17th October 2008 - by Ram Singh
Dover UK - 2,000 Years of Brave History
The English Channel is controlled by Dover in England and thus
called 'The Lock & Key of England.'
First Julius Caesar landed at Dover, in 55 BC to conquer
England and later many others like the Vikings and William the
Conqueror also invaded England through Dover.
Its history as a military and garrison town can be seen by its
massive extensive remains of its Roman forts, 19th century
forts and defences from both the world wars when it was
Britain's front line defence town.
Today Dover depends a lot on its port for survival, and it is
the busiest passenger ferry terminal in world, the busiest
cruise liner terminal in Britain and its freight, particularly
fruit and perishable goods come & go via massive reefer
cargo ships.
Only some few Stone Age axes have been found in Dover because
of its changing and restless sea coast.
The first known inhabitants of Dover's River Dour Valley were
the late Stone Age Farmers who came here by boats with corn
seeds and animals about 6000 years ago.
Britain's first ever found shipwreck (1100 BC) occurred in
Dover in the Bronze age as 350 bronze tools weapons and scrap
metal were found on its shore.
Over 45 Bronze Age Burial grounds were also found locally and
in 1992, when they were repairing a road in the town centre, a
large wooden boat from the Bronze Age was discovered in a deep
waterlogged hole.
During the Roman period, this British port which was the
closest to the rest of the Roman Empire, making Dover a
thriving trade town and it occupied about 5 hectares along the
Dour valley and they called this town DUBRIS after DUBRAS, the
British name meaning 'waters.'
The Roman Settlement had a massive harbour, flanked by two
lighthouses and three forts.
There are 60 locations from the Roman period still found in
Dover; some of these are like the Roman Painted House at Dover,
the Roman lighthouse or Pharos in Dover Castle grounds and
further a-field the Roman fort of Richborough near Sandwich.
Its museum has a large collection of Roman Samian.
After the 5th century when the Romans abandoned Britain, the
Germanic tribes crossed the North Sea to settle in Kent, which
at that time was called DOFRAS. It became an important
settlement for the Vikings in Kent.
Many Saxon discoveries have been made in the Dover area like
the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Buckland, which was found in 1951,
while building a new house estate there. 170 graves were also
found on this site, many containing weapons, jewellery and
household objects such as combs and pottery.
244 more graves were again found next to this point in Buckland
in 1994, making it the largest Anglo-Saxon cemetery in Britain.
Many timber buildings of the Saxon era were found in the centre
of Dover and a church (St Mary in Castro) within the castle
walls. The town was prosperous and well organized by the middle
of 10th century with its own mint and its cross channel trading
links.
In around 1050 the five ports of Dover, Sandwich, Hastings,
Rommey and Hythe joined together to provide ships and men to
King Edward the Confessor and they were called the Cinque
(meaning five in French) Ports. So by providing all these
things to the King, they received many rights and
privileges.
The battle of Hastings marked the end of the Saxon era on 14th
October 1066. William Duke of Normandy defeated and killed King
Harold and it was a resounding victory for the horsed Norman
knights over English foot soldiers.
After his victory at Hastings in 1066, William Duke (now better
known as William the conqueror) and his army moved to Dover,
pausing only to burn Rommey as he came, which then and now was
the shortest passage to France. After securing Dover he went
and took complete control of Canterbury and then the whole of
Surrey and Berkshire before entering London. He was crowned
King on Christmas Day in 1066 at Westminster Abbey.
The parish church of St. James the Apostle built during the
Saxon period was partly destroyed in 1066. In the 12th century
it is thought that the church had an aisleless nave with a
short tower, its ruins are still visible today.
After its defeat at the hands of William Duke, Saxon Dover was
rebuilt. There was a lot of improvement with trade in Dover and
carrying of passengers between France and England expanded
heavily. Great improvements were made to Dover Castle and by
1190AD the massive stone keep and inner walls or bailey
surrounding it were completed.
Then in 13th century many attacks were made by the French, one
of them almost successful 1216 in seizure of the castle by
Prince Louis and then a great raid of 1295 when most of Dover
was burnt to the ground by army of 10,000 strong soldiers from
France.
Most of the stone churches and religious houses in Dover were
built in the medieval history period.
Then Tudor and Stuart kings and queens took a keen interest in
Dover. Both Henry VIII and Elizabeth I knew the value of its
port, which was threatened by shingle, so they did expensive
repairs and enlargements of the port. King Henry also made
improvements in Dover's defences and built castles at Deal,
Sandown and Walmer to protect the Downs anchorage.
During the rule of Charles I, Dover declared against the King
in Civil War, but ultimately they welcomed his son Charles II
to Britain via Dover in 1660. From this period to when its
building of a large harbour in the 19th century, Dover's
finance were mostly dependant on its small port.
In the 18th and 19th centuries Dover became a town that had to
be defended from the Napoleonic French. First of all earthen
batteries were built along the sea front and across the Western
heights of Dover to increase its protection against cannon and
shells. There was again a need to strengthen Dover harbour
after the breakout of war with France in 1793. In 1804 when an
invasion was expected at any time, a great programme of
buildings in stone and brick were carried out on the Western
Heights and they created two forts and deep brick-lined
ditches. A 140ft staircase, the Grand Shaft, linked the forts
with the town.
The problem of shingle was removed in 1838. As a lot of money
was spent on this work and the local people getting tired of
the delays and they pressed the Govt. to take action fast. In
1840 the Govt. laid the ground for a tidal harbour that could
be used in any circumstances.
There were lots of changes taking place in the 19th century,
when railways and trams were built in Britain in 1844. It was
the South Eastern Company that built a line from London through
Folkestone, where all the steamers berthed, to Dover. In 1861 a
direct line from London to Dover was built by Chatham and Dover
Railway Company because they had their own steamers. Both these
companies were in a stiff competition until 1899 when they
formed a South Eastern and Chatham Company.
Dover's electric trams came in 1897 on two main routes - from
the Pier to Buckland Bridge and from Biggin Street to Maxton.
In 1905 they were further extended with half penny fares for
early morning workers. The complete form of the current harbour
was completed on 14 October 1909 by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales,
the future King George V.
The trams were removed in 1936 when the motor bus took
over.
Most of Dover's history in the 20th century consists mostly
about the two world wars. During the first world war most of
the military men crossed over for France through Dover. Most of
the shipping vessels collected in Dover's port and the first
bomb to hit England was near Dover's Castle in 1914. Most of
the aeroplanes and warships of the zeppelin forces attacked the
city and it was put under martial law.
During the second world war from 1939 to 1945, in May 1940
there was of course the evacuation from Dunkirk in France that
passed through Dover making it overflow with soldiers, sailors
and airmen.
Vice Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay controlled this process from
his headquarters under the tunnels below the castle and Dover
became a symbol for Britain's fortitude on all fronts.
Many of the "Must See" things connected to Dover's History can
be seen in Dover Museum.
Article Source: http://www.articlesabroad.com
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