As I live in the Town of Dover Kent I thought I would write a review on the castle and how it has become the Stronghold of England.It does make you instantly think of the White Cliffs, and cross Channel ferries ,but i feel the jewel of the town of Dover and personnally England is the magnificent Dover castle.
Getting To The Castle. Obviously the castle is in Kent as I stated above and any further east in the south of England you would be in the Channel! The castle can be reached both from the A2 motorway and the M20 Motorway which are the main vein of motorways in Kent. It is very well signposted, and of course as its set on the Eastern hills of Dover can be seen upon approach into Dover via both these motorways.
On foot, from the train Station or bus station it again is very well signposted and there is a bus which runs past the castle every 30 minutes which drops you off on the route to Deal ( neighbouring town) and runs back on the half hour too. Climbing up the hills is of course a strenuous exercise and you do need to be physically fit to be able to do this with ease. Even when your dropped off on the bus you have a small 5 minute climb to the entrance ,so I guess even though I live in the town I do tend to destroy the environment a little more and go up
in the car to avoid the climb.
The History Dover castle has been called the “Fortress” and you can see why upon approach.
It was first thought that the hill upon which the castle now stands has had some sort of fortification on it for over a thousand years. The Romans have used the hill as a strategic point in the town of Doverien from the time of settlement.
The first real castle is believed to have been constructed in the Anglo-Saxon times ,but after the invasion in 1066 of William the Conquer it was improved by the construction of the earthworks which can still be climbed today and is now one of the many roads to the castle and is called Castle Hill Road. Work on the castle began in earnest in the late 12th century with the construction of the great tower or Keep. What is seen of the castle today was mostly constructed in the late 13th Century and Henry VIII carried out extensive repair work to the gatehouse which still stands today on the eastern side of the castle and many towers on the perimeter where also constructed in this period. After this period of time, a few additions were made to the castle and this contributed to it being more or less the fortification we view today.
Admission prices The prices for entrance to the castle are as follows and do include the entry to the Wartime underground tunnel network and the guided tour.
Adult ticket is 9:80 Child ticket is 4:90 Concessions are 7:40 Family ticket is based on 2 adults and 2 children and is 24:50. But if you are a member of English Heritage you do get in free.
What to Do on Your Day At The Castle Upon arrival and after the steep climb you approach the gatehouse which was o f course once the drawbridge over the now dry moat.
The entrance door is made of solid oak and is approximately 12ft high and about 6 inches thick! You walk up a small hill or incline and make your way to the crossroad section of the castle where you have a choice of several routes you wish to take. I will now tell you about the various areas you can explore and describe them in the best way I can.
The keep is of course most peoples first port of call on the trip and this is one of the largest keeps in the country. Inside the keep you climb numerous staircases on route to the summit and on the various floors are different activities and rooms to view. There is so many rooms and stairs to explore that I will be boring you silly going into too much detail but I will tell you about a couple of the areas inside Most notably the Kings Quarters which is where Henry VIII stayed on a few occasions and once Queen Elizabeth I. You can climb to the top of the Keep onto the lead lined roof and sample the view of the town below the channel and the surrounding countryside for at least 2 miles when not impeded by the surrounding hills.
From the keep and after you have visited this area of the site you can then walk towards the Pharos which is the 80 foot tall Roman Lighthouse. This is still one of the highest Roman structures still standing today in the whole of Europe! Considering the weather and full force of the coastal wind over the years its truly amazing that it is still in really good conditoin.Next to the pharos is the Saxon church which is full of mosaic walls and fine architecture which again is in good condition and still holds weddings and a full Sunday service every week.
Next on your visit you can make your way down to the Large building of the officers Quarters, which you cannot go into as this area im afraid as it is being renovated for visitors to use and is on route to the Second World war anti-air craft gun emplacement on the edge of the site.
The Under ground war time tunnels are then your next stop down the hill, and as I said earlier free to get in. My advice on these is too go here first really as I still believe you have to show your admittance ticket and book a time slot when to be taken into the Tunnels and receive your guided tour.
Here you can see the hospital and war rooms where the government where going to use as its offices should there have been a Nuclear war in the 60’s.But later on they found out that the chalk cliffs where porous and therefore anyone under the cliffs in the tunnels would have been killed also! There is a hospital and operating theatre and a telephone exchange which was still in full use serving the town of Dover way into the late 70’s.They also tell you about the ghosts which dwell in the tunnels and on 1 visit the guide had actually seen the ghost in the early hours of the morning as he opened up for the day ahead.
After you have walked the tunnels and had your guide lead you out, you are then free to look around at your leisure taking in the magnificent views from the many embankments and towers you can scrabble up, and look in lots of different attractions including the Museum of the ‘History of the Soldier’ and the many uniforms worn over the centuries and also you can view a small cinema room where they show you a brief history of the castle and its major influence it had in the Second World War .
You will easily find that you can walk the site in about 4-5 hours and take in all the tunnels and towers on the way, it is a hard slog for the fittest of people and there is a small shuttle train pulled by a Land Rover which takes you from the top of the castle site to the bottom and the restaurant that is there.
The restaurant does sell really good food at reasonable prices from jacket Potatoes to quiches and Roast Dinners also which are very fresh and not the microwave dinners you can expect from a lot of these eating establishments. You can pay anything from 6 pounds to about 9 pounds. They sell the usual soft drinks ,Hot Chocolate and teas. You can also take pack lunches as there is plenty of grassy areas to sit and eat in the shadow of the keep.
Opening Times. From April 1st to beginning of August the castle is open from 10am-6pm.
August to the end of August it is open 9:30am-6pm.\through September it is open from 10am-6pm. October its open from 10am-5pm and November through to January 10am-4pm The castle is only closed on 24th-26 December and 1st January. Through out the year they hold various theme weekends from Roman enactments to Halloween ghost trails, and check their website for the dates of these and bookings.
Summary This is one of the most historical and amazingly picturesque castles in the world and is a great day for all the family and friends. They take group bookings for school trips and cater for a lot of needs including disabled as they have motorised wheelchairs for hire on your visit as well. I would recommend this highly as a day out and why not end the day catching a ferry across the Channel and savour some wine or three!!
Pictures of Dover Castle
Part of Dover Castle
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Jul 3rd, 2007
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