I was wondering if anyone had some detailed historic information about Dover Castle. I found some stuff on the English Heritage website as well as other places on the web but I didn't know if there was someplace with real specific information (details about construction, blueprints, living conditions, etc.)... I'm going to head to the library sometime this week to see if there are any books on the subject but just thought I'd post here for some additional help. Thanks in advance!
I haven't been there for years, but I remember it as being not at all picturesque: it was very grim and squat, like a prison, and the walls were incredibly thick in some places. And those wonderful photos bring back the walls with their bits of flint sticking into them... Try the Royal Engineers website, my great uncle was stationed there in World War II and had lots of stories about preparing for The Invasion (and so was David Niven stationed there for a brief spell).
Thanks so much - I would love to visit but its a bit expensive to fly from the US to Dover just to look at a castle ... Hopefully I'll be able to visit next year while studying abroad but the pictures are great. To Banzai: I guess the period when it was really in its prime - after Henry II built it up or even during the Napoleonic wars. It would be helpful to know generally how many people it could hold, who was housed there, what kind of living conditions were they, how impregnable was the castle really, etc. Also, what kind of condition are the walls / barriers in today? Would they need much repair to refortify the defenses? Thanks again!
Not really relevent to your question, but I thought I'd mention it anyway, I was christened there. Well, in the church in the picture above. I also used to sneak into the Castle pretty much every weekend, its probably my favourite place in the world. As for the condition, it is certainly not a ruin, it was still in use as a military base during the second world war. I just had a quick look and this seems quite a decent site to check: http://www.castlexplorer.co.uk/england/dover/dover.php. You might also be interested in the two napolionic forts in Dover, Fort Burgoyne is effectively an extension to the castle, and until a couple of years back was still used by the army. And the Drop Redoubt on the western heights is a truly spectacular ruin, about 5 miles long and rumoured to be connected to the castle/fort burgoyne via a lost tunnel running underneath the town. Its not maintained or open to the public, but there are plenty of places where the walls have crumbled so its easy to get in (I wasted a lot of my youth there too, very very spooky place!). I would strongly recommend you pay a visit if you ever get the chance, it'll be well worth your while.
