Dover Castle, South East, England

For the last 2,000 years, there has been some sort of fortifications on the white cliffs of Dover. This stretch of English coastline is the closest to continental Europe and so has a great vantage point. The first castle was built here just after the Norman Conquest in 1066, this was replaced by the current castle which was built in the 1180’s.  For over 800 years, the defences of Dover Castle have been adapted and changed with the demands of the time. The castle was still in active service until the end of the Cold War.

The castle's inner bailey was built by King Henry II, between 1179 and 1189. His son King John, and his Grandson Henry III, completed the works to the castle. By the time John came to the throne the Angevin Empire was vast.  They controlled more land on the continent than they did in England. King Henry II had managed to keep control of all of the empire through loyal supporters, but those supporters were not his own sons.  His sons were allowed no control during his lifetime, and this brought them into open rebellion with him.  This fact alone contributed to the weakening of the dynasty. 

King Richard I was almost never in England during his reign. If he wasn’t off on crusade, he was at one of his castles in Normandy.  Gifted in warfare, most noblemen would not challenge him, as he rarely lost a fight.  It did not help John’s reputation that his own brother, King Richard, had mocked him from prison when he said, ‘My brother is not a man to win land for himself if there is anyone to put up a mere show of resistance.’  John’s nicknames of ‘Lackland’ and Softsword’, were echoed around Europe. John was different to his brother and the nobles knew it.  John may have been dealt a bad hand, he may have been highly intelligent, or he equally may have been a spoiled, brute of a man used to getting his own way, he may have been hard and ruthless, or he may have been all of the above.  Whatever his personality was, it is without a doubt that he never displayed the courage that would rouse and inspire men, he utterly failed to inspire loyalty.

Many of the noble families at the turn of the 13th Century, held lands in both England and on the continent. The Barons had no choice but to look to themselves in some ways, and King John clearly did not trust them.  It was a self-fulfilling prophecy however.  King John worked on the assumption that his Barons would be treacherous, and so treacherous they became. When King Philip of France fought to gain John’s territories on the continent, they fell to him easily as many of the Barons made agreements with the French king.  The Angevin empire quickly lost territories on the continent in the early years of the 13th Century. King Philip of France had torn through the network of defensive castles in Normandy.  When Normandy was lost in 1203, any respect that the nobles may have still held of the King went with it. The Barons, having lost their lands in Normandy, now had open contempt for King John.

In 1205, King John required every noble to swear their fidelity to him publicly. John now feared England itself would be attacked next, and he knew he could not rely on his nobles for support. He issued new orders that a Constable was to be appointed in every hundred, city and township, who would muster the local forces under the orders of the Chief Constable.  Every man was required to take an oath against foreigners, and against any disturbers of the peace. Anyone refusing to take the oath was to be seen as an enemy of the King and the Kingdom.  This alone tells us just how concerned John was that invasion was imminent.  England busied itself on its defences, but the invasion did not arrive. 

King John tried to rule his Barons with by fear.  He began to demand hostages from prominent Barons, their sons were to become security for their father's good behaviour.  Normally these hostages were treated well, some even joined the Queen’s household.  The role of hostage however was not without danger. In 1212, John had twenty-eight sons of Welsh chieftains put to death, because their fathers had broken faith. He liked to keep his nobles in constant debt to the Crown, thereby attempting to assure their good behaviour. The King was able to increase their debts by charging them extortionate rates for every misstep, or favour.  In reality, it caused the nobles to feel insecure and resent him for it. Thus began the start of the dissent which saw the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215, but this was not the end of the troubles.

While the rebel Barons were under siege at the castle at Rochester, they had opened negotiations at the French court for the support of an invading army.  By this time, they knew they were losing the war, and so they looked to the king of France for support. The son of King Philip of France answered their call.  Prince Louis, ‘the Lion’, was offered the English Crown by the rebel Barons, something which just 100 years later would have seemed unthinkable. However, with many of the Barons wanting to maintain lands in both England and Normandy, replacing King John seemed like the solution to their problems.

In May of 1216, Prince Louis of France landed with a French army at Thanet in Kent, in support of the rebel Barons and in the hope of laying claim to the throne of England.  King John fled upon Prince Louis’ landing in order to regroup, and many of the towns and castles in the south east of England greeted Prince Louis with open arms.  Dover however, held out for the King, and so Prince Louis set up his camp to the north of Dover Castle, where he began the bombardment of its walls with siege engines.

In 1216, Dover Castle was being held for the king by Hubert de Burgh, Justiciar of England, with was a garrison of 140 knights and many more soldiers. De Burgh was an Englishman from Norfolk, who had previously held Chinon for a year, against the French King. According to an eye witness account serving in the French army, Prince Louis had hesitated to attack, but Hubert’s garrison began taunting him by regularly parading in full armour outside the barbican. By July of 1216, the siege was underway and Dover Castle was cut off from the sea.

The French Prince Louis also sent miners to tunnel under the barbican, forcing the defenders to withdraw behind the north gate. The area was also countermined by the English, hoping to meet the French in their tunnel. This act of mining is likely to have weakened the foundations, and the siege engines were able to collapse one of the towers of the gatehouse. The French army attacked through the breach but the castle garrison were ready for them, and the French were forced to retreat with heavy losses. 

The siege of Dover Castle continued, with the French Prince seemingly deciding to starve them out. It was said that there were so many elaborate siege works and lodges built around the castle at the time, ‘that the place looked like a fair.’  King John died in October of 1216, and Prince Louis urged Dover’s garrison to surrender as their Lord was dead, but Herbert de Burgh refused and vowed to hold the castle for John’s heir, the nine-year-old Henry III.  A temporary truce seems to have been agreed.  Prince Louis moved on, leaving a small force behind at Dover, and the castle set about re-stocking its provisions. 

In May of 1217, Prince Louis of France tried once more to take the castle at Dover. Even as his new attacking force marched on the castle, he small force he had left behind was attacked, and the siege engines he had left behind there were set ablaze. Then came the devastating news that the French forces had been defeated at the Battle of Lincoln by William Marshal, who was standing as regent for the young King Henry III.  After this, Prince Louis abandoned the siege of Dover Castle.  In August of 1217, Prince Louis’ hopes of taking the throne of England had vanished. His fleet had been destroyed a few miles off the coast of Dover, with Hubert de Burgh’s own ship leading the attack. Hubert is said to have told the garrison of Dover not to give up the castle, even if he himself were to be captured, ‘for it is indeed the key of England.’

Henry III would become one of the greatest medieval builders, and with the siege of Dover having exposed the castle’s vulnerability, the new King Henry set to work on improving the castles defences. The northern gateway was blocked and St. John’s Tower was constructed, which overlooked the north and was designed to give the garrison a better command of the high ground.  The north gateway was replaced and a second entrance was built on the eastern side of the castle. In the 1240s, a new hall was built in the inner ward which would come to be known as Arthur’s Hall. This also houses a set of chambers for the King.

The castle is not the only thing to see at Dover. The site also contains the Anglo-Saxon church of St Mary-in-Castro.  It was built around the year 1000, inside the then fortress which was built to defend against Viking raiders. Next to the church is an even earlier building. The Roman Pharos remains as an unusual survivor, as almost nothing of Roman Britain is still standing.  It was originally an octagonal tower with eight stepped stages, of which only four survive.  Its exterior was refaced in the 15th Century, and the top was rebuilt as a bell-tower for the church.

Square or rectangular keeps, which formed the heart of a castle, are very typical of 12th Century construction.  As Dover was built as a Royal castle, its Keep is one of the largest in England. The ground floor was always intended to be used for storage, with the two floors above forming two separate sets of living accommodation, with two internal spiral staircases, on opposite sides, to connect the floors.  During peaceful times, the Keep would stand mostly empty and without furnishing.  Medieval monarchs and nobles, would bring their own furniture with them when they travelled.  Cartloads of wall hangings, mattresses, tables, benches and household equipment were transported around the country as they went.  They were certainly the inventors of the first flat packed furniture.

The Keep was modernised in the second half of the 15th Century, and again in the 16th Century when Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves stayed here.  Late in the 1790’s, a new roof was installed and heavy guns were mounted. The Keep became an ammunition store, and during the Second World War it was used as military offices. 

The well inside the Keep, was made to be accessible from the second-floor level. Given the castle's elevated position, it meant that the well needed to be 122 meters, or 400 feet deep. The inner bailey walls protected the area known as Keep Yard.  This was always a busy area, and buildings here would have lined the curtain wall.  

Today, nearly all the existing buildings in the inner bailey date from the early 1750’s, when they were constructed as barracks.  These are some of the earliest barracks to survive in England. While they may be 18th century, they all incorporate medieval work from earlier buildings.  The best preserved of medieval remains in the inner bailey, is Arthur’s Hall.  This was the great hall built for Henry III in the 1240’s. Perhaps he no longer wished to climb the two large flights of stairs to the great hall in the Keep, but more likely this was simply the modern fashion of the time, for the great hall to be built as a range off the curtain wall. This would have provided the King with more modern and convenient accommodation than was available in the Keep.

Dover Castle is built on a clifftop with solid rock below it. Medieval man was well aware of how to create tunnels in stone, and that is exactly what they did at Dover. The medieval underground tunnels form part of an extraordinary defensive system.  This was constructed by Hubert de Burgh after the siege of 1216. Although the bulk of his work remains, these tunnels were modified and extended in the 18th Century. During the Napoleonic Wars, the tunnels were again enlarged and were further modernised in the 1850’s. These tunnels were also used extensively during the Second World War.