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Dover

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

                Dover, Kent

   Image:dot4gb.svg
                 Statistics
   Population:          39,078 (2001)
              Ordnance Survey
   OS grid reference:   TR315415
               Administration
   District:            Dover
   Shire county:        Kent
   Region:              South East England
   Constituent country: England
   Sovereign state:     United Kingdom
                   Other
   Ceremonial county:   Kent
   Historic county:     Kent
                  Services
   Police force:        Kent Police
   Fire and rescue:     {{{Fire}}}
   Ambulance:           South East Coast
         Post office and telephone
   Post town:           DOVER
   Postal district:     CT
   Dialling code:       01304
                  Politics
   UK Parliament:       Dover
   European Parliament: South East England

   Dover is a major channel port in the English county of Kent. At the
   2001 census, the town of Dover proper had a population of 28,156
   inhabitants, while the population of the whole urban area of Dover, as
   calculated by the Office for National Statistics, was 39,078
   inhabitants. (External reference: ). The town is the administrative
   centre of the Dover district.

   Dover is famous for its white cliffs, which are made of chalk. The
   cliffs gave Britain its nickname of Albion, meaning "white". The town's
   name derives from the Brythonic Dubrās ("the waters").

   Its closeness to continental Europe – it is only 34 kilometres (21
   miles) from the French port of Calais – makes Dover one of the United
   Kingdom's busiest cross-Channel ports, with 18 million passengers
   passing through each year. Regular ferry services operate from Dover to
   Calais and Dunkerque. A regular catamaran service to Boulogne
   recommenced in May 2004. Catamaran services provided by Hoverspeed to
   Ostend were withdrawn in 2003, and to Calais on 7 November 2005.
   Hoverspeed had previously operated hovercraft services to and from
   Calais and Boulogne for many years.

   Dover is represented in Parliament by the Labour MP Gwyn Prosser.

   Since 1836 the town of Dover (originally being the two parishes of
   Dover St. Mary's and Dover St. James) has incorporated the ancient
   villages and parishes of Buckland and Charlton. These are now suburbs
   of the town.

   Most of the western half of the town is in Hougham parish and a small
   part of the eastern section and Dover Castle are in Guston parish

   Maxton was once a hamlet of Hougham parish to the west of Dover, and
   the terminus of the tramway system serving the town until its closure
   in 1936. It is now a suburb of the town.

History

   As the closest point in Britain to France, Dover has been strategically
   important, vulnerable to invasion and an important port for millennia.

Bronze Age

   In 1992, a waterlogged boat was discovered in a depth of 6 m that dates
   to the Bronze Age and is one of the oldest seagoing vessels ever
   recovered. It has been dated by the radiocarbon method to ca. 1550 BC.

   The Langdon Bay hoard, discovered in 1974 off the Dover coast contains
   bronze axes of a French type and may represent the cargo of a sunken
   vessel, thus demonstrating cross-channel trade already for the Bronze
   Age, if not earlier. Both this hoard and the boat are on display in a
   new purpose-built gallery of the Dover Museum in Market Square.

Roman

   In Roman times it became an important fortified port named Portus
   Dubris. Dover was the starting point of the Watling Street Roman road,
   and was an important harbour of the Classis Britannica.

   In around AD 50 the Romans built two lighthouses, one on either side of
   the then-river- estuary (now silted-up, one on the Western Heights
   whose few remains are now within the Drop Redoubt, and the other which
   still stands to its full height in the grounds of Dover Castle, making
   it one of the oldest buildings in Britain. The " Painted House" is a
   Roman mansio from about AD 200 and one of the best preserved Roman
   houses in Britain. On the same site and nearby there is also a Classis
   Britannica fort and the Saxon Shore Fort which was built over them
   both.

Anglo-Saxon and Norman, to 1200

   Dover seafront, with the castle overlooking the beach.
   Enlarge
   Dover seafront, with the castle overlooking the beach.

   After the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, William the Conqueror and
   his forces marched to Westminster Abbey for his coronation. They took a
   roundabout route, via Romney, Dover, Canterbury, Surrey and Berkshire.
   From the Cinque Ports's foundation in 1050, Dover has always been a
   chief member - it may also have been this that first attracted
   William's attention, and got Kent the motto of Invicta. In the words of
   William of Poitiers:

          Then he marched to Dover, which had been reported impregnable
          and held by a large force. The English, stricken with fear at
          his approach had confidence neither in their ramparts nor in the
          numbers of their troops ... While the inhabitants were preparing
          to surrender unconditionally, [the Normans], greedy for booty,
          set fire to the castle and the great part of it was soon
          enveloped in flames...[William then paid for the repair and]
          having taken possession of the castle, the Duke spent eight days
          adding new fortifications to it'.

   Archaeological evidence suggests that a new castle was constructed near
   the Saxon church of St. Mary de Castro in what is now Dover Castle,
   rather than or as well as repairing the old burgh.

   The Domesday Book of only 20 years later states that before the
   conquest Dover's value had been £18 but was now £40. Clearly Dover had
   quickly been rebuilt.

   The Normans also built the churches of St Mary the Virgin, Dover (on
   the foundations of a Roman structure - it still stands) and of St.
   James the Apostle (as an aisleless nave with a short tower - perhaps on
   the site of a Saxon church partly destroyed in 1066 - destroyed in
   World War Two, ruins visible) and reconstituted the Saxon monastic
   church of St Martin le Grand, as well as founding a new Dover Priory on
   another site, also dedicated to St. Martin. Several surviving buildings
   and various ruins of Dover Priory have been incorporated in to Dover
   College

Medieval

   Dover Harbour viewed from the Castle
   Enlarge
   Dover Harbour viewed from the Castle
   Dover Harbour viewed from a plane
   Enlarge
   Dover Harbour viewed from a plane

   St Martin le Grand dominated Market Square, being over 150 feet long.
   It housed the altars of three parish churches; St. Mary, St. Nicholas
   and St. John the Baptist and had the churches of St. Peter and St.
   James subordinate to it. The church was finally dismantled around 1540
   although the remains of some of the walls survived into the 19th
   century.

   In 1216, Dover was attacked by the French and successfully defended
   from Dover Castle by Hubert de Burgh - it was less lucky in 1295 when
   10,000 French burnt most of Dover to the ground. It nevertheless
   flourished as the closest port to the continent.

   Medieval buildings:
     * Maison Dieu

Tudors

   Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, both threatened by continental
   invasion,also made improvements to Dover's defences, both the castle
   and Moat Bulwark (making a personal visit to the castle to do so).

Stuarts

   During the Civil War Dover declared for the king but was captured by
   the Parliamentarians without a siege. Charles II landed here at the
   restoration and on May 26, 1670 signed a secret treaty here ending
   hostilities with Louis XIV of France.

Napoleonic Wars

   Dover became a garrison town heavily defended against the threat of
   French invasion. Napoleon's troops, gathered at Boulogne, could be seen
   from Dover on a clear day.

   At first earthen batteries were built along the seafront and across the
   Western Heights (to supplement the medieval castle, which had been
   superseded by developments in military technology and artillery). These
   were later improved in 1804 with a massive building programme in stone
   and brick on the Western Heights, creating two cutting-edge forts, deep
   brick-lined ditches, and the Grand Shaft, a unique 140ft triple
   staircase, linking the town to the forts and enabling troops from the
   hilltop barracks to be rapidly deployed at the seafront.

19th century

   Between 1801 and 1901 the population increased by 600 percent. The
   habour was finally rebuilt as a set of artificial moles, and the town
   tried to become a seaside resort by building a pleasure pier, ice rink,
   bathing machines and impressive seafront crescents of hotels and
   apartments. The railways arrived and cross-channel traffic boomed - the
   town were even combined with boat trains and the Golden Arrow service.
   A Map of Dover from 1945
   Enlarge
   A Map of Dover from 1945

20th century

   In the 20th century Dover became the centre of English Channel defense
   during World War I, as the base for the Dover Patrol.
   The white cliffs of Dover
   Enlarge
   The white cliffs of Dover

   In World War I it was, with Folkestone, one of the main troop
   embarkation ports for France. It was also bombed by airplanes and
   zeppelins (the first bomb to be dropped on England fell near Dover
   Castle on Christmas Eve 1914) and shelled by passing warships. This
   forced residents to shelter in caves and dug-outs. The town became
   known as 'Fortress Dover' and was put under martial law. In World War
   II this developed into sustained bombing and shelling by cross-channel
   guns, causing 3,059 alerts, killing 216 civilians, and damaging 10,056
   premises. A series of underground caves and tunnels in the cliffs were
   used as air-raid shelters (and as a military base, coordinating
   Operation Dynamo, whose ships landed at Dover) during the war and Dover
   became a wartime symbol as part of East Kent's ' Hellfire Corner'.

Education

     * See also Dover Grammar School for BoysSpecialist Business College
     * Astor College for the Arts - the first specialist Arts College in
       Kent Astor College Website
     * Dover Grammar School for Girls
     * St Edmund's Roman Catholic School: Specialist College for the
       Performing Arts
     * Archers Court Maths and Computing College
     * South Kent College
     * Dover College
     * Duke of Yorks Royal Military School
     * The Harbour School

   And various primary schools including:
     * Melbourne School
     * Temple Ewell
     * River
     * Guston
     * Priory Fields
     * St Martin's
     * St Richard's
     * St Mary's
     * St Radigund's
     * Aycliffe
     * Vale View
     * Whitfield
     * Shatterlocks Infants School
     * Barton Junior School
     * Charlton Primary School

Sport

   Dover Athletic F.C. are Dover's football team. They are a non-league
   side.

   Dover Life Guard Club are Dover's competitive swimming club.

   Dover Sharks R.F.C. are Dover's competitive Rugby Union team. They are
   non- league.

Places of interest

     * Dover Castle ( Wikipmapia)
     * Admiralty Pier Turret
     * Dover Western Heights
     * Fort Burgoyne
     * North Downs Way
     * Roman Painted House
     * Saxon Shore Way

   Other interesting places:
     * Dover Transport Museum Dover Transport Mus Website
     * Dover Museum, and Bronze Age Boat Dover Museum Website
     * Kearsney Abbey
     * Russell Gardens
     * Samphire Hoe Nature Reserve
     * Cowgate Nature Reserve
     * Connaught Park
     * Seafront promenade
     * St Edmund's Chapel
     * Dover Port Dover Harbour Board

Famous Residents

     * Joss Stone born Joscelyn Eve Stoker was born in Dover's Buckland
       Hospital in 1987 before moving to Ashill, Devon at the age of 6.
     * Charlotte Bellamy the actress who plays Laurel Potts in Emmerdale
       was born in Dover.
     * Topper Headon of 'The Clash' fame now lives in River on the
       outskirts of Dover
     * Shane Taylor the actor was born and raised in Dover attending
       Dover's Astor College for the Arts where his father is the
       caretaker and groundsman.

Health Care

     * Dover has one hospital, Buckland Hospital located in a former
       Victorian workhouse on Coombe Valley Road. The town once had 4
       hospitals, Buckland, Royal Victoria, Isolation and the Eye
       Hospitals located at various points across the town plus the hidden
       Underground Hospital underneath Dover Castle which was a secret
       hospital for use during World War 2.

   Buckland Hospital is currently threatened with closure and a local
   campaign backed by the Dover Soul Website and various local
   organisations are trying to stop the cuts facing the hospital.

   Buckland Hospital also has a hospital radio station founded in 1968,
   the Gateway Hospital Broadcasting Service is the oldest hospital radio
   station in East Kent.

Mayors

   The current mayor is:
     * Jan Tranter (2006 - 2007)

   The mayor's term runs from May to May and they are a member of Dover
   Town Council. The previous mayor was Jan's husband Ken Tranter from
   2005 - 2006.

Twin Towns

     * United States Huber Heights, Ohio
     * France Calais, France
     * Croatia Split, Croatia

Location

   Wikimapia

Publications

     * Statham, History of Dover, with a bibliography (London, 1899)

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
