DOVER CASTLE, KENT

Dover Castle

Often described as ‘the gateway to Britain’ Dover Castle has stood up to the elements, and enemies of England, for almost a thousand years. The history of the site however goes back even further as the Romans used the landscape to their advantage, not by building a fortification but by building a lighthouse, what they named a Pharos. Although this headland would have been a natural defensive point it wasn’t until after the Romans left that its use became more militarily based when the Anglo-Saxons built a Burh, a fortified town, which had its own church, St. Mary-in-Castro. When the Normans invaded they quickly gained control of the south-east, using it as a base of operations in their conquest, the people of Kent were the first Anglo-Saxons to suffer the privations of their rule with Dover itself being given Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, he had the Bayeux tapestry created to glorify the Norman Invasion and the subsequent Battle of Hastings, its curious to note that this Tapestry would have been woven by Anglo-Saxon women who may have even known some of the men who had died on it, plus of course it technically isn’t even a tapestry. Odo, like all Norman overlords treated his new subjects harshly and soon they were in revolt, they found a strange ally, Eustace, Count of Boulogne, was even closer an ally to King William than Odo was, it was Eustace who had been responsible for carrying the papal banner in the Battle of Hastings. This banner was given to William by the Pope and was a big boost to William for it gave all men in Europe the idea that god would be on their side in the conquest of Harold Godwinson’s England, and so men from all parts of Europe flocked to Williams army, the idea of it being a French invasion is wrong for the composition of Williams forces were as ad-hoc as the army fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan is today. The revolt however ended in failure for Eustace who shortly after landing troops and trying to take Dover was driven back, when reinforcements arrived, along with Odo himself, Eustace fled back to Bolougne.

The main reason Eustace couldn’t take Dover was because William himself had ordered the strengthening of fortifications during a short stay there in Autumn 1066, the fortification seen today (with the exception of the Pharos and St. Mary-in-Castro) was mostly built in the later time of the reign of King Henry II (1154-89) who built many castles and fortification in England. Structures such as the Keep, known in French as a Donjon, where we get the modern word Dungeon from, the inner bailey and part of the outer curtain wall was built during Henry II’s reign with the rest of the curtain wall built during Henry III’s reign. It wasn’t until the 1740’s and the rise of the conflict with France began once more in earnest, the Seven Years War, the Napoleonic Wars and then the arms race between the countries during the Victorian period. In the 1740’s major works actually lowered some towers so they could take artillery and be more impervious to their effects, barracks were built and more tunnels dug. It was these tunnels which became the scene of action during World War Two, not in conflict with France, but that of Hitler’s Germany. In 1940 the British and French had been beaten in northern France and Belgium, the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F) had attempted an armoured counter-attack at Arras which scared Hitler into stopping his Panzers chasing the B.E.F into the Channel, Goering, Hitler’s head of Airforce (Luftwaffe), boasted he’d level the port where the British were retreating to. The port was just across the channel from Dover and visible on good days without the need for any binoculars, the port being Dunkirk (Dunkerque in French). Operation Dynamo was launched, the rescue of the B.E.F its aim, the hope was for 30’000 men to be rescued, in the end almost 350’000 men were taken from the beaches and harbour installations of Dunkirk (one of them being my Grandfather). The operation was overseen by Naval officials based at Dover who used their platform to better see the action they were commanding.

Dover Castle today is a tourist attraction and has been for many years, its military use is now virtually non-existent, however during the Cold-War it would have been the Regional Centre of Government in the event of a Nuclear attack.

Dover Castle has had many different ghostly sightings in its history, most however don’t date back to its knightly residents but to more modern times, it is said that the ghost of a drummer boy haunts the Western Heights battlements, he has mostly been heard drumming along on dark nights, it is believed he was once murdered and had his head chopped off though the causes and evidence of this is sketchy at best. In a section called the Kings Bedchamber sightings have been reported of a spirit, however only the lower half of a man’s body has been seen, two members of staff witnessed this not so long ago, first seeing it in the doorway to the Bedchamber, on following the legs they entered the Chamber and could find no one in there. Similar sightings occur on a set of stairs to the Keep where a faceless ghost of a woman has been seen, she is known as the Lady in Red after the colour of her long flowing gown. She has also been seen in the Mural Gallery close by, though it may be a separate entity as another ghost dressed in Blue has been seen here, this Blue spirit’s sex has not been ascertained but has been seen on regular occasions, mostly by male members of staff, usually indicative of a female spirit. The most modern ghost comes from the Second World war period as both a man and a women dressed in Naval Uniforms have been seen, usually they are seen by tourists who are on a special guided tour, the tourists naturally enough believe them to be re-enactors and ask questions about them, only to be told there are no people dressed up in Uniforms in the tunnels (where they are seen). The faces of these people have not been seen, genuine reports always see them walking away, I say genuine because sadly several people also claim to see them waving at them but not dressed in a Naval Uniform but rather an Army Khaki Uniform, this may be true as during the war all services used Dover Castle as a headquarters, but the people simply making up rubbish can be distinguished as they claim the spirits wear Medical patches on their uniforms, due to an erroneous story that the Castle was used as a hospital during WWII.

Photographs abound of supposed spirits at Dover, this one is a good one, though do take peoples testimonies with a pinch of salt.

www.yourcounty.co.uk/Kent51/dovercastle.html

If you should visit Dover Castle do so with three things, a steady nerve, for parts are assuredly haunted, a keen respect in history, so you don’t upset the ghosts, and a good pair of walking boots, because the place is huge.

Thank you for your time.

CJ Linton.