Dover Castle: A Walking Tour Inside a Fortress of Secrets
hey it's Margaret here with Free Tours by Foot, and today I'm coming to you from a very chilly, very windy Dover Castle. Please do not judge my hair based on this video we're on the south coast of england today exploring all of the buildings in the Dover Castle complex some of which are over 2 000 years old we've got towers we've got tunnels we've got turrets we've got a royal castle so if you're ready let's get going rising up from the iconic white cliffs of dover overlooking the english channel sits dover castle a complex of buildings with foundations dating from the iron age the castle strategic position commanding the shortest sea crossing between england and the continent as well as its incredible strength and fortifications have given it the nickname the key to england it's no coincidence that the romans anglo-saxons and normans all landed here to begin their conquests today we're going to explore all the buildings that combine to make up one of the largest castles in the country the structures located inside this fortress have guided romans to the northern edge of their territories witnessed a successful foreign invasion successfully staved off a few others and paid homage to a murdered martyr they've been the linchpin of an empire a royalist stronghold a powerful garrison and born witness to the longest military service of any british castle and all this while sitting on top of a series of hidden tunnels that played a crucial role in the second world war and a special shout out to mike who suggested dover castle for my next trip we're beginning our tour today by walking up this path toward the great tower to get there we're going to pass underneath the gateway ahead known as colton's gate to the left of the gate you'll see the remains of a wall that used to extend from either side in the 13th century but which has since disappeared it's thought colton's gate was first constructed in the early 13th century but has been refurbished at least twice once in the 16th century and once around the year 1900 when it was given a new roof as we pass underneath you'll see they're doing some construction that isn't 13th century scaffolding and here's our first view of the great tower also known as the keep you'll notice it's tucked away behind high stone walls so originally you would have to get through two sets of walls to actually reach it the curtain walls ahead were built in the 1180s with what's known as rubble masonry where the walls are built somewhat like a sandwich either side featuring cleanly cut stone but the center filled with rubble here's an image i took at midland castle where the facade had fallen away exposing some of the rubble behind it the primary stone used at dover is kentish ragstone with dressings of calm a cream-colored limestone from normandy we're now walking through palace gate into what's called the inner bailey where we'll find the keep and other smaller buildings this plaque here on the side shows the name and we can see a relatively modern wooden ceiling above us we know that william the conqueror built some kind of fortification here almost immediately after the battle of hastings but we don't know exactly what or how large it was the curtain walls and the keep that stand today are the work of his great grandson king henry ii and his architect maurice it's so windy today i apologize for the bouncy footage the view here has changed dramatically through the years in the 13th century the inner bailey held numerous buildings such as a bakehouse stables and even a brewery all linked together through covered passages you'll notice i'm not taking you into the keep straight away that's because i want to show you this building ahead of us the one slightly to the left first the exterior is 18th century as are the buildings connected to it but those relatively newer stone works conceal what's known as arthur's hall a medieval great hall built for king henry iii in the 1240s this will be our first stop today a house is a museum which tells the story of king henry ii and his total overhaul of dover castle henry came to the throne in 1154 as king of england he was later named duke of normandy he occasionally controlled scotland and through his marriage to eleanor of aquitaine he ruled the majority of southwest france as well together his lands were known as the angevin empire and henry was one of the most powerful monarchs of his age his reputation would change however in 1170 when his one-time friend the archbishop of canterbury thomas beckett was brutally murdered and seemingly on henry's behest that fascinating story will come later but what you need to know now is that thomas's assassination turned him into a religious martyr and henry into a villain a shrine to thomas was erected in canterbury and miracles reportedly began to take place there shunned by the church and the public it still took the king two years to acknowledge his role in the archbishop's death and to publicly visit the shrine henry's royal recognition of thomas's shrine spread throughout europe and soon religious pilgrims were traveling from all over the continent to visit canterbury and even king louis vii of france made the journey unannounced to pray for his poorly son henry scrambled to accompany the king and escort him to dover at the time dover was strategically important it overlooks the narrowest stretch of the english channel but it wasn't a place the king would have spent much time as henry personally usually traveled to france via portsmouth or southampton and there was no nearby forest to hunt enough game to feed the court dover simply existed as a military fortress but henry could sense his visit to the castle with louis would not be a one-off and there seemed to be no end to the thousands of visitors flocking to canterbury coming into england via the dover port still seeking to recover his damaged reputation henry immediately went to work renovating dover castle at a cost of six thousand pounds millions of pounds in today's money and far more than henry who loved to build castles spent anywhere else henry's new castle surrounded by a wall boasting 14 towers dominated the landscape the first site for visitors arriving into england his intention was to create the greatest fortress in western europe asserting his authority and showcasing his wealth and power he deliberately used an outdated square design of castle keep in an effort to link himself with kings of times gone by the walls however were state of the art and dover was the first castle in western europe featuring concentric defensive walls the king's plan was a triumph he would welcome visiting royalty nobility and archbishops from across europe with lavish hospitality turning a one-time military fortress into a fortified palace fit for a king this building arthur's hall likely named after the legendary king was constructed for henry ii's grandson and namesake king henry iii who also built new royal chambers adjacent to the great tower it was in his reign that the outer defenses and therefore the castle itself were effectively completed arthur's hall would have been linked to a kitchen and a chapel at one point and its walls are made up of the best preserved medieval stonework in the bailey as we look down behind these railings you can see that we're above ground floor level and here are the remnants of the original stone foundations there's good views of the walls along here that will lead us to these archways this is the traditional end of a great hall comprised of three arched doorways the center one would have led to the kitchen and the doors on either side to the pantry for storing bread and the buttery for storing not butter but rather wine and beer but being the name for the casks they were kept in but my favorite part of arthur's hall isn't the original stonework but is this incredible model of the great tower with the side cut out so we can peek in doors at the throne room on the right and bed chamber on the left and underneath a guest chamber and a hall this is the building we'll be exploring next so consider this a sneak peek as we pan around this is the side we'll enter from here coming up those steps and on this side we can see the original arched roof the turrets around it were purposefully designed to make it look as though there was another floor on top it has since been built over which you'll see later and see it in person ahead of us here are some of the earliest purpose-built barracks in england constructed in 1745 in response to the second jacobi uprising and fears of invasion from france in fact dover has held troops throughout the majority of its history the final battalion leaving as recently as 1958. here's a beautiful view of the keep the last square-shaped keep built in england the most well-known of which is the white tower at the tower of london link to that video below we're going to be entering the keep through a long and elaborate entrance route built to hold lavish welcoming ceremonies for important guests and to keep out anyone who wasn't invited there would have originally been a large wooden door here ahead of us now gone as we step up you'll see the detail that still exists here around the arched windows we're just outside a small but beautiful chancel the idea being that guests could stop here and give thanks for their safe arrival at the castle before entering the keep itself the stained glass is beautiful but not original it's also likely that small surfaces of welcome took place here for highborn guests now there are more stairs to climb before we enter you see those wooden boards ahead of us those mark where a drawbridge would have existed leading to a third set of doors that would have sat in the archway we see ahead of us originally this area would have been open to the sky but was roofed over in the late 15th century as we continue on we're walking straight up to the second floor an unusual entrance feature that exists in only one other keep in england the standard bean entrance on the first floor level the lion on the banner ahead of us is representative of henry ii's father jeffrey plantagenet who's tombor the first heraldic lion seen in england henry would later use it as a symbol for himself as would his sons and as does the royal family and the england football team today now over in the corner behind us is the well chamber this room provided access to the great towers well which at the time sunk over 122 meters or 400 feet into the chalk below built in the 12th century this was quite the achievement it was also preparation should the great tower ever be under siege the residents would still have access to water again this area would have originally been opened to the sky still technically on the outside of the cape the little room ahead of us was very likely a guard chamber and has been set up to look as such clothing and uniforms on the wall a little table original windows which wouldn't have contained glass and some arms and armor as well the quick view to the north of the castle there now let's finally enter the keep and visit the king's hall the doors themselves are new based off the medieval design but the original decorated arch around it still stands nearly 800 years old and still looking lovely beautiful immediately to our left is a small room containing another well this one is only 85 meters or 278 feet deep and even further into the building strategically placed for potential siege warfare excavation in this room also uncovered evidence of a water circulation system based here with lead pipes built into the wall leading to a room below the king's hall as well as to a nearby chamber and now we step into the hall the painting on the wall opposite is a mapa mundi a medieval european map of the world this one is painted on calfskin vellum and shows the world as it was believed to be in the middle ages round but flat and surrounded on all sides by the ocean asia is at the top with europe and africa toward the bottom the only habitable parts of the world known to medieval europeans these maps were never intended to be used for navigational purposes but rather teaching aids showcasing illustrated detail of foreign flora and fauna mythology biblical stories or historical events today these walls are covered in hanging red curtains as they would have been in centuries gone by curtains of richly woven tapestries were hung on the cold stone walls to help keep rooms like this warmer originally this room would have been used for numerous purposes dining ceremonies a government meeting place and a bedroom for some members of the household it's set up today as though the king is holding an audience his seat is in the middle with one for his queen and his heir on either side they're placed on top of a raised dice and underneath a decorated canopy of state we see the golden lion again and beautiful suns are stars above and hidden behind the canopy is the entrance to a small chapel the chapel of thomas beckett situated directly on top of the small chapel we saw earlier this one was intended strictly for the king and selected important guests the chapel is named for saint thomas beckett the murdered archbishop of canterbury thomas was appointed lord chancellor by henry ii in 1155 and as a mark of henry's respect he was also given the role of fostering the king's eldest son in air also called henry after seven years of work and friendship the king elevated thomas to the position of archbishop assuming thomas would do his bidding protecting the king from any demands made by the pope a role regularly assumed by previous archbishops henry however was wrong henry was a stubborn king with a fiery temper who held grudges and the new archbishop was a vain ambitious and overly political man neither of them ever willing to back down it was a recipe for disaster instead of backing the king in dealings with the pope the new archbishop appeared to be actively obstructing him consistently backing the church rather than his friend the final straw for henry was when he proposed that clerics found guilty of crimes in church courts should be handed over to the secular courts for sentencing and punishments beckett refused to agree and henry falsely accused thomas of embezzlement and demanded he come to court instead of being shamed by his appearance in court however thomas walked into his hearing carrying a large cross declaring that secular courts had no right to pass judgment on him and he walked out to france where he quite smartly hid for the following six years occasionally threatening to excommunicate henry in response to continued false claims of his malfeasance in reply henry had beckett's servants an entire family exiled the situation was considered an embarrassment to the king beckett's eventual return to england facilitated by peacemaking efforts of both the king of france and the pope was an unmitigated disaster while thomas had been in france king henry had his heir officially crowned as the young king a fail-safe move designed to protect his ascension to the throne the problem here was not what the king had done but who had done it the archbishop of york the crowning of english monarchs was a role exclusively reserved for the archbishop of canterbury thomas beckett himself on his return to england seething at the insult bekadex communicated the archbishop of york as well as the six bishops involved in the young king's coronation henry flew into a rage reportedly shouting quote what miserable drones and traitors have i nourished and promoted in my household who let their lord be treated with such shameful contempt by a low-born cleric henry seemed to be blaming his own predicament on his closest advisors and whatever his exact comment was it spurred four of his knights into action hugh demourville william tracy richard lebreton and reginald fitzers grabbed their weapons and set out to confront the archbishop they arrived at canterbury cathedral on the 29th of december 1170. whether they came with the intention to spill blood can never be known for certain as at first they left their weaponry outside and demanded that thomas go to winchester to be held accountable for his actions when thomas refused they received their weapons and stormed back toward the church other monks attempted to lock the doors and bar their entry but thomas wouldn't allow it saying quote it is not right to make a fortress out of the house of prayer doing so perhaps in the full knowledge of what was about to happen the knights rushed to beckett who was chanting vespers near the crypt the archbishop asserted his innocence whereupon he was grabbed to be pulled outside and told quote you shall die if this was a reference to the consequences if thomas did not come with them or a reference to what they were about to do to him remains unclear they claimed the former of course regardless of their intent thomas held fast onto a pillar refusing to be moved stating quote i am no traitor and i am ready to die edward grimm a young monk not only witnessed the murder but was injured in the attacks nearly losing his arm and he gives us an eyewitness account attempting to remove thomas from the pillar he clung to reginald fitzers hung on to thomas who shouted quote touch me not reginald you and your accomplices act like mad men filled with rage at this fitzers raised his sword over thomas's head then the brutal slaying began if you're squeamish consider fast forwarding 90 seconds these are edward's words then the unconquered martyr seeing the hour at hand which should put an end to this miserable life and give him straight away the crown of immortality promised by the lord inclined his neck as one who prays and joining his hands he lifted them up and commended his cause and that of the church to god scarce had he said the words then the wicked night fearing lest he should be rescued by the people and escape alive leapt upon him suddenly cutting off the top of the crown of his head and by the same blow he wounded the arm of him who tells this then he received a second blow on the head but still stood firm at the third blow he fell to his knees and elbows offering himself a living victim and saying in a low voice for the name of jesus and the protection of the church i am ready to embrace death then the third night inflicted a terrible wound as he lay by which the sword was broken against the pavement and the crown separated from the head so that the blood turned white from the brain yet no less did the brain turn red from the blood the fifth not a knight but a clark who had entered with the knights placed his foot on the neck of the holy priest and precious martyr and it is horrible to say scattered the brains with the blood across the stones calling out to the others we can leave this place knights he will not get up again the reports of this brutal slaying of an archbishop inside his own cathedral spread like wildfire and horrified europe the knights who perhaps expected a reward for their deeds found themselves quite lacking henry ignored them outright neither supporting or punishing the men but the catholic church was quick to act all of them excommunicated and banished to the holy land from which none of them would return henry eventually negotiated a settlement with the pope in an attempt to redeem himself on the religious and political stage and walked barefoot through the streets of canterbury dressed in a sackcloth to pray at beckett shrine spending a night with his tomb and allowing the 80 monks of canterbury cathedral to give him three blows each with a rod and not long thereafter during the building of his great keep he had this chapel built a sign of the king's regret and penance for a murder he commanded or just a piece of propaganda a show for thomas's devoted pilgrims who might find themselves here let me know what you think as we pan around you can see above the curtains hang these detailed tapestries depicting the norman conquest inspired by the bayou tapestry they're modern added to the room in 2009 you can also see above us a vaulted brick ceiling which replaced the wooden version in the 18th century so it could bear the weight of heavy new artillery on the roof next we move into the king's chamber note that none of the furniture we'll see today is original but it has all been painstakingly reproduced based on surviving examples manuscript illuminations and paintings the bright colors are true to their time period this room is where the business of government would have been carried out when the king was in residence and access to this chamber was far more restrictive than that of the previous room here we see a storage chest and more tapestries on the walls this table here holds an early version of the game of backgammon as well as a small loot on the other side all this sits right beside the fireplace which was only added in the 15th century you can see the decades of soot present above it they still light it today as we pan around we'll see the king's bed and more tapestries beside it you can see the bed is held in a colorful wooden frame and the curtains hang from an iron frame above it supporting two fabulous eagles head knobs at the end there we go those are my favorite part isn't that cool here we see a wardrobe and a beautiful bright design and pan around for another glimpse of the bed and the small mural chamber next to it it's like this small room served numerous purposes in early years but was converted to private bedrooms in the 15th century today it's set up as the scriptorium a room devoted to the writing copying and illuminating of manuscripts the recreated documents that are here today are written in a script which imitates that of scribes actually known to have worked at henry ii's court that is real attention to detail again we see the wardrobe and here another chest upon which sits a brass jug in the shape of a lion you may notice lions on the tapestries behind it one last look around oh i want to focus in on one thing on the king's bed sits a faux fur blanket originally henry had a blanket just like this made from the fur of squirrels which is remarkable for the fact that back then england had only red squirrels henry commissioned his blanket made of squirrel skins imported from siberia at a cost of one thousand pounds a seventh of what he spent to construct the entire great tower now we're making our way up to the rooftop the great tower has two sets of spiral staircases that each run from the roof down to the ground and we'll be utilizing both of them today this is the southwest one and the majority of the stonework you can see is original remember when the keep was first constructed the third floor inside the great tower didn't actually exist the arched roofs of the second floor were hidden by a parapet that crowned the top of the building creating a false extra layer to the structure and this archway here on our left takes us onto that false floor you can see it is nothing but a passage this passage originally skirted around all four sides of the keep with windows on the outer side to provide defense they're just big enough to fire out of these walkways are known as mural passages today we associate the word mural with paintings on a wall but for centuries the word referred to walls themselves mural originates from the latin word for wall muralis so a mural passage is a passage built into a wall the false floor with mural passages inside was a common feature of 11th and 12th century keeps existing simply to make the building look more impressive than it otherwise might have been let's continue our climb the rooftop we're headed to was added in 1798 to support cannon kept at the top of the building at that time some of the original battlements were removed for greater range and accuracy when firing to the ground below so the roof that we see today largely dates from the late 18th and 20th centuries and this is our first view sorry the wind is moving the camera again this is the south and the west there's the english channel and the city of dover itself in front of us on the mound in the center there stands western heights a series of strong points forts and ditches designed to protect england from invasion working with the castle to protect the key port of dover first begun in 1779 construction here was carried out in response to the threat of an invasion by napoleon but the structures were extensively expanded and improved throughout the centuries by the 20th century it was believed to be the strongest and most elaborate fortification in the country and was garrisoned until 1961. the four corner towers are based on the original corner towers the date from the 20th century the originals would have only had two sides the backs were empty here's who we just came out of and the union flag blowing in the wind on the top now let's head over to the other side for some more views you can see through the archway here little used stairs i really wanted to film from the top but i probably would have been blown straight off the roof and then what kind of video would that be some people would probably like it here we have stunning views toward the north and you can see the formation of the northern edge of the castle below us the triangular shaped part there is known as the spur and down here more 18th century barracks and the square building in the middle there is king's gate which we'll see shortly now let's go for the eastern view in the distance you can see swing gate down where the two radio mass towers are this area was home to a royal flying corps airfield which served as a final landing ground for aircraft on route to france during the first world war a number of squadrons are commemorated there with a small memorial during the second world war swingate down was home to a royal air force chain home low radar station which sported four transmitting towers the importance and reach of dover castle's location and military usage are not restricted to its outer walls and there again we see the channel and just below us arthur's hall that we visited earlier it would be weird to not get the south view now so let's head over there's the church and the roman lighthouse we'll explore later just look at this view when it's clear enough you can see across the coast of france but we aren't too lucky today still stunning though lovely and below us the inner bailey where we entered the great tower perfect and now we head back inside we're going to be heading down the north east staircase all the way down to the first floor i'll spare you the agony of listening to me struggle down the stairs while trying not to fall made it now the first floor has roughly the same layout as the second so again we're entering a hall but first there's a small mural chamber to the side that's worth exploring i always like to check out an anti-chamber off a hall because you'll often find one of these a garter rope coming from the french girder rope meaning robe or clothing protectors garter robes are small storerooms found in medieval castles used to house valuables by extension most small rooms inside medieval castles were referred to as garter robes even as we see here the toilets which would have opened directly into the moat or onto the ground below there's also school of thought that it was believed ammonia protected fabric from fleas and moths so clothing would be stored alongside a toilet to protect the cloth you'll forgive me for not having tested that one out myself but i'll try it at my next dinner party and let you know how it goes and now into the hall it's assumed the rooms on this level were built to provide accommodation for high-ranking guests or other members of the royal family although not as grand its position actually makes it more secure than the upper floor with no direct access outside the keep today the hall has been set up as if in preparation for a banquet we see some wall hangings as well as mounted shields the timber framing is surprisingly original dating to the 1260s they're a small mystery however as the wall itself is fully capable of supporting the original floor above so their purpose is unknown the high table here is set for the king he's flanked by two heraldic banners and sits directly underneath a huge image of himself on horseback with crown and sword gleaming we've got another fireplace to the side before its construction in the 15th century the room would have been heated by braziers or central hearths although fireplaces were actually a standard feature in most anglo-norman castles by that time why henry never built them into his great tower is yet another mystery and into the next bed chamber again we see the same layout as the king's chamber directly above us it's worth mentioning that while henry ii did construct and refurbish the great tower for guests and use by his court for much of the middle ages it was actually used for storage it was in 1480 when king edward iv was on the throne that the keep was updated that's when the fireplaces went in for example and the windows enlarged from his time it was used more regularly as a royal residence and both henry viii and queen elizabeth the first are known to have stayed here another royal bed no eye wateringly expensive squirrel blanket on this one and plain gold knobs on top instead of awesome looking eagle heads the extra beds in the chamber were here for servants to sleep on hand behind us on the table we find a small harp and a beautifully carved chess set a copy of the lewis chessmen held in the national museum of scotland link to her edinburgh tour below and perhaps recognizable to fans of the harry potter films this room does have something truly special that you may not notice right away if we look into the soot we can just about make out some carvings by the early 18th century the great tower was no longer a royal refuge but was being used as a prison and these prisoners left their marks between 1702 and 1714 the keep was filled with prisoners of war taken during the war of the spanish succession and most but not all of the graffiti comes from them typically the carvings display just dates and names most of which are french although flemish and spanish can be found but some are much more elaborate there are hundreds of examples throughout the castle but perhaps the most impressive is this one in the chamber we're in hidden behind a curtain that a member of staff was kind enough to move aside for us the artist is unknown but he must have been here for some time to produce such detailed work this area above the fireplace is just full of them we've seen that the keep has been decorated to look as though king henry ii is still using it as he's the one who first ordered it built but the last monarch to use it as a residence kind of was king charles the first his future wife the 15 year old henrietta maria was the last royal to stay here for any period of time in 1625 as dover served as her first stop from france when she journeyed to england to live with her 24 year old husband they had been married by proxy a month before her arrival having previously met only once two years before when charles had been in europe to desperately but fruitlessly attempt to marry somebody else charming now we're on the ground floor entering what we think may have been the kitchen there's no concrete evidence that this space was used for a kitchen originally aside from the existence of a bread oven which we'll see in a moment castle kitchens were almost always on the ground floor so it's a safe bet it's been set up today as though henry ii and his court are coming for a visit castle kitchens were incredibly important as the variety and amount of food the king was able to serve his guests as well as his own court was a direct display of his wealth when the king was present the kitchen would have been a near constant hive of activity filled to the brim with bustling workers putting out three meals a day for hundreds of people we see casks and bags of grain and to our right there's a servant here today who's looking after laundry as well as making fresh wax candles there's also a huge mortar and pestle against the wall there spices were another sign of wealth and also a great way to turn undesirable cuts of meat rolled fruit and vegetables into something edible so this was a common sight in a medieval kitchen you'll notice numerous containers vessels and bowls but no utensils as most people at this time ate with their fingers and off of trenchers long pieces of often stale bread if historic kitchens are your thing we all have different hobbies make sure to check out our hampton court palace video i'll add the link below and here as promised is the bread oven this would have been heated by filling it with hot charcoal usually supplied from a nearby fireplace however as stated originally there were no fireplaces down here so there were likely nearly braziers filled with burning coal specifically for the oven these rounds of dough are ready to make their trip to be baked and with that we've made our way out of the great tower we're now going to head across the grass to the building here with the arched windows next door to arthur's hall it's likely this building was constructed in the 13th century for henry iii and his queen eleanor at the same time as their hall although the structure was heavily altered in 1745 today it houses the princess of wales's royal regiment and the queen's regimental museum let's check it out the regiment was formed in 1992 with the merging of the queen's regiment and the royal hampshire regiment it was named after diana princess of wales who was also joint colonel in chief alongside queen marguerita of denmark until her 1997 divorce from prince charles marguerita retains her position making this the only british infantry regiment to have a foreign monarch as colonel in chief it's the senior most english line infantry regiment holding the earliest battle honor in the british army dating back to the occupation of tangier in the 17th century the museum tells the story of the history of the two singular regiments before they emerged in 1992 and this room focuses on early history with a focus on the sinking of the hms birkenhead on the 26th of february 1845. while transporting troops and civilians to algo bay in what was then known as the cape colony south africa today the ship hit a large rock ripping open the bulkheads and immediately drowning 100 soldiers in their births up on deck the women and children were placed on the ship's cutter which was alongside and unscathed there were two other large boats but one was immediately swamped and the other failed to launch leaving only three small boats nowhere near enough to rescue the entire crew captain robert salmon called out that all who could swim should jump overboard and make for the boats lieutenant colonel stetten realized that rushing the boats would risk swamping them endangering the lives of the women and children and ordered the men to stand fast the cavalry horses were freed in the hope they might swim ashore and the soldiers themselves remained where they were not moving even when the ship re-struck the rock ripping open the bottom barely 20 minutes after the first strike the birkin head broke up and sank into the sea of an estimated 643 people on board only 193 survived this event would mark one of if not the first time the concept of women and children first is known to have been utilized subsequently it would become standard method in relation to the evacuation of sinking ships the bravery of the troops who sacrificed their lives to save those of the civilians has been commemorated in numerous memorials and today the evacuation of women and children first is the known protocol referred to as the birkenhead drill the next room takes us forward to the first and second world wars here they showcase some interesting pieces such as one of two footballs kicked by captain billy neville during the football charge on the first day of the battle of the psalm where he would lose his life there's also some weaponry like this german machine gun captured on an advance through italy the mg 3442 situated on a tripod with a built-in searching device considered the world's first general purpose machine gun it had a cyclic rate of 800 to 900 rounds per minute and featured both selective and full automatic fire out of favor with the german army by 1945 they had a second life in later wars in czechoslovakia and israel well into the late 1960s and there's also this collection of regimental drums drummers were fully integrated members of an infantry battalion and it was said that no regiment would go into battle without them as the drums were used to convey orders during the heat of battle we're now about to take our leave of the inner bailey through king's gate but before we do i want to have one last look around us here's where we just walked from and this view of the north side of the great tower which shows the original decorative bands of conned stone that would have once existed on all four sides but have since been lost through time and out we go through king's gate which still holds its original barbican or outer defenses in many castles an exit out of the inner walls is directly within line of an exit through the outer walls as well but the king's gate is different you can see we're walking down a path that turns towards the east meaning if anybody trying to get in managed to make it through the heavily guarded barbican ahead of us they wouldn't have a straight line through into the inner bailey the sign ahead of us here lets us know that this is an original piece of the castle complex as we come around notice that there are no error loops or large windows on this stretch of the wall there's the king's gate with a tower defense on either side the large square windowless towers flanked by windowless walls were built to give the impression of a solid impenetrable stone fortress the building ahead of us which is currently under scaffolding is known as the norfolk towers if i zoom in you can see the canon that were placed on top behind newly built battlements in the early 1800s some 600 years after the norfolk towers were first constructed before the norfolk towers were built in the early 13th century this the northern face of the castle boasted the castle's main gate flanked by two semi-circular towers the gate was strong but the northern edge of dover castle is its weakest point overlooked by the high ground ahead making it vulnerable to attack it's this part of the castle that was targeted by the french prince louis future king louis viii in a devastating siege that nearly ended with the king levy the first of england the year is 12 16 and king john mighty henry ii's disappointing heir sits on the throne john has already lost most of his father's french territories to king philip ii of france leading to the collapse of the once powerful ange of an empire the king is at loggerheads the barons of england who are all fed up with his weak yet tyrannical rule and the barons have a trick up their sleeve they've invited king philip's son prince louis to take the english throne and they've pledged him their full support louis arrives in northern kent in may of 1216 and rapidly secures much of southern england including london where he was proclaimed king in saint paul's cathedral john has fled to the north as cities and castles around the south opened their arms and their doors to the french prince but there was a singular thorn in louis side proud and defiant dover castle for louis to bring in the necessary troops and supplies to fully conquer england he needs to control the port of dover and to control the port of dover he needs to control dover castle inter hubert de burgh judiciary of england and constable of the castle holding dover for king john with a force of 140 knights he's not inexperienced having held john's french castle chinon for a year against louie's father the french king hubert lost that castle and vows not to lose another louis sets up his camp on the higher ground just north of the castle according to an eyewitness at first the french prince is reluctant to fully attack the castle but hubert's garrison began to consistently parade in full armor outside their barbican taunting their opponents in july louis begins his siege in earnest successfully cutting dover off from land as well as crucially from sea with his ships to the south and his troops to the north he's in a powerful position louie's troops bombard the entrance to the castle with stone throwing siege engines his bowmen shoot down defenders and his miners advanced to a ditch outside the castle and managed to tunnel underneath the frenchman breached the outer defenses storming the barbican and killing its commander it's looking good for the potential usurper so good in fact that king alexander ii of scotland has traveled down to pay homage and he's brought his own army with him the siege has now gone on for nearly three months and louie is ready for the final thrust sending his miners back under the stone gatehouse for the next ring of walls as part of the gate collapses the french soldiers launched themselves into the breach only to find themselves stopped short by a barrier of boulders and oak posts the english strike back slaughtering every man they can driving the invaders out and closing up the gap in their defenses with great wooden timbers louis pulls back deciding to starve the castle out but the english garrison holds out until an uneasy truce is agreed on the 14th of october four months after the siege began at this point louis holds the majority of eastern england and only dover stands out as loyal to the crown it seems a done deal made even more assured by the sudden death of king john merely five days after the signing of the truce louis tells hubert to surrender now reportedly offering him the realm of east anglia to rule if he steps down and that he threatens to hang his brother whom he's holding captive if he doesn't hugh refuses stating that he now holds the castle for john's son nine-year-old king henry iii at this louis essentially rolls his eyes and turns away deciding to focus his attentions on the rest of his new english kingdom this is hugh's moment the defiant constable restocks the castle of supplies and soldiers advertising dover is the core of the english resistance against the french invaders breaking the truce english ships sail into the strait seizing french supply ships english archers raised in kent begin assailing french land convoys and louis himself is directly attacked enraged liu returns to dover in may determined to take it and the crown once and for all as he approaches he finds his siege lodges surrounding the castle on fire their guards killed inside and fires lit by english guerrilla soldiers the french prince finally unleashes his final and secret weapon a huge trebuchet siege engine just shipped in from france specifically to blow apart the walls of dover castle but even louie's secret specially designed weapon isn't enough to tear down the walls of dover and ten days into his new siege louise troops and his remaining baronial allies those who hadn't yet switched their allegiance to the new king henry were defeated at the battle of lincoln by william the marshal regent for the new young king of england louis packs up his trebuchet and abandons the siege but he's ready for one last attempt in august louis takes the fight to water believing if he can control the strait of dover he still has a chance to win his fight the english fleet is led by hubert de berg himself who tells his men not to give up the castle even if he himself is captured as quote it is indeed the key to england hugh needn't have worried his troops destroy the french fleet finally sending louie back to france for good his baronial allies pledge their support to the young king henry and the key to england remained in the pocket of the crown here we see that barbican never breached and the norfolk tower's opposite i almost fell there here we see the original outer curtain walls still standing and then over here a trebuchet similar to that of prince louis these machines are a type of catapult capable of hurling heavy projectiles great distances and were a common sight at medieval sieges however in europe the evolution and access to gunpowder in the 15th century soon made cannons the preferred siege weapon of choice and trebuchets soon fell out of fashion behind us is god's foes tower built by king john along with this stretch of the wall without him realizing how badly he would soon need it i'm sure archaeologists best guess is that this was a chamber of some kind and was attached to a medieval hall which ran the length of this stretch of the wall and would have been used by the garrison this portion of the outer wall stretches all the way down to the edge of the cliff and is dominated by the beautiful constable's gate constable's gate was constructed by the dover hero hubert de berg to replace the former entrance gate which was destroyed during the siege overlooking what would have been a moat constable's gate was not only a formidable structure it also boasted fine accommodation for the official in charge of the castle which at the time was hubert himself hmm convenient these rooms were further expanded in the 1880s but smartly designed to blend in it's that accommodation actually which provides the last link between dover castle and the military as it is still the official home of the deputy constable although since 2015 it's only been used for ceremonial functions sadly visitors today don't get to pass through this remarkable building but it is viewable from the approach we're almost done with this area of the castle but there's one more thing to mention and it's actually under our feet after the siege hubert de berg ordered a rebuilding of the castle's defenses in addition to the newer stronger entrance gate in addition to the newer stronger entrance gate he installed the solid mass of the norfolk towers at the building's northern point to prevent potential invaders from utilizing the high ground around the castle again he installed a stone tower st john's tower in the northwest ditch and further on from there an outer bastion of earth works the real genius though is that these structures were all connected by a series of underground tunnels these subterranean passages would allow the castle's defenders to keep control of the high ground and mount attacks in the ditch as well as deflect any forces who made it into the area it would also give them a safe retreat back into the castle in 1756 these tunnels were partially remodeled by military engineer lieutenant colonel william twiss who also built a covered passage with a bomb proof roof connected to st john's tower and filled it with cannon specifically designed to fire only a short distance that is into the surrounding ditch that building was cleverly designed with inner and outer doors controlled by a complex system of iron levers anybody who made it through the first door would be diverted and find themselves in a closed courtyard surrounded by troops in well-placed firing positions as of today these buildings are no longer accessible to the public saint john's tower as well as the tunnels have begun to crack and leak water which is wasting away the mortar the conservationists working with english heritage are trying to discover the best way to repair them to reopen them back to the public and preserve these incredible structures for the next few centuries and with that we take our leave of the castles in our defenses and return to where we first entered to walk toward the cliffs along the former eastern wall there's the inner curtain wall say goodbye and just next to us here are a number of 18th century canon again the work of william twist and we have a good view here of some interesting buildings over to our right firstly we come to the church of saint mary and castro the largest saxon building in all of kent the church dates from around the year one thousand potentially on the site of an even older church much of it was refreshed in the 19th century the outer walls however are still largely original as are these beautiful arched doorways beautiful note the bricks on the corner of the tower ahead of us these are reused roman bricks which appear in the church's corners and around some of the doors and windows the rest of the walls are made up of flint and ragstone rubble masonry we pass by a little doorway on the side of the building doors like these specifically on the northern side of churches are sometimes referred to as a devil's door as it said they needed to be kept open during baptisms to let out any evil spirits in the child safety first we'll come back to get another look at it here as well as the view up now let's head toward the inside the church was preserved after the norman conquest and was then used on and off from the 11th century until the late 17th and by the mid-1800s saint marion castro was just an abandoned shell but the victorians restored it so much of what you're about to see dates from that time most of it is the work of sir george gilbert scott whose grandson incidentally went on to design the iconic red london telephone boxes and in we go firstly here on the left an elaborately decorated victorian baptismal font just perfect perhaps not often used these days and around the nave at one point during the napoleonic wars this building was used as a court for playing ball games and then for storing coal although you'd never know it now as we look it down you can see the vaulting over the chancel ahead it's thought to date originally from the 12th century although the golden polychrome is very much victorian and was done by architect william butterfield you can spot more used roman bricks in the archway around it note that services are still held here for members of the army as well as civilian visitors and it was used as the dover garrison church until 2014 although today we have it to ourselves the flags are the colors of varying regiments along the walls it looks almost like wallpaper but it's actually mosaic work again the work of william butterfield who for some reason felt the need to add on to gilbert scott's work his improvements were not fondly looked upon what do you think and literally inches away from the church door is a truly unique survival of the roman empire a lighthouse dating to the first century the existence of this building speaks to dover's importance as a port city and shipping base even in roman times when it was known as dubris you may recall from when we were on top of the keep that there's an area to the west known as western heights that would have been the site of a second lighthouse and the two existed as a pair marking either side of the port it's thought it was used as a guiding beacon until at least the 12th century when there's a reference to a lighthouse keeper living here called the pharos this lighthouse stands 24 meters or 80 feet high close to its original height and would have originally held a huge burning brazier on the top let's get a bit further away from it to get a full view of the structure to get further back we're going to climb a grassy mount that surrounds the church in the lighthouse it's believed to have been raised in the 13th century and may have been the site of william the conqueror's original castle and apologies for that camera wobbling in the wind again the floor lower levels are made up of mostly original roman masonry including those bricks we've seen a lot of the top level however was rebuilt in the 1420s so that it could be adapted as a bell tower for the church by the 16th century it had been roofed floored and reinforced to serve as a gunpowder magazine around 150 years later it looked like this the stone wall you can see opposite us wraps around the buildings and would have at one time connected to colton's gate where we first entered the castle complex and i can actually show it to you assuming my phone doesn't blow out of my hands just over here there it is right where we came in and a final view of these two unique buildings all right we're now back on what's known as the bell battery which was added to the castle in 1756 specifically to hold these cannon it's one of two substantial gun batteries constructed at the time the cannon are strategically positioned to cover the approach from the northeast there are four of them here today although originally there would have been six now we are going to head straight on in a moment but first i want to follow this path and tunnel to the left to another one of dover's one-of-a-kind features the dover castle complex is absolutely honeycombed with tunnels some of which are easy to see and access like this one some of which are hidden well below the earth in addition to the medieval tunnels built by hubert de berg william twist installed a number of them in preparation for the napoleonic wars some of which travel well under the outer ditch to outwork bastions far beyond the walls of the castle and tunnel building began again in earnest on the eve of the second world war straight ahead is what i've brought you here to see avaronshi tower and when we get a bit closer we'll have a good view of the eastern walls of the castle here we go just to give you your bearings that's the other edge of the scaffold covered norfolk towers ahead of us and hidden in the earth banks between that and average a tower are brick vaulted case-mated barracks and weapons storage avraham's tower is part of the original late 12th century curtain wall it's believed it was placed here strategically to cover up a gap in the earthwork defenses on the outside of the castle that spot being the potential entrance to an iron age hill fort that once stood here it's amazing that we can still walk straight through it and we're headed toward a staircase just down here which leads quite eerily to nowhere but what makes this tower different from not only the other towers at dover castle but from every other castle in england are its error loops arrow loops are long thin window openings on the defensive side of fortifications built to allow archers to fire their missiles while remaining protected you can see one here in this image of framlingham castle the one in alvaroche tower however are triple arrow loops allowing a complete range of motion from a single position particularly useful here as the tower sits on a spot where the wall turns a corner they appear original and their short length indicates they were built for use by crossbows rather than long bows their triple design is not seen anywhere else in english military architecture making them another one of a kind dover curiosity with that we're going to continue our walk along the western edge you'll notice as we stroll that we're on a grass bank not a stone wall like the one that stretches to the cliff edges on the east it's believed that the original western ramparts as well as its towers likely do still exist they were just buried under the massive banks on either side when the earth was raised by our old friend william twist dotted along the earthen banks are these brick expense magazines built in the 19th century they were designed to hold small quantities of gunpowder ready for immediate use they're covered by earthworks to protect them from potential gunfire at the same time these were built the great tower was gutted and used as a massive gunpowder storehouse also holding shot and other military supplies turning the entirety of dover castle into a powerful formidable artillery fortress huge sums of money were spent to protect dover castle in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with france supporting the rebel american colonists and later the rise of napoleon the threat of invasion was great not only that but the french army was camped just across the strait in bologn easily visible from dover on a clear day it was during this time that royal engineer lieutenant colonel william twist was in charge of works at dover which is why you're hearing his name so often he oversaw the largest restructuring works of the castle since the time of king henry ii dover's role as a supply store for the military was resurrected again during the first world war when the castle in port became one of the main links in the chain supplying british armies in europe there you can see where we've just been walking and now we find ourselves standing on top of one of four circular platforms each of which would have held one of these a 40 millimeter bofors anti-aircraft gun used here between 1939 and 1945 these weapons were key in defending the coast which as you can see is just ahead of us just below the western earthworks and the anti-aircraft gun bases which you can just see to the right is a huge building that is beautiful bu
2022-04-15 16:49
