrated in the 1970s.
St Martin's Priory stands within the grounds of Dover College and is now
privately owned by the college. The ruins though can be seen from Folkestone Road.
Archcliffe Fort was part of the Western Heights defences and is located off
Archcliffe Road. It is now the home of the charity Emmaus.
The Turrett Fort is located on the end of the Admiralty Pier but is not open
to the public. This is also part of the harbour and heights defences encase of invasion.
The Admiralty Pier 4,000ft long also claims to be the longest marine-pier
walk in the world! It was built as part of the Breakwaters for the harbours defence.
The Prince Of Wales Pier is named that because the Prince of Wales, later
George V laid the first stone of the new harbour. There was a Victorian pier called the Promenade
Pier but sadly storms destroyed this. It had a theatre on the end.
There is much more to the history to Dover and this can be found on the Dover-Web site. I hope you enjoyed this brief history.
Dover is made up of several places including Temple Ewell, Kearsney, Crabble, St Radigunds, Buckland, Buckland Valley (or
Estate), Whitfield, Church Whitfield, Braddon, Western Heights, Eastern Heights, Burgoyne Heights, Town Centre, Charlton,
Barton, East Cliff, Aycliffe, Maxton, Elms Vale and River.
Dover was also the first place to see the New Millennium on 1st January 2000! At about 7.50am! It was the first town to see
it and St Margarets was the first village to see this historic event!
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