Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Queen Mary’s (formerly Port’s) Tower is one of a series of early 13th-century towers in the western defences of Dover Castle, dating from the reign of King John (1199-1216). This tower is in the southern length of King John’s building campaign on the outer curtain early in the 13th century, on the southern flank of the Constable’s Gateway. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• TOWER (Disused, Medieval to Modern - 1204 AD? to 2050 AD?)

Full description

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Queen Mary’s (formerly Port’s) Tower is one of a series of early 13th-century towers in the western defences of Dover Castle, dating from the reign of King John (1199-1216). This tower is in the southern length of King John’s building campaign on the outer curtain early in the 13th century, on the southern flank of the Constable’s Gateway.

The tower has an elaborated plan, and it is not certain how much of this is original. The plan of the base of the tower is rectangular, reduced to a D-shape at ground level by corner ‘spurs’; it has a rectangular extension on the north side with a large buttress at the north-west corner, and a sallyport between the buttress and main tower. The tower was reduced in height at the time of the Napoleonic wars, and later incorporated into the garden of the Constable’s Tower. The interior is one of the better preserved towers of this series, with the outer arch and voussoirs like those further south, and a front wall recessed in the arch, with a pointed door and loop beside and window above it. The interior of the main chamber is vaulted (with a pair of ‘squinches’ in the front wall to fill the gaps to the curved edge), and the door to the north leads into a stair turret with a (very rotten) timber stair descending to the sallyport. (summarised from sources) (1-2)

<1> English Heritage, 2014, Dover Castle Conservation Management Plan Volume 2 Gazetteer (Unpublished document). SKE52105.

<2> Johnathan Coad, 1995, English Heritage Book of Dover Castle and the Defences of Dover (Monograph). SKE52106.

Sources and further reading

Related records