insideKENT Magazine Issue 63 - June 2017 | Page 39

TOWNSPOTLIGHT
Spotlight on
DOVER
IMAGES © DOVER DISTRICT COUNCIL
Dover is more than a castle, although the castle is magnificent. It’s more than
sole, although it has a lot of soul. IT’S MORE THAN WHITE CLIFFS, ALTHOUGH ITS
HISTORY IS A RATHER IMPRESSIVE ONE… DOVER IS MORE THAN THE SUM OF ITS
PARTS, A BEAUTIFUL PLACE TO LIVE THAT IS PART OF KENT’S MARITIME AND
WARTIME HISTORY AND THAT IS THERE TO REMIND US JUST HOW LOVELY A
COUNTY WE ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO LIVE IN. BY LISAMARIE LAMB
HISTORY IN BRIEF
Known as the ‘lock and key of England’ Dover
has always held a strong position when it came
to fighting off invaders, and did so right up
until the end of the Second World War. It was
one of the famous Cinque Ports, a group of
towns grouped together for defence purposes
in 1050.
Although there is evidence of Neolithic and
Bronze Age settlements in the area in and
around Dover, the place was really put on the
map (literally) when the Romans came to
Britain. They used the port of Dover (Portus
Dubris as they called it) as the base for their
navy, understanding at once just what a
protected yet strategically useful spot it was.
When the Romans left, the Jutes moved in,
and then the Anglo Saxons. Each different
group of people added to the importance of
Dover so that by the time King William I
created the Domesday Book in 1086, Dover
was the most important place in Kent; and
was the first mentioned in the Kent section of
the book.
Dover’s defences weren’t always successful,
however, and in 1295 most of the town was
set on fire by an invading French force. By the
time the Tudor period arrived, Henry VIII
ensured that improvements were made, and
that included strengthening the castle itself.
Elizabeth I finished the work her father started.
During the 1800s, the population of Dover
increased by around 600 percent. This was
partly due to the port, partly about fishing and
the jobs available and partly because Dover
was becoming a fashionable seaside town.
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