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Monument details

HER Number:TR 34 SW 877
Type of record:Listed Building
Name:DOVER CASTLE KEEP

Summary

Grade I listed building. Located centrally within the inner bailey of Dover Castle. The great tower/ Keep was constructed in 1180-89 to provide a secure fortress and royal accommodation. The building is a square with three principal floors and a partial fourth - the mural gallery. The building’s primary materials are Kent ragstone rubble with Caen stone dressings. There have been numerous alterations to the keep throughout its life most notably in the C15th and C18th. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Images

Dover Castle   © Kent County CouncilDover Castle   © Ian GilesDover Castle   © Ian GilesDover Castle in the Snow   © Ian GilesDover Castle in the snow   © Ian Giles
Grid Reference:TR 32480 41947
Map Sheet:TR34SW
Parish:DOVER, DOVER, KENT

Monument Types

  • KEEP (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1180 AD to 1740 AD)
  • BARRACKS (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1740 AD to 1960 AD)
  • MAGAZINE (Disused, Post Medieval to Modern - 1740 AD to 1960 AD)
Protected Status:Listed Building (I) 1070326: DOVER CASTLE; Scheduled Monument 1019075: DOVER CASTLE

Full description

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The great tower/ Keep was constructed in 1180-89 to provide a secure fortress and royal accommodation. The building is a square with three principal floors and a partial fourth - the mural gallery. On the south and east sides is a two storey forebuilding, which houses the main entrance and a staircase providing access the tower at second floor level. The building’s primary materials are Kent ragstone rubble with Caen stone dressings. Excluding the forebuilding, the great tower is roughly 30 metres square in plan and 25.3 metres tall. Clasping buttresses rise from the four angles to form turrets above parapet level and there are pilaster buttresses at the mid-point of each elevation. (A small opening at the base of the northwest pilaster buttress provides access to a garderobe pit which serves three storeys of mural latrines above it. Above a battered plinth the internal arrangement is articulated externally by string courses at each floor. Each of the floors within the tower contains two principal chambers either side of a spine wall. Various mural chambers are set into the thickness of the exterior wall and are reached from the principal chambers. The second floor rooms are thought to have been of the highest status. The rooms on the second floor are served by a chapel in the forebuilding, while a second chapel on the first floor was originally reached only through the main entrance at the base of the forebuilding steps. A very deep well is contained within the main building in a small mural chamber just inside the second-floor entrance. Lead piping was used to distribute the water throughout the building. A second water source, rainwater from the roof, was collected in a stone cistern in a small chamber at second floor level in the forebuilding. There are four external entrances to the great tower. The forebuilding entrance and an adjacent doorway to the basement (originally protected by three doors – the arrangement for drawbars survives) date from the 12th century, while the basement doorways on the east and west elevations date from the late 18th century. Numerous alterations have been made to the keep throughout its history, most notably in the 15th and 18th centuries. (1-4)

Eight samples from timbers in the keep were analysed. The samples indicated that the timbers have a felling date in the range of 1254 - 74 AD. These timbers, therefore, do not relate to the original construction of the keep, but to later work in the late 13th century. (5)

Dover Castle is a Scheduled ancient monument and the Keep is a GI Listed building. Reasons for designation are ‘Due to its strategically important position overlooking the Straits of Dover and the shortest route to the Continent, the medieval royal castle at Dover developed from its presumed origins an Iron Age hillfort to become one of the most elaborate and heavily defended fortresses in Europe. Although medieval castles generally show a great deal of variety in form, the defences at Dover demonstrate an unusually high degree of technical innovation and engineering skill. Henry II's great keep was both the last and the technically most ambitious of its kind in England and the defences of the outer bailey, planned and begun before Henry's death, pre-empted the concentric castles of the 13th century by almost half a century. Despite later modifications, the medieval castle is unusual in surviving in such a complete state. Its importance is further enhanced by its royal connections and the survival of detailed documentary sources relating to its construction, and to the sieges of 1067 and 1216.’ (6)

Additional information and bibliography (7-19)


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

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

<3> Johnathan Coad, 1995, English Heritage Book of Dover Castle and the Defences of Dover (Monograph). SKE52106.

<4> E. G. J. Amos, 1931, Archaeologia Cantiana: Norman Waterworks in the Keep of Dover Castle (Article in serial). SKE52128.

<5> Centre for Archaeology, 2001, Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Dover Castle Keep, Dover Castle, Dover (Unpublished document). SKE12163.

<6> English Heritage, 1965, Dover Castle (Scheduling record). SKE6594.

<7> Andrew Saunders, 1997, Channel Defences, p 29, 39, 68, 81, 85-87, 95, 96, 105, 110, 120 (Monograph). SKE7836.

<8> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<9> Ralegh Radford, C. A., 1959, Dover Castle (Monograph). SKE7864.

<10> Ralegh Radford, C. A., 1959, Dover Castle, MOW Dover Castle 1959 (CA Ralegh Radford) (Monograph). SKE7864.

<11> Victor Smith and Andrew Saunders, 2001, Kent's Defence Heritage, KD197 (Unpublished document). SKE6956.

<12> Allen Brown, R, 1988, Dover Castle (Monograph). SKE7865.

<13> Bennett, D., 1977, A Handbook of Kent's Defences 1540-1945, Handbook of Kent's Defences 1540 1945 1977 17 25 (D Bennett) (Monograph). SKE7811.

<14> Stratham, S. P. H., 1899, History of Dover (Monograph). SKE7834.

<15> Burridge, David., 1997, 20th Century Defences in Britain: Kent (Monograph). SKE7838.

<16> DOE (HHR) Dist of Dover 1973 4 (OS Card Reference). SKE40241.

<17> F2 ASP 20.05.64 (OS Card Reference). SKE43139.

<18> Handbook of Kent's Defences 1540 1945 1977 17 25 (D Bennett) (OS Card Reference). SKE43666.

<19> OS 6" 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48369.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
<1>Unpublished document: English Heritage. 2014. Dover Castle Conservation Management Plan Volume 1 Main Text.
<2>XYUnpublished document: English Heritage. 2014. Dover Castle Conservation Management Plan Volume 2 Gazetteer. [Mapped feature: #25836 Keep, ]
<3>Monograph: Johnathan Coad. 1995. English Heritage Book of Dover Castle and the Defences of Dover.
<4>Article in serial: E. G. J. Amos. 1931. Archaeologia Cantiana: Norman Waterworks in the Keep of Dover Castle. Vol 43 pp 167-172.
<5>Unpublished document: Centre for Archaeology. 2001. Tree-Ring Analysis of Timbers from Dover Castle Keep, Dover Castle, Dover.
<6>Scheduling record: English Heritage. 1965. Dover Castle.
<7>Monograph: Andrew Saunders. 1997. Channel Defences. p 29, 39, 68, 81, 85-87, 95, 96, 105, 110, 120.
<8>Map: English Heritage. List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.
<9>Monograph: Ralegh Radford, C. A.. 1959. Dover Castle.
<10>Monograph: Ralegh Radford, C. A.. 1959. Dover Castle. MOW Dover Castle 1959 (CA Ralegh Radford).
<11>Unpublished document: Victor Smith and Andrew Saunders. 2001. Kent's Defence Heritage. KD197.
<12>Monograph: Allen Brown, R. 1988. Dover Castle.
<13>Monograph: Bennett, D.. 1977. A Handbook of Kent's Defences 1540-1945. Handbook of Kent's Defences 1540 1945 1977 17 25 (D Bennett).
<14>Monograph: Stratham, S. P. H.. 1899. History of Dover.
<15>Monograph: Burridge, David.. 1997. 20th Century Defences in Britain: Kent.
<16>OS Card Reference: DOE (HHR) Dist of Dover 1973 4.
<17>OS Card Reference: F2 ASP 20.05.64.
<18>OS Card Reference: Handbook of Kent's Defences 1540 1945 1977 17 25 (D Bennett).
<19>OS Card Reference: OS 6" 1961.

Related records

TR 34 SW 2483Parent of: Chapel within the Keep at Dover Castle, Kent (Building)
TR 34 SW 2485Parent of: Kitchen and medieval bread oven within the Keep at Dover Castle, Kent (Building)
TR 34 SW 2408Parent of: Medieval wall paintings within the Great Hall of the Keep, Dover Castle, Kent (Monument)
TR 34 SW 2538Parent of: Retaining wall over footing mound within the inner bailey of Dover Castle (Monument)
TR 34 SW 2482Parent of: The Kings chambers within the Keep at Dover Castle, Kent (Building)
TR 34 SW 2481Parent of: The Kings Hall within the Keep at Dover Castle, Kent (Building)
TR 34 SW 2477Parent of: Undated Drain, Inner Bailey of Dover Castle (Monument)
TR 34 SW 2480Parent of: Well and associated Norman waterworks within the Keep at Dover Castle, Kent (Monument)
TR 34 SW 5Part of: Dover Castle (Monument)

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