Deal Castle, Kent

22nd June 2015

The largest of the “castles of the Downs” (Sandown, Walmer and Deal)

 1539 - 1540 - castle built under the orders of Henry VIII
1539 - Anne of Cleeves briefly stayed at the castle on her way to marry Henry VIII
1642 - Civil War - all three castle of the Downs were under Parliamentary control
1648 - Kentish uprising, all three castles were taken by a small fleet of Royalist naval vessels
Colonel Rich appointed captain of the castle and set about repairing the castle
1652-1654/1665-1667/1672-1674 - Dutch Wars - a garrison was maintained at the castle throughout this times and whilst several fleets sailed passed the castle saw no action
1720s - castle renovated into more comfortable accommodation

This castle was interesting and had a nice, easy layout to get around. The shape of the castle form the air forms the shape of the Tudor rose. The castle keep is circular and the rooms on the ground floor contain original features. The first floor was not as big as we thought and the rooms were unusual, but there are pictures of the Captains of Deal – which is interesting.  The exhibition in the basement was also interesting and we loved “the Rounds” (passageways that go around the whole circumference of the castle).

Owned by English Heritage
Designated car park 
Shop
Guidebook, audio tour – though we didn’t find this as good as the others – it went very quickly
Dogs are not allowed

We would recommend doing this castle with Walmer castle and gardens as they are so close to each other. The third of the “castles of the Downs”, Sandown castle is quite ruined now and is not open to the public. 

N & K

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