Dover Castle, England
We spent most of Saturday at Dover
Castle. It was less than a ten minute walk fromwhere we were staying.
When we arrived a guided tour of the tunnels was about to start, so we
joined it. Afterwards, we had lunch. I got sushi, as one does when one
visits a medieval English castle. I like to keep things traditional.
A magpie pooped on Newman. I suppose that's traditional as well.
After lunch there was another tour about to start of the WWII tunnels,
including the hospital they had.
It was around 1pm or so when that tour ended, and we walked by a
WWII-era anti-aircraft gun. People in period military uniforms
were getting ready to fire it. It was near the cliff edge.
Obviously it was just a blank—a bang with no shell. But it
was a pretty loud bang (but again, probably, not as loud as a real
shell. Next to the gun was a platform that was used to spot planes
and ships that might be coming from across the Strait of Dover to
attack. This was the same platform that we saw the previous day
from the harbor area downtown.
After that, we went to the ancient Roman lighthouse, Pharos, which is
the oldest Roman-era lighthouse that still stands, and the St. Mary's
in Castro Church that is right next to it.
Next, we went to the castle itself, starting at the bottom, where a
historian was in period dress and talking about what life would have
been like then (her role was a cook for "the people upstairs"). We
made our way up the levels to the top of the tower, which has a great
view of the area.
We took a break, then took a tour of The Spur, which was an addition
during the end of the Naponeonic Wars in the early 19th Century.
After that, we walked around the outer wall, sawa the officer's
barracks that were built in the mid-1800s.
As we were wrapping up our visit and about to head out, I noticed
that the haze in the sky had lifted and I could see the coast of
France, with its white (or grey) chalk cliffs, 20 miles away.
I had to break out my telephoto lens and take some pictures. It
was a nice way to end the tour. Also, we were not allowed to take
pictures in the tunnels (they didn't want people messing things up
or not paying attention and getting lost, as there are 4 miles of
tunnels below the castle, and more beyond it.
When we got back, we looked at the ruins of an 11th century church
that was right next to where we were staying.
Saturday, September 27, 2025.
2025 England Pictures
Part 1: Hunstanton (37 pictures)
Part 2: Castle Rising Castle (41 pictures)
Part 3: Ely (9 pictures)
Part 4: Dover Town and Cliffs (45 pictures)
Part 5: Dover Castle (136 pictures)
Displaying all 132 pictures
Approaching and Entering Dover Castle.
We walked from Castle Street to Castle Hill Street.
There was a small booth where we picked up our tickets (we had
ordered them online the previous night), then through the entry
arch. The area had a great view of the Dover Strait as well as
the downtown and port area of Dover.
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Stephanie walks towards the entrance to Dover Castle.
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A sign with information on the castle (from the late 18th/early
19th century).
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A sign about the anti-aircraft guns that were used to
protect the the castle...(more)
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One of the mobile 3.7-inch WWII British anti-aircract guns.
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I think the “disc golf basket” in the middle is for a
signal fire.
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Information on the Casemates in the Dover White Cliffs .
Anti-aircraft Gun Demo and Spotting Platform
After our second tour of the tunnels under the castle, we saw people
were gathered by a roped off area near one of the WWII anti-aircraft guns.
(Aside: they don't allow photos to be taken in the tunnels. It would
slow down the tour, which run on a semi-schedule, and people could wind up
getting separated from the group and then lost in the tunnels—the
four miles of tunnels under the castle, and there are even more
tunnels under the city. They said if anyone feels like they need to
leave, that's perfectly fine, but the must tell the guide will
will call, via walkie-talkie, for an escort for the person, so they
get out safely and quickly. So I have no pictures from those two tours.)
There were 3 people in WWII British military dress that were prep'ing
the gun, plus a guide who explained how the anti-aircraft guns were used
here in WWII. I talked about how successful they were (not very, as it
requires so much guesswork, and the planes and projectile have to arrive
at the same pretty small space at the same time). He also described
the platform next to us to us that was on top of a small building that
was by the edge of the cliff. It was the same platform we spotted the
previous day while we were by the port. It was a lookout for ships and
planes, and had communication equipment inside to relay the information
to the control centers in the tunnels below the castle.
Then they fired a few "blanks." They were loud, but not that
loud (which was good). Then, we went on the platform and in the
building below it. It was a bit too hazy to be able to see France,
which is about 20 miles away, but we had a nice view of the white
chalk cliffs. And pictures were taken…
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Preparing the gun and getting the charges out to test
fire the gun.
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Smoke from after they fired the gun. It was loud,
but not that loud.
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Putting away things after the demonstration firing of the
anti-aircraft gun.
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Watch where you're pointing that thing! An anti-aircraft
gun by Dover Castle.
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“What? How many? I'll get the artillery
boys right on it!”
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Note that I'm pale because
the sun was shining and blew out 1/2 the picture.
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The communication room under the observation deck on the
lookout platform.
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Someone cleaning the artillery gun after the daily test-firing
by Castle Dover.
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A mobile WWII anti-aircraft artillery gun by Dover Castle.
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The White Cliffs of Dover, as seen from the WWII lookout
at Dover Castle.
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The White Cliffs of Dover, as seen from the WWII lookout
at Dover Castle.
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The White Cliffs of Dover, as seen from the WWII lookout
at Dover Castle.
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Shakespeare Cliff (referenced in King Lear) just west of Dover.
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Stephanie and Newman with Shakespeare Cliff in the background
on the left.
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Stephanie and Newman with Shakespeare Cliff in the background
on the left.
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Frank with the White Cliffs of Dover in the background.
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Frank by Dover Castle, with the White Cliffs of Dover
in the background.
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Frank by Dover Castle, with the White Cliffs of Dover
in the background.
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The port of Dover and Dover Strait from the lookout deck
by the cliff's edge.
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The anti-aircraft gun after the demo; a mobile gun is visible
above it.
Pharos Lighthouse, St. Mary's Church,
and Around The Great Tower
The Roman Lighthouse or Roman Pharos or just Pharos was built
sometime betwen Ad 50 and 138 adn is the oldest lighthouse still
standing today in England. It is right next to St. Mary's Church
de Castro (Church in the Castle, or on the castle grounds). Possibly
there was a church built by the Saxon's around 600, as there was a
Saxon cemetary around the current curch. But the current church
was built around AD 1000. The building is in a cross-shape.
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The 2000-year old Roman-era Pharos
Lighthouse.
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Information on the St. Mary Church, Pharos lighthouse,
and the 4-gun battery.
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Looking up at the top of the 2000 year old Pharos Lighthouse
at Dover Castle.
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St. Mary de Castro Church next to the Pharos Lighthouse.
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Panorama of Pharos Lighthouse
and St. Mary's Church within Dover Castle.
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Along the inside of the outer wall of
Dover Castle, with plenty of cannons.
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The courtyard and buildings surrounding the Great Tower.
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Some of these buildings included a gift shop and lunch place.
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Lo, all ye hail the boy who would be king! (It was a
cute costume.)
The Castle/Great Tower
We entered the castle and saw some rooms on the bottom that were used
for storage. Then there was the royal bedchamber (I didn't take any
pictures of that). It was a 4 post bed and the room was pretty large.
The doors were also large and could be barred with large wooden beams
by guards from the inside. There were various narrow corridors that
ended in larger areas in the corners.
Then we went up to the top of ”The Great Tower“. It had a
great view of the area. Off to the east were two large radio towers
that make up the
Swingate
trasnmitting station and were orginally were part of the
Swingate Chain Home Radar Station, one of the rare surving pre-war
transmitter towers and part of the early coastal radar defense. The
towers are now used for FM radio and cellular broadcasting. There
originally were 4 towers, then tree, and ow there are just two.
I took a number of pictures from the roof.
Then we went back down and went through the great hall and then down
into the lower level where the food would have been prepared. A historian
in period dress (i.e., late 12th, early 13th century) was there telling
people about what life was like then, the food that would be available to
"the people upstairs" as well as the ones who did all the work.
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A room with period clothing including a Holy Grail Black Knight
style helmet.
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A guide shows how the chamber doors were secured from inside
with wooden beams...(more)
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The beams to bolt the doors go into the wall so they
can open.
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Newman bides his time in the castle. Soon, so soon,
it shall be time.
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A view from the top of the tower down to the inner part
of the castle gate.
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From the top of the Great Tower looking at the outer wall
of Dover Castle.
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A map of the view to the south-west from the top of Dover Castle.
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Downtown Dover and the Strait of Dover with a grey cloudy sky.
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The crenellated wall with interesting rocks from the
previous twk photos.
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Panoramic view to the north-west from the top
of the Dover Castle Great Tower.
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A map of the view to the north-west from the top of Dover Castle.
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The view from the sign (looking to the north-west) on top of Dover Castle.
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The building with the little tower in the center in the distance
is HM...(more)
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Medieval microwave towers
(actually it's the Swingate transmitting station).
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St. Mary's, Pharos Lighthouse, mystery building, and
gatehouse.
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St. Mary's and the Pharos lighthouse.
Not sure what the other building is.
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A hazy hint of France on the eastern side of Dover Strait.
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What ho art those strange towers beyond the crennelation?
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Cannons to defend the perimeter against the infidels or
maybe peasants.
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Some fine silver bowls and a fine hog's head (simulated).
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Note the chessboard. Also, they had a real fire going.
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Examples of spices available in the 13th century
(???, numeg. cinnamon,...(more)
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A historian in period dress who explained what life
was like then.
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A recreation of how the castle kitchen might have looked.
The Spur Tunnels
The Spur is an addition to Dover Castle that to protect it
against sieges, initially in the 1220s after being attacked in 1216
and 1217. More work was done in the 1580s, 1750s and turn of the
19th century. Here's an interesting
report
on it with some good pictures (actually it's the abstract of it,
the full report is
here.
We walked through the tunnel which went down down down, and then came out
outside of the castle.
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Stephanie reads information while in the fairly dark
Spur Tunnels.
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Projections on the ceiling of the Spur Tunnels under
Dover Castle.
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A neat way of presenting information about the tunnels
while in them.
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Cannons were positioned near the outer entrances to
the tunnel as a welcome.
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The cannons protected against soldiers storming the
bridge in the distance.
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Our route was straight but there are many side tunnels.
The Outer Wall
After the Spur, we walked around the outer wall. THere was a playground
and the "Officers' New Barracks" which was from the mid-1800s and stopped
being occupied in the mid-1950s and apparently has fallen into disrepair
There were some anti-aircraft guns around the permimeter.
<>br>
We were getting ready to leave when I noticed that the haze had lifted
and I could clearly see the White Cliffs of France across the
Dover Strait. I had to take a couple more pictures, which required
swapping in my telephoto lens. It was around 4 or 5pm so we were
ready to walk back to where we were staying. We spent most of the
day at Dover Castle and it was fun and interesting.
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A sign describing the castle's location (a cliff) which
limits access and risk.
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The Siege Play Area so kids can learn how to
storm castles.
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The Officers' New Barracks, designed in 1850
and built from 1856-1858.
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Don't push the red button! St. Mary's Church in the background.
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A 1942 WWII 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun, one of 4
in the East Battery.
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Sign describing the WWII East Battery anti-aircraft guns.
Or their best guesses.
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The ferry port and entrance/exit to Dover Harbor (Harbour).
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The Officers' New Barracks, built im 1858, is still
considered the new kid.
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Information on the Officers' New Barracks at Dover Castle.
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A panoramic view of St Mary's and
the Great Tower at Dover Castle.
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The haze lifted and we could see France, and their cliffs,
across Dover Strait.
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France's version of their white chalk cliffs, Cap Blanc-Nez,
(Cape White Nose),...(more)
Ruins of St. James Church
St.
James Church was a Norman-era church built in the 11th century,
restored in the 19th century, had its roof damaged from a nearby bomb
explosion in WWI, was restored in 1931, and destroyed by German artillery
fired from France in WWII. It was turned into a public space in 1970.
It is next to The White Horse pub, apparently the most popular place in
Dover for food and drink, and they were booked up for the rest of the
evening when we tried to go there for dinner.
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A panorama of the remains of the St. James
church from the “inside.”
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The stones in the Norman arch of the ruins of the St. James
church.
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Close up of stones in the arch in the ruins of the
St. James church.
2025 England Pictures
Part 1: Hunstanton (37 pictures)
Part 2: Castle Rising Castle (41 pictures)
Part 3: Ely (9 pictures)
Part 4: Dover Town and Cliffs (45 pictures)
Part 5: Dover Castle (136 pictures)
This page last modified Dec 23, 2025.
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