Three Days in Kent — Day 2

Dover: the Castle, Cliffs and Tunnels (and the Romans, of course)

The white chalk cliffs of Dover are one of the most iconic features of England. They were referenced by William Shakespeare in King Lear, Act IV, Scene I. Long a navigational feature for the sailor, the cliffs are referenced in the sea shanty “Spanish Ladies.” The cliffs even formed the basis of the most popular WW II tune, “(There’ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover,” sung by Vera Lynn. In fact, the cliffs have been referred to in music as recently as 1994.

Dover Castle on the top of the cliffs. ©2019, EnglandForAllReasons.com

On top of the cliffs sits the Dover Castle, originally built by William the Conqueror in 1066 shortly after the Battle of Hastings, and now managed by English Heritage. The castle was rebuilt for Henry II, King John and Henry III but declined in significance as a military venue as Henry VIII built additional forts along the coast. In the 1740s the castle regained importance with the development of heavy artillery. Tunnels were dug into the cliffs as part of the remodeling of the defenses in the Napoleonic Wars, adding space for an additional 2,000 soldiers.

During WW II the Dover tunnels were expanded and modernized with electricity, communications, a hospital and offices for executing the war effort. It was thought to be a first line of defense if the Germans were to try crossing the Channel. When the British Expeditionary Force was trapped at Dunkirk, Operation Dynamo, the emergency evacuation of over 300,000 troops from that beach back to England, was commanded from the Dover tunnel location. Today, you can take an underground tour of the tunnels to see what it may have been like. The hospital there was a first stop for aviators who had to crash or parachute into the Channel during the Battle of Britain in 1940. Those aviators were British, Polish and even German.

The Roman pharos, or lighthouse, at the top of the Dover cliffs. ©2019, EnglandForAllReasons.com

Today the castle is open for tours for one to walk through to see how it served the English from 1066 to 1945. In addition, on top of the hill there is a “pharos,” a Roman lighthouse, that the Romans used to guide ships from France to England during dark days or low visibility days. That pharos is supposedly the oldest building in UK, dating from the Roman invasion of England in 43 AD.

There is also a lookout point just down the hill from the tunnel entrance where you can get a reasonable view of the white cliffs. However, to get a real view of the cliffs, you need to be out in the Channel, or even in France. On a good day, you can see from England to France clearly.

Trucks (lorries) lined up to get on the ferry to France. ©2019, EnglandForAllReasons.com

Today Dover is best known as a port for ferries traveling to and from the Continent. It is pretty amazing to see the number of large trucks pouring off of the ferries or waiting to go onboard them. Even post-Brexit, the flow of traffic crossing the Channel is undiminished.  We heartily recommend a day trip to Dover as part of the three days in Kent. Walking the castle and tunnels will be a pretty full day, so we recommend you spend at least a full day there.