Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The some of the earliest evidence for human activity at Dover Castle dates to the Iron Age and is the possible site of an Iron Age Hillfort, though the evidence for this is largely circumstantial. This evidence is based on the form of the castle earthworks and the strategic and commercial value of the haven within the gap in the cliffs at Dover which would have made its defence important to the first inhabitants and traders here. (location accurate to the nearest 100m based on available information)

Monument Types

• HILLFORT (Iron Age - 800 BC? to 42 AD?)

Full description

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Some of the earliest evidence for human activity at Dover Castle dates to the Iron Age and it is possibly the site of an Iron Age Hillfort, though the evidence for this is largely circumstantial. This evidence is based on the form of the castle earthworks and the strategic and commercial value of the haven within the gap in the cliffs at Dover which would have made its defence important to the first inhabitants and traders here. (1) Though the evidence of a Hillfort here is still tenuous, Iron Age occupation of Dover Castle has been proven. The proof was obtained during the excavation of a deep trench through the large rampart and mound immediately south of St Mary-in-Castro, undertaken in the 1960’s. At the lowest level, in otherwise undisturbed soil, several pits, a gully and floor levels were revealed all of which were associated with pottery dating to the 1st Century BC. The latest of the Iron Age levels also revealed pottery and tile dating to the to the 1st Century AD, which is probably contemporary with the construction of the Roman lighthouse or Pharos here. (2-3)

The identification of a Hillfort rests on the field evidence; the irregular, outline of the castles defences is highly unusual for a major Medieval fortification. In part the shape of the Castle is dictated by use of the cliff to form an impregnable southern boundary. However, once that is taken into account, if the medieval military engineers had been faced with a comparatively open downland site, they would have almost certainly laid out a more regular defence plan. (4) The irregular shape and massive enclosed area does not resemble a typical medieval castle plan, and the southern half contained virtually no medieval buildings. (5) A depiction of the earthworks shown on plan of the castle dating to 1756 supports this idea that the footprint of the castle resembles a defended enclosure – a hillfort – of the late pre-Roman Iron Age. In this plan there are additional earthworks outside and parallel to the castle wall. On the east, two more banks with ditches are shown, and on the south-west a large semi-circular earthwork lies against the wall, spanning what is now Canon’s Gate. (6) The depiction seems too precise to be simply a representation of geological ‘benching’ of the hillside. It resembles multiple ramparts, a feature associated with hillforts. An unusual feature brought out by the 1756 plan is a dog-leg in the eastern outer wall, known as Avranches Flank, and the offset rampart and ditch to each side. There is no apparent logic to this in terms of the medieval castle, except perhaps that Avranches Flank was necessary to close a gap in pre-existing earthworks, where there was an entrance to the hillfort. In other words, the rampart and ditch were deliberately offset to form an oblique entrance to the hillfort. (7) if it is indeed the case that Dover Castle is the site of an iron Age Hillfort it would have been roughly triangular in shape, measuring a maximum of 300m north-south and 200m east-west with the cliff at its southern extremity preventing attack from this direction.

<1> English Heritage, 2014, Dover Castle Conservation Management Plan Volume 1 Main Text (Unpublished document). SKE52104.

<2> E. H. Bayly, 1962, KAS Annual Report 1962: Activities around Dover, Arch Cant 77 1962 xlviii (EH Bayly) (Article in serial). SKE7873.

<3> M. Biddle, 1964, Medieval Archaeology: Medieval Britain in 1962 and 1963; Kent: Dover (Article in serial). SKE52161.

<4> Johnathan Coad, 1995, English Heritage Book of Dover Castle and the Defences of Dover (Monograph). SKE52106.

<5> English Heritage, 2014, Dover Castle Conservation Management Plan Volume 2 Gazetteer (Unpublished document). SKE52105.

<6> Unknown, 1756, Plan of Dover Castle dated 1756 (Plan). SKE52162.

<7> H. M. Colvin, 1959, Antiquity: An Iron Age Hillfort at Dover? (Article in serial). SKE52163.

Sources and further reading

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