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Sunday, 13 May 2012

Dover Castle

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Last week my friend and I went on a ‘photo shoot’ to Dover Castle, we are both interested in photography, so every now and then we take ourselves off on an outing, to improve our photography – well that is our excuse anyway! We had a lovely day taking photos, nattering, eating cake, taking photos, nattering….and for once the sun was shining! Readers of my old blog will probably remember my last visit to the Castle, it is great that we have so many castles in our area.

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Looking over the town of Dover and the harbour.

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The flags were flying for our visit….lol

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Looking over the English Channel with St Mary-in-Castro Saxon Church and the Pharos lighthouse.

I am sure that most people will have heard of this massive fortress, which overlooks the English Channel. There have been fortifications on the site for over 2000 years, with the present castle being built by Henry II in the 1180’s. I think this is most peoples idea of what a ‘real castle’ should look like!

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The throne room

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The thrones

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The Kings bed, which is very short, the reason for this is that in those days people slept sitting up not because they weren’t very tall!

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I could go to sleep very happily with this fire burning in my bedroom Smile

We started our tour by climbing to the top of the tower, the view from up there is just amazing, and from there we explored the inside of the tower, which a few years ago underwent a transformation into how the castle must have looked in 1180, when it was first completed. The top floor is the Kings quarters, with the guest floor below that, and the kitchens on the ground floor. The guide in the guest quarters was very informative, so we stood with him for a while in front of the roaring log fire. We had noticed the graffiti on lots of the walls, the graffiti dates back to the early 1700’s when the tower was used to hold French prisoners. I am sure in those days the tower must have been a very cold, uninviting place. It is thought that at one time the walls had panelling on them, which was probably used by the prisoners to build fires to attempt to keep themselves warm.

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The Dining Hall on the Guest floor.

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The guest quarters

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Fireside chair

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Another lovely fire on this floor.

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The kitchen on the ground floor.

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Examples of graffiti done by French prisoners of war in the early 1700’s

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Le Roi (The King) can be clearly seen in this one

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The guide showed us this one, it is hidden behind a curtain.

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Dated 23rd July 1710

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This one is dated 1708

Also situated on the Guest floor is the beautiful Chapel, there is no graffiti on the walls here, it is just a beautiful small, peaceful room.

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We decided not to go down into the Secret Wartime Tunnels this time, but we did go into the Medieval tunnels, and visited St Mary-in-Castro church which stands alongside the Roman Pharos (lighthouse) all of which were very interesting.

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The Medieval tunnels

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The Roman Pharos

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Inside the Roman Pharos, looking up!

I have used some photos taken at an earlier date, as well as those taken last week, I hope you enjoy the photos, my friend and I had a great day out, we are now plotting where to go next…..

9 comments:

  1. the colors of the bedding and furniture are interesting! very bright!

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  2. You're lucky a pigeon didn't poop in your eye when you looked up in the lighthouse !! (Pharos) Even with the netting there, they can still aim well :o)

    It was a very common thing to have small beds in the Middle Ages - people slept sitting up because they believed they would die if they laid down.

    TexWisGirl - the colours are authentic. When English Heritage researched the project prior to opening the Great Tower, they found that the primary colours were used back then, so that's what they used, too :o)

    Val - cya Wednesday :o))

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  3. Oh lovely I can see why you and your friend enjoyed taking your camera's. This is a place I would love to visit one day. Wonder where you will go next ..
    Hugs Sheila xx Thank you for sharing.

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  4. Amazing, especially to those of us on this side of the pond where the oldest dwellings still standing only date to the early 1600s! As a fellow history buff and photographer I really enjoyed this, Poppy!

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  5. That is an amazing tour of the castle! excellent photos too.
    I would love to see that place in person, I could spend all day there.
    Take care Poppy. :)

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  6. glad you enjoyed your day out,your photos have captured the castle well and those french graffiti artists, should be locked up !

    Peter

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  7. Thanks for telling me, it is wonderful photos.

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  8. Great series of beautiful photos.
    Looks like I place I would love to visit.
    Thanks for the tour.
    As an answer to your comment on the carnation, I've never seen a carnation like it either. I think it's a new one here.
    Hope you're having a great weekend.
    Mette

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  9. An excellent trip round Dover castle - I think I remember your last trip as there is some familiarity about it.
    We do rather get used to how the films like to portray historical settings and they are much darker than I expect they were. Therefore when we see something set out like it would have been once it appears rather gaudy to us - why would they not have liked a bit of colour in their lives. Stirling castle is just the same - a bit later in decoration period perhaps but unexpectedly brightly decorated.

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