Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The former sites of Clarence Lawn and Guildford Lawn are visible in this location on historic maps dating to the last decades of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. These were constructed over in the post war redevelopment of the town and are no longer present. (location accurate to the nearest 10m based on available information)

Monument Types

• GARDEN (Demolished, Post Medieval to Modern - 1828 AD? to 1950 AD?)

Full description

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The former sites of Clarence Lawn and Guildford Lawn are visible in this location on historic maps dating to the last decades of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries. Guilford Lawn ran from Marine Parade to Liverpool Street. Named after the Guilford family, a Lord Guilford of Waldershare was a member of the Harbour Board for many years, including the 1830s when these dwellings were built on Harbour Board land. Andrew de Guldeford was Constable of Dover Castle and Lord Warden in the 14th century. Sir Edward Guldeford held the same posts in the 16th century and the second Earl of Guilford was Lord Warden from 1779 to 1792. Clarence Lawn ran from Marine Parade to Liverpool Street. The Duke of Clarence, later William IV, visited Dover more than once, including accompanying the Russian Czar and the King of Prussia to Britain when Louis XVIII returned to France in 1814. Built around 1840, it was demolished following Second World War damage. The Gateway flats now cover the site. (1-5)

Van Milder in his “A short historical sketch of the town of Dover, and its neighbourhood” writes in 1828 that “in the arrangement of this newly built part of the town; the commissioners of the harbour, aided by their engineer, have displayed considerable taste, reserving in the formation two elegant and beautiful squares, the one to the eastward is called Clarence Lawn, and the other to the westward Guildford Lawn. These afford an airy and delightful appearance, and give to almost every house a sea view and the scenery of the shipping almost continually passing close to the eye, renders it the most admired situation on the coast as a summer residence” (6)

<1> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 1st edition 1862-1875): Landmark Epoch 1 (Map). SKE30964.

<2> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 2nd Edition, 1897-1900): Landmark Epoch 2 (Map). SKE30965.

<3> Landmark, 1907-1923, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 3rd Edition, 1907-1923): Landmark Epoch 3 (Map). SKE30966.

<4> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 4th Edition, 1929-1952): Landmark Epoch 4 (Map). SKE30967.

<5> The Dover Society, 2018, The Dover Society - Dover Streets Ancient and Modern A-Z (Website). SKE51676.

<6> William Van Mildert, 1828, A Short Historical sketch of the Town of Dover and its Neighbourhood. (Monograph). SKE32004.

Sources and further reading