DEAL CASTLE

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Deal Castle, a Henrician artillery castle, was built in 1539 by Henry VIII as part of his chain of coastal defences in response to the growing threat of invasion at that time. The castle, which was designed to resemble a Tudor rose, was built, along with Sandown and Walmer Castles, to protect the good landing grounds and strategic anchorage between the Goodwin Sands and the coast; an area known as the Downs. A series of bulwarks, or earthen defences, were also built along the coast between the three castles.

The castle did not however see any action until the Civil War when it was captured during the Royalist revolt in Kent in 1648 and held for several weeks. The castle's defences continued to be maintained and repaired during the 18th and 19th centuries. However, the changes reflected a general change in its function from that of a decreasing military role to one of a more residential nature. The castle became the residence for the honorary post of Captain of the Cinque Ports. In 1951 the castle was taken over by the Ministry of Public Building and Works and it continues to be part of the Crown Estate and is now run by English Heritage.

Deal castle is built of Kentish ragstone, brick, and Caen stone reused from nearby dissolved religious houses. The castle has a circular, symmetrical plan and originally had 145 gun-ports on five tiers. At the centre of the castle is a three-storeyed circular tower, with six semicircular, slightly lower towers projecting from its external face. This is surrounded by a curtain wall with six low semicircular bastions with gun platforms on their upper levels for heavy guns. There was a continuous gallery known as the rounds at the basement level of the bastions that had 53 hand gun-ports to provide flanking fire of the bottom of the moat.
The castle buildings are further protected by a stone-lined dry moat and a gatehouse. The gatehouse was equipped with a number of defensive features including murder holes and a gun-port.

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[TR 37775220] Deal Castle [NR]. (1)

Deal Castle - 1539. The official residence of the Captain of the
Cinque Ports. (2)

Deal Castle ceased to be an official residence in 1951 when it was taken over by the Ministry of Public Building and Works and opened to the public. It is in excellent condition and as described in the Ministry Guide Book "Deal and Walmer Castles". A small museum is housed within the gatehouse. (3-4)

A description of the archaeology and history of the castle is in this source including photos, and plans. (5)

For further information on this castle please refer to these additional sources. The source: The History of the Kings Works has a detailed description of the castle. (6-20)

Deal castle was the largest of the three Downs castles and had a central tower surrounded by six semi-circular bastions. These in turn were positioned on six very large round and hollow bastions which were connected together by the curtain wall. The outer defence was a dry moat. The central tower had a gun platform as did the large bastions - with enough space for four guns. The castle had space for 66 guns on four tiers, as well as 53 gun-loops on a narrow gallery that ran around the curtain wall at basement level of the outer bastions. (21)

Deal Castle is one of the finest Henrician artillery castles in England and was built to defend the Downs' a stretch of water between the shore and Goodwin Sands. Its squat, rounded bastions were designed to deflect incoming fire and its gun platforms were equipped with sophisticated artillery. It also has 145 embrasures for close-quarter defence. Although it was never used for its original purpose to defend against foreign invaders, it was captured by Royalist forces during the Civil War and held for a number of weeks before surrendering to Parliamentary forces. The whole of the castle can be visited including the storerooms and captain's residence. (22)

The castle is the largest of a group of three - the other two are Walmer 2km to the south and Sandown 2km to the north - built between 1539-40 by Henry VIII in order to protect the strategic shallow semi-sheltered anchorage between the Goodwin Sands and the coast, known as the Downs. They were financed from the proceeds raised by the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It is built of Kentish ragstone, brick, and Caen stone reused from nearby disused religious houses. It was designed around an essentially circular, symmetrical plan and originally had up to 145 gunports or embrasures on five tiers. At the centre is a three-storeyed circular tower, with six semicircular, slightly lower towers projecting from its external face. The central tower or citadel provided accommodation for the permanent garrison, originally a captain, deputy, porter and 16 gunners, with the officers' accommodation on the upper floor. The ground floor also housed a kitchen and bakery (the ovens and fireplace survive). The basement was used to store ammunition and supplies.

Surrounding the citadel beyond a narrow ward are six low semicircular bastions connected by a curtain wall which provided platforms on their upper levels for heavy guns. Within the outer wall of the basement of the bastions, facing into the moat, is a continuous gallery known as the rounds, pierced by 53 hand-gun ports which gave complete coverage of the bottom of the moat. These were equipped with smoke vents over the ports and there are L-shaped ammunition lockers. Contemporary illustrations show that the citadel and outer bastions were originally capped by broad rounded parapets pierced by gun embrasures. The castle buildings are further protected by a stone-lined dry moat originally crossed on its western, landward side by a wooden drawbridge. A portcullis originally fronted the iron studded oak door. Defensive features incorporated within the gatehouse include five murder holes a gunport in the back wall covering the doorway and a staggered approach to the ward and citadel. The defences were originally augmented by a series of bulwarks, or earthen defences, built along the coast between the castle and its sister castles at Walmer and Sandown.

The castle saw no action until the Civil War when, during the Royalist revolt in Kent in 1648, it was captured and held out against Parliamentary forces for several weeks. Its defences continued to be maintained during the late 17th and 18th centuries and during the Napoleonic wars.

Substantial alterations carried out during the early 18th century reflected the decreasing military importance of the castle. These included the construction of a captain's lodging house and the conversion of many of the gun embrasures into casement windows. In 1802 further alterations were made and the lodging house was demolished and rebuilt, serving as a residence for the holder of the now honorary post of Captain until destroyed by an enemy bomb during World War II.

For a full description of the site please refer to the source. (23)

SOURCE TEXT

( 1) Ordnance Survey Map (Scale / Date)

OS 25" 1958

( 2) List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest

MHLG (1035/11/A June 1947) Page(s)18-19

(3) A D Saunders 1963 Deal and Walmer Castles [guide book]

(4) Field Investigators Comments

F1 ASP 18-JUN-64

(5) A D Saunders 1988 Deal and Walmer Castles [guide book]

1988 Page(s)5-17, 21-9

(6) B H St J O'Neil 1987 Deal Castle, Kent : an English Heritage handbook

(7) by H M Colvin ... [et al] 1982 The history of the King's Works, volume 4 : 1485-1660 (Part 2)

Page(s)369,374,404-5,457-61

(8) by B H St.J. O'Neil 1953 Castles : an introduction to the castles of England and Wales

Page(s)24

(9) by D Bennett 1977 A handbook of Kent's defences from 1540 until 1945

Page(s)30

(10) by Sidney Toy 1953 The castles of Great Britain

Page(s)266, 267

(11) by Sidney Toy 1955 A history of fortification, from 3000 BC to AD 1700

Page(s)246

(12) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

(WL Rutton) 23, 1898 Page(s)24-30

(13) Kent Archaeological Society Archaeologia Cantiana : being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent

(A Saunders) 126, 1969 Page(s)217-219

(14) by David J Cathcart King 1983 Castellarium anglicanum : an index and bibliography of the castles in England, Wales and the islands. Volume I : Anglesey - Montgomery

Page(s)229

(15) by R Allen Brown 1976 English castles

Page(s)110

(16) edited by William Page 1908 The Victoria history of the county of Kent, volume one

The Victoria history of the counties of England Page(s)440

(17) Country Life

(A Oswald) 88, 1940 Page(s)190-4

(18) Country Life

(CJ Cornish) 17, 105 Page(s)656-7

(19) by John Newman 1983 North east and east Kent

The buildings of England Page(s)282-3

(20) JD MACKENZIE 1897 CASTLES OF ENGLAND

Page(s)13

(21) Harrington, Peter 2007 The Castles of Henry VIII

Page(s)20-21

(22) 2009 English Heritage Visitor Handbook 2009/10

Page(s)55

(23) Scheduled Monument Notification

28-JUN-1996

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