Badly bombed during the
war, DOVER 's town authorities have put a lot of effort
and money into rebuilding attractions, particularly the early
Victorian New Bridge development along the Esplanade. Despite
such valiant attempts, Dover Castle is still by far the most
interesting of the numerous attractions which plug the port's
defensive history. Entertainment of a saltier nature is offered
by Dover's legendary White Cliffs , which dominate the town and
have long been a source of inspiration for lovers, travellers
and soldiers sailing off to war.
The town's chief attraction
is Dover Castle (daily: April-Sept 10am-6pm; Oct 10am-5pm; Nov-March
10am-4pm), a superbly positioned defensive complex, begun in
1168 and in continuous military use until the 1980s. The Romans
put Dover on the map when they chose its harbour as the base
for their northern fleet and erected a lighthouse here to guide
the ships into the river mouth. Beside the lighthouse stands
a Saxon-built church, St Mary in Castro , dating from the seventh
century, with motifs graffitied by irreverent Crusaders still
visible near the pulpit. Further up the hill is the impressive,
well-preserved Norman keep , built by Henry II as a palace. Inside,
there's an interactive exhibition on spying; you can also climb
its spiral stairs to the lofty battlements for views over the
sea to France. The castle's other main attraction
is its network of secret wartime tunnels dug during the Napoleonic
war. Extended during World War II and used as a headquarters
to plan the Dunkirk evacuation, " Hellfire Corner "
- the tunnels' wartime nickname - can be seen on a fifty-minute
guided tour (every 20min). The tour is spiced up with a little
gore, and reveals the quaintly low-tech communications systems
and war rooms of the Navy's command post.
Postwar rebuilding has
made Dover town centre a grim place, but in 1970 the construction
of a car park on New Street did at least lead to the discovery
of an ancient guest house. The Roman Painted House (April-Sept
Tues-Sun 10am-5pm) possesses some reasonable Roman wall paintings,
the remains of an underground Roman heating system and some mosaics
- it's worth a look if you've some extra time. The nearby Dover
Museum on the Market
Square (daily: April-Oct 10am-6pm; Nov-March 10am-5.30pm) has
three floors packed with informative displays on Dover's past,
including a restored Bronze Age boat discovered in the town in
1992 - and a stuffed polar bear.
The high ground to the
west of town, originally the site of a Napoleonic-era fortress,
retains one interesting oddity, the Grand Shaft (July & Aug
Tues-Sun 2-5pm), a triple staircase, entered on Snargate Street
(opposite the Hoverport access road), by which troops could descend
at speed to defend the port in case of attack.
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