There is more than blue birds in Dover. (Dover in General)

Member Name: garymarsh6

Product:	Dover in General
Date:	20/01/09 (228 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Enormous amount of history.

Disadvantages: Damn cold in the winter.

Dover Kent.

White cliffs country.


I am writing a review about Dover in Kent, my place of birth.

Dover is the busiest passenger port in the world with approximately 16 million passengers passing through the port each year however most passengers these days bypass Dover on their way to the continent or on their way to the UK and yet there is so much to see in Dover. Anyone coming across the channel by ferry can not fail to notice the huge castle on top of the cliff that over looks the town and is always a welcome sight from the deck of the ferries that ply the English Channel. Dover is only 21 miles from France.

How to get there.

There are good roads namely the A2-M2-A2 which runs from London directly to the port also the A20- M20-A20. It takes just over an hour from London by road. Dover is also served by trains from Charing Cross Station and Victoria Station to Dover Priory station which take between one and a half hours and two hours. National express run bus services directly to and from London Victoria coach station.

A little history about Dover.


Dover acquired its name from the river that runs through the centre of the town, the river Dour. The Latin name for Dover was Dubris. Dover town centre is straddled on either side by the very steep Western Heights and the steep hills to the East where the castle is situated.

There seems to have been some kind of settlement in Dover for thousands of years and Archaeologists have unearthed items that link the town with the Stone Age and Bronze Age. A recent find in 1992 was of very important significance when they were building a by pass in the town centre they discovered the remains of a Bronze Age boat that can be viewed in the Dover Museum in the market square. Its age is estimated at around 3500 years old.

In 55BC when the Romans invaded Britain they were put off landing in Dover and actually landed along the coast in Deal approximately nine miles away. Eventually they built two light houses (Pharos) on either side of the town. One built at the Western Heights and the other in the present grounds of the castle. Fires were lit at the top to help guide the ships from the continent to Dover. Remarkably only the Pharos at Dover Castle still stands after all these hundreds of year's right beside to the church, St.Mary in Castro.

Places of interest in and around Dover.


Dover Castle.

Obviously Dover castle should be on everyone's list of things to do in Dover. You can not miss it as it is one of the largest castles in the UK. The Romans built a fort high above the town and it is believed that the castle grew there after from a small Roman fort being added to over the centuries. By the 9th10th century the Saxons and the Normans added to the castle and the castle started to take shape of how we see it today. There are two outer walls which form the main defence to the central keep. Then there is the main castle keep with various rooms and chambers and one recent exhibition was showing how the castle was prepared for Henry VIII to stay en route to the continent with massive packing cases. They certainly did not travel lightly. There are also interactive displays for the children to learn and play with.

Some of the walls are at least 6 foot thick. From the top of the Keep you can see for miles around, right across the town far below in the valley with great views over the harbour and seafront. On a clear day you can even see France which is approximately 21 miles away. Sometimes it is so clear you can even see the colour of cars driving along the roads with the naked eye. We used to say that when you could see France is as clear as that, bad weather was usually on the way.

It is remarkable that Dover castle has remained largely intact because Dover received quite a hammering during World War 2. During the Napoleonic war the castle was practically impregnable the French tried to tunnel their way into the castle through the soft chalky cliffs that it was built on. You can go down into the tunnels under the castle and see some of these tunnels. These tunnels are reportedly haunted.

One of the big secrets deep within the cliffs of Dover and within the grounds of the castle there was secret war operations rooms containing underground hospital and living quarters where hundreds of servicemen and women were stationed in order to defend the UK. You can see the operations rooms and the theatre and some of the trolleys and theatre mock up.

After the 2nd world war it was still maintained as a secret nuclear shelter in case of a nuclear attack. It is now open to the public and well worth a visit to see for yourself how bad the conditions were. Winston Churchill visited the operations room during the war to observe for himself and supervise the Dunkirk evacuation. The tunnels run tours which run hourly. It is reputed to be haunted by a young soldier who asks visitors if they have seen Helen.

There is also the Saxon church of St.Mary in Castro which is remarkable in that it does not look as old as you would imagine it to be. It did fall into disuse for quite some period and was repaired and is still in use today.

The cost of entrance to Dover castle is £10 for adults £5 for children £8 for concessions. Members of English heritage are admitted free of charge.


In the town.

The Roman Painted House.


During excavations in 1970 archeologists discovered the Roman Painted House. There are numerous rooms and walls with paintings on them depicting the Roman God of wine, Bacchus. There is an under floor heating system which can be seen. There is over 400 feet of painted plaster which survived because the Romans actually buried the house. Apparently this is the most significant find of Roman painting found north of the Alps. There are other Roman sites discovered throughout the Dover area.

Admission is £2 per adult.
New Street, Dover.


The Maison Dieu.


The Maison Dieu (Dover Town hall) was built originally as hospital to care for the sick and dying and also to house travellers and pilgrims. It was built around 1200 AD. I am not going to go into the history because it would spoil your visit. It became a monastry and was in use until the reformation and the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry the VIII. The main hall is well maintained with various heraldic flags, armour and stained glass windows. There was even a small prison and there some of the walls of the Maison Dieu are 4 foot thick. Before the new museum that was built in the market square the Maison Dieu also housed Dover museum. It was used by Dover District council who had their mayoral and council chambers there. The Maison Dieu was also used as a magistrate's court.

St.Mary the Virgin Dover.


St. Mary's church in Biggin Street is the Parish church of Dover and is over 900 years old. It is believed that a small Saxon Church was originally built but razed to the ground by the Normans. There is Saxon and Norman architecture in the building.
The Victorians built galleries on either side of the church. On one side (The Left Gallery) the Mayor of Dover and councillors used to attend services on Mayors Sunday. A procession in full Mayoral regalia lead by a mace bearer would walk from the Maison Dieu to the church. I think the Mace was brass it was very large and to a child looked like it was gold. This continued right up to the 1980's but I do not know if it still happens today. The right hand gallery was reserved for Trinity house pilots and coastguards who used to occupy this gallery.
The Queen Mother was patron of St. Marys Church and attended services in her role as Lord Warden of the Cinq ports. (Pronounced Sink and not Sank). She dedicated a stained glass window in memory of the Air sea rescue services. There is also a window in the church to remember those lost in the Zeebrugge disaster. The Church's stained glass windows are magnificent.


The grand shaft.
Two forts were built on top of the Western Heights in order to provide some defence during the Napoleanonic war against invasion. The barracks are no longer standing being demolished in the 1960's but the forts and defences are still there. Because the forts are very high above the town and in order to move the troops down to the town as quickly as possible they built a very innovative triple staircase which is unique as the three stair cases are built one above the other and spiral from the top down to street level.

When the stairs were not needed for rapid mobilisation of the troops down to Snargate Street they were given specific designations as follows:

Stair case 1. Officers and their Ladies.
Stair case 2. Sargeants' and their wives.
Stair case 3. Soldiers and their women.

How PC!

They were restored so that people can visit them and entrance is approximately £2.
Opening times.

Dover Museum.

The museum can be found in the market square. The façade of the building was the original indoor market from the 1800's which was preserved when the old market closed and was rehoused in an old fashioned department store in the middle of the town. The market never returned to this building and eventually faded out as the atmosphere of the market was lost forever. Left derelict the museum took residence of the building.

The museum houses the Bronze Age boat found in Dover and various artefacts associated with the Dover area ranging from all eras. One of the things I remember from my childhood was a stuffed polar bear that used to be just inside the entrance to the old museum at the Maison Dieu and hiding behind my fathers legs when we went inside to visit the museum. The Polar bear is still there.
Admission is £2.50.

Other places of interest.

Crabble water mill.
Dover transport museum.

The seafront and the harbour.

There is a small shingle beach within the harbour walls.
The promenade is quite nice to walk along whilst watching the busy passenger ferries berth at the Eastern Docks. There are various monuments along the promenade. The Prince of Wales pier was restored certainly not to its previous glory with a café on the end of it which is quite an ugly building not well thought out and looks truly ghastly compared to the beautiful panoramic café that was originally there.. The original pier was destroyed during a storm.

At the Western Docks large cruise ships now visit Dover and some start their cruises from here.
To the West there is Shakespeare beach.
Samphire Hoe a natural habitat for wild life named after a plant that is unique to the area. The area has been left to flourish and was formed by the spoil excavated when the channel tunnel was built. You can walk from Dover to Folkestone along the pebbly beaches.

The parks of Dover.

Pencester Gardens in the town centre.
Connaught Park, just below the castle.
Kearsney Abbey.
Russell gardens.
Behind the Castle there is the Bleriot memorial and Langdon cliffs over looking the Eastern docks.



I hope this has shown you that there is a lot more of Dover than perhaps you were aware of and you have enjoyed this little introduction. Should you be on your way to the continent or have a spare few days and have no idea what to do with yourself it would be great to stop off and spend a day or two here exploring what is a very historical and interesting town.

Summary: A wonderful historical interesting town.