Lord Warden House at Daybreak, Admiralty Pier, Western Docks, Dover, Kent, UK

A zoomed view from 600 yards of the former Lord Warden Hotel, a Grade II Dover Listed Building, situated at the landward end of the Admiralty Pier in the Western Docks of Dover Harbour:


(Click this Lord Warden House text link to see the largest size)

Notes on the architect and architecture begin at HISTORY and MATERIALS, respectively.

Western Docks at Night

Lord Warden House appears in the Western Docks at Night photo (left).

The three-arched structure behind Lord Warden House began life as Dover Town Rail Station (alt. Dover Town Railway Station, Dover Town Train Station). It then became Dover Marine Rail Station and finally, Dover Western Docks Rail Station.

Today, it is the Cruise Terminal 1 (CT1) building, the first of three on the Admiralty Pier, and provides a reception area for passengers from the cruise ships that visit Dover throughout the summer season.

This pre-sunrise photo was taken from the Victorian and World War II coastal artillery position known as St Martin's Battery (located on top of the Western Heights cliffs) at 5.40 am on the 25th of August, 2010.

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Lord Warden House Listed Building

The following is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under the terms of the Click-Use Licence (PSI licence number C2010002016):

MS AIDAblu Cruise Ship berthed at Cruise Terminal 2, Admiralty Pier, Dover, Kent, UK

An early morning view of the MS AIDAblu cruise ship berthed at Cruise Terminal 2 (CT2) on the Admiralty Pier of the Western Docks, her bow pointing in the direction of the Western Entrance and English Channel beyond:


(Click this MS AIDAblu cruise ship text link to see the largest size)

The low structure on top of the pier to the right of the AIDAblu's stern is the Victorian Admiralty Pier Turret (alt. Dover Turret) containing 2 Fraser RML 16 inch 80 ton guns (RML = "rifled muzzle-loading") which were declared obsolete in 1902.

This Dover Harbour photo was taken at 7.24 am on Tuesday, 17th of May, 2011, from the lighthouse end of the Prince of Wales Pier (western side).

The reflections in the glass windbreaks - which I like! - are from the table and bench combinations (such as the one I stood on to take the photo) set out in front of the Lighthouse Cafe.

The seagull wheeling above the centre of the passenger ship has been included at no extra charge.

The MS AIDAblu sailed from Hamburg (Germany) on Friday, 13th of May, on a "7-Nachte Nordeuropa" (7-Night North Europe/Northern Europe, German Bight) cruise with the following itinerary: Amsterdam (Netherlands/Holland), Antwerp (Belgium), Dover (for London, England), Le Havre (for Paris, France), and then back to Hamburg.

Night Panorama of Dover Priory Rail Station from the Western Heights, Kent, UK

A night-time view of Dover Priory Rail Station taken on Sunday, October 17th, 2010, from the Western Heights:


(Click this Dover Priory Rail Station at Night text link to see the largest size)

The Victorian Dover Priory is also referred to as Dover Priory Train Station and Dover Priory Railway Station.

The two columns of orange blobs on the left-hand side of the photo are reflections from off the carraige roofs of trains parked in the freight area of the station.

Below the centre of the photo a covered foot-bridge (approx. 350 yards away) joins platforms 2 and 3 on the left to platform 1 and the Booking Hall on the right. Platform 3 is the outermost of the detached platforms and has a silver-topped train parked alongside it.

Trains to Deal, Ramsgate, Canterbury East, and London Victoria leave Dover Priory through the tunnel at the top of the photo.

Trains to Folkestone Central, Ashford International (Channel Tunnel, Chunnel), and London Charing Cross leave the station through a tunnel beneath the Western Heights.

To the right of the Booking Hall is Priory Station Approach Road with the Priory Hotel (pub) on the other side (with light trails).

Golden Panorama of the Victorian Waterloo Crescent at Sunrise, Dover Harbour, Kent, UK

A post-sunrise view of the Victorian (1) Waterloo Crescent on Dover's seafront esplanade, opposite the western end of the beach and harbour, taken at 6.11 am on Tuesday, 16th of August, 2011:


(Click this Waterloo Crescent text link to see the largest size)

As sometimes happens when out and about on a morning cycle ride (2), transitory light conditions can transform familiar sights into something extraordinary. On this occasion, the entire sky was clouded over with the exception of a ragged oval across which the rising sun was slowly moving. The resulting "golden glow" reflecting off of Waterloo Crescent - and every other white object - was really quite breath-taking in its intensity (note how the Western Heights trees in the background on the right are still in shadow - its as if a gigantic torch-beam were being played across the landscape.)

Waterloo Crescent, built between 1834 and 1838, is a Grade II Dover Listed Building consisting of three sections. From left to right these are the western section (originally 5 houses), the central section (originally 19 houses), and the eastern section (also originally 5 houses).

Because this is an oblique view, the divisions between the overlapping sections are perhaps easiest identified by looking at the side view of the roof on the right-hand section and then looking for two other occurrences of the same "truncated pyramid" shape further to the left.

Harbour House and the Tonkin Liu Artworks at Sunrise, Dover Seafront, Kent, UK

The white Harbour House and the Tolkin Liu sculptures imbued with the golden glow of a rising sun at 6.59 am on Thursday, 1st of September, 2011 (1):


(Click this Dover Harbour House text link to see the largest size)

Harbour House

Waterloo Crescent

Dover Harbour Board's Harbour House, occuping the western section of Waterloo Crescent, is a Grade II Dover Listed Building designed by the architect, Philip Hardwick and built between 1834-1838 (2). Click on the link or thumbnail for the full listing text.

Harbour House is located on Marine Parade at the western end of the seafront promenade, or esplanade.

Information leaflets about the cruise ships calling at the Admiralty Pier in the Western Docks can be obtained from reception. DHB also operate the Eastern Docks (the ferry terminal).

Full postal address: The Port of Dover, Harbour House, Marine Parade, Dover, CT17 9BU.

The flag flying above left-hand end of Harbour House carries the logo for the Port of Dover.

Port of Dover (3)

The Port of Dover is the cross-English Channel port situated in Dover, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just 34 kilometres (21 miles) away, and one of Europe's largest passenger ports, with 14 million travellers, 2.1 million lorries, 2.8 million cars and motorcycles and 86,000 coaches passing through it each year, with an annual turnover of GBP 58.5 million a year. (3)

The port has been owned and operated by the Dover Harbour Board, a statutory corporation, since it was formed by Royal Charter in 1606 by James I (James VI of Scotland). Most of the board members are appointees of the Department of Transport.

Night Panorama of the Western Docks in Dover Harbour, St Martin's Battery, Kent, UK

This panorama view of the Western Docks of Dover Harbour was taken from the Victorian and Second World War coastal artillery gun emplacements of St Martin's Battery, Western Heights, at 5.25 am on Tuesday, 24th of August, 2010:


(Click this Western Docks of Dover Harbour text link to see the largest size)

At top-left, the Western Entrance from the English Channel (Straits of Dover) to the harbour is formed by the Southern Breakwater on the left and the Admiralty Pier on the right.

The cruise ship berthed at Cruise Terminal 1 (CT1) on the Admiralty Pier (right of top-centre) is the MS Saga Ruby.

MS Saga Ruby at CT1

The passenger ship has just completed the "Treasures of the Anglo-Celtic Isles" cruise that called at various ports in England, Scotland, Wales, Nothern Ireland, and Eire (Ireland).

The cruise began at Dover on August the 11th and had the following itinerary: Dover, Edinburgh, Kirkwall, Portree, Greenock (Glasgow), Belfast, Holyhead (Wales), Dublin, Cork, Falmouth, Guernsey (Channel Islands), Dover.

A close-up of the MS Saga Ruby was taken a little later from the Prince of Wales Pier. Click on the thumbnail or MS Saga Ruby Cruise Ship and Neptune Catamaran in the Western Docks.

See all ships belonging to Saga Cruises photos.

Elsewhere in the main photo:

The Keep, or Great Tower, of Dover Castle from the King's Gateway, Kent, UK

The north-western face of Dover Castle's Keep, or Great Tower, with the North Tower on the left and the West Tower on the right:


(Click this Great Tower of Dover Castle text link to see the largest size)

Dover Castle Keep at Night

The 12th Century Norman Keep was built in the 1180s with AD 1180-1185 often being the range quoted.

The length of the sides and height of the corner towers vary, but the Keep is approximately 100 feet square, over 80 feet high, and has walls up to 21 feet thick. It was designed by Henry II’s architect, 'Maurice the Engineer' (or mason; Latin: Ingeniator).

The North Tower and South Tower (or Flag Tower) both have spiral staircases leading from ground level up to the roof; the East Tower and West Tower do not.

To the left of the North Tower, and about two-thirds of its height, is the Forebuilding (main entrance), the largest of the period in England.

The Keep has three floors (ground, first, and second) that now contain a 2010 English Heritage representation of a medieval Royal Palace and Royal Court.

The largest pair of windows - in line with the top of the Forebuilding - are those of the second floor:

The Keep and Western Outer Curtain Wall of Dover Castle from the Harbour, Kent, UK

A panoramic view of Dover Castle taken from the lighthouse and Harbour View cafe end of the Prince of Wales Pier:


(Click this Keep and Western Outer Curtain Wall text link to see the largest size)

Dover Castle Keep

Distance to the White Cliffs of Dover above East Cliff at bottom-right is about 1450 yards; to the Keep, or Great Tower, about 1850 yards.

The Keep is 83 feet (25.3m) high and just under 100 feet (30m) square, with walls up to 21 feet (6.5m) thick.

This massive edifice was designed by the architect, 'Maurice the Engineer' (ie Mason) and built between 1180 and 1185 during the reign of Henry II (Curtmantle).

The interior of the Norman Keep was "re-furbished" by English Heritage in 2010 to show how a medieval royal palace, or royal court, may have looked in the 12th Century:

The Throne of Henry II in King's Hall, Great Tower of Dover Castle

The King's Chamber of Henry II in the Great Tower of Dover Castle

Guest Hall of King Henry II in the Great Tower of Dover Castle

Guest Chamber of King Henry II, Great Tower of Dover Castle

The Keep, with the Union Flag, or Union Jack, flying above its South Tower, was also once known as Palace Tower.

Below the Keep are the uncrenellated (ie flat-topped) towers of the Inner Bailey wall, or Inner Curtain Wall. The two higher towers close together below the Keep's right-hand tower flank the Palace Gateway, an entrance into the Keepyard. The other entrance is the King's Gateway, or King's Gate, on the northern side.

Furthest on the left of the photo is the stand alone grouping of the Constable's Gateway with the Queen Mary Tower indistinguishable in front.

The Western Outer Curtain Wall then extends from Queen Mary's Tower to the cliff-edge, featuring (from left to right):

St John's Tower, a 13th Century Round Tower in the Moat of Dover Castle, Kent, UK

A "rare view" of St John's Tower which is situated in the moat (ditch) at the northern end of Dover Castle. It is connected to the interior of the castle by an underground tunnel and gallery, or sousterrain, that passes beneath the Norfolk Towers, the earth-banked lower slopes of which can be seen in the upper left-hand corner:


(Click this text link to see the largest size)

The photo was taken at 7.05 am on Wednesday, 25th of May, 2011, from the eastern outer moat wall. An earlier Rare view of St John's Tower, taken from near enough the same location but under different light conditions, was photographed at 11.32 am on Friday, 13th of May.

This unusual round tower effectively divides the Eastern Outer Curtain Wall (out-of-shot to the left) from the Western Outer Curtain Wall (on the far side of the tower).

The roof of a two-level caponier (alt. caponnier: fr. "chicken cage") to the right of St John's Tower connects it to the Ravelin (or Redan), a brick-lined structure, partially visible behind the trees near the right-hand edge, that had been added to the Spur by Colonel William Twiss of the Royal Engineers between 1801-1803 during the the Napoleonic Wars.

The Napoleonic Spur Raised Gun Platform of Dover Castle - Redan or Ravelin? Kent, UK

The Napoleonic Ravelin, also known as the Redan, at the northern end of Dover Castle is an irregular triangle in plan view. The north-eastern face (in shadow on the right) is about 44 yards long, the western face on the far side is about 46 yards along, and the straight-line distance across the sunlit sawtooth-shaped base (not all of which is visible) is about 41 yards:


(Click this Dover Castle Ravelin text link to see the largest size)

The Ravelin, a raised artillery gun platform surrounded by its own ditch (moat), is embedded within the elongated and larger triangle, or "arrow", of the Spur earthwork. Part of the inside of Spur's western perimeter wall can be seen halfway down the left-hand side of the photo.

The Spur, originally teardrop-shaped, was constructed after the 1216 Great Siege of Dover Castle (First Barons War) along with St John's Tower and the Norfolk Towers, both out-of-shot to the left.

The Norfolk Towers (flank view) replaced and sealed off the previous Northern Entrance (or Northgate) that had been damaged during the siege by the the engineers of the Dauphin (Prince Louis, later Louis VIII of France); new gateways were made by Hubert de Burgh (Constable of Dover Castle) under Henry III at Fitzwilliam's Gate (in the east) and at Constable's Gateway (in the west).

Rare view of the 13th Century Norfolk Towers at Sunrise, Dover Castle, Kent, UK

The medieval Norfolk Towers at the northern end of Dover Castle viewed from a field adjacent to the hidden East Wing Battery of the Victorian Fort Burgoyne. The field (no access without permission) is where part of the French army were arrayed during the Great Siege of 1216:


(Click this Dover Castle Norfolk Towers text link to see the largest size)

Dover Castle from the Sea

The ivy-clad Norfolk Towers are in the fobidden zone that surrounds the entire perimeter of the castle. Despite their massive size, if this photo were to be mixed with half-a-dozen photos of other Norman castles, then I would be very surprised if the average Dovorian "man or woman in the street" would recognize that the Norfolk Towers are part of the ancient monument they see almost every day.

This post-sunrise zoomed photo of 400 yards was taken at 6.48 am on Monday, 27th of June, 2011. The flag-pole and collection of chimney stacks at top-left are part of Constable's Gateway (alt. Constable's Tower), 120 yards beyond the Norfolk Towers. The British Army flag is that of "Deputy Constable of Dover Castle". On a less-hazy day, the English Channel is visible above the skyline to the right of the towers.

The main entrance to Dover Castle prior to the 1216 Siege of Dover Castle (First Barons War) was the Northern Entrance (North Entrance, or Northgate).

During the siege, which broke off and then resumed briefly in 1217 when a trebuchet catapult was used (french: Malvoisin, or "Bad Neighbour"), the engineers of the Dauphin (Prince Louis, later Louis VIII of France) so damaged the eastern gate tower of the North Entrance by mining that Hubert de Burgh (Constable of Dover Castle under King John and Henry III) subsequently sealed the gateway, replacing it with the Norfolk Towers, and new entrances were made at Constable's Gate (in the west) and Fitzwilliam's Gate (alt. Fitzwilliam's Gateway, Fitzwilliam's Tower; in the east: a postern, or secondary entrance).

At the Going Down of the Sun..., Dunkirk War Memorial, Dover Seafront, Kent, UK

Soon to be completely wreathed in shadow as the sun continues to set behind the hills of the Western Heights, this is the Dunkirk War Memorial on Dover's seafront promenade in front of the Georgian Waterloo Crescent of Marine Parade:


(Click this Dunkirk War Memorial text link to see the largest size)

The front panel, or plaque, depicts a battle scene showing a British Army soldier carrying a wounded comrade towards a small rowing boat below which is inscribed:

Dunkirk Veterans Association East Kent (1). This memorial was erected on the 16th August 1975, the 35th anniversary of the battle of Dunkirk. During the period May 10th to 1st June 1940 202,306 British, British Commonwealth and allied troops were evacuated to Dover. The memorial not only pays tribute to the bravery and discipline of the servicemen, but to the courage of the crews of the armada of little ships which assisted, and the people of the port of Dover who received them.

But as Richard Overy of the UK newspaper, The Telegraph, noted in A very British defeat, a review of the 2006 book, Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man (Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, 2006):

Mallard Ducks on the River Dour, South Kent College, Dover, Kent, UK

Mr and Mrs Mallard Duck out for a Sunday paddle on the River Dour at 12.42 pm, November 29th, 2009:


(Click this text link to see the largest size)

The photo was taken from the pathway at the rear of Dover Town Hall near the Bowling Green Clubhouse opposite the grounds of South Kent College. The ducks are swimming upriver towards Dover Police Station on Ladywell and The Park Inn (my local pub!) on Park Place. To the right, the River Dour flows towards Pencester Gardens and finally reaches the sea at the Wellington Dock.

The entry for Mallard Ducks on the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) website states:

The mallard is a large and heavy looking duck. It has a long body and a long and broad bill. The male has a dark green head, a yellow bill, is mainly purple-brown on the breast and grey on the body. The female is mainly brown with an orange bill. It breeds in all parts of the UK in summer and winter, wherever there are suitable wetland habitats, although it is scarcer in upland areas. Mallards in the UK may be resident breeders or migrants - many of the birds that breed in Iceland and northern Europe spend the winter here.

The River Dour

The River Dour is a river in the county of Kent, in England. The river's main source rises at Watersend and it flows from the villages of Temple Ewell and River, through the village of Kearsney, to Dover. It is roughly 4km long.

Mote's Bulwark Gatehouse Ruins on the White Cliffs below Dover Castle, Kent, UK

Originally built by King Henry VIII in 1539, this is the inner wall of the Mote's Bulwark Gatehouse viewed from the Upper Terrace at 10.59 am on Tuesday, 12th of April, 2011:


(Click this Mote's Bulwark text link to see the largest size)

In a posthumous account published in 1801 (1), the Welsh naturalist and antiquary Thomas Pennant describes how King Edward IV's expenditure of ten thousand pounds in improvements to Dover Castle led to a belief that no further defences were needed on the seaward side above the White Cliffs of Dover at East Cliff. Pennant then goes on to say:

King Henry VIII was of a different opinion; possibly to guard against a surprise by sea, he built at the foot of the cliff on the shore one of the many little castles he erected in the year 1539, it was called the Mote's Bulwark, and remains garrisoned.

(The "long s", or "f", has been replaced with the letter s for readability)

Originally Tudor, the "little castle" of Mote's Bulwark (alt. Moat's Bulwark) has been extensively modified over the years. The ruins now consist of a lower level semi-circular battery built of squared rubble with a revetted parapet (ie faced with masonry) at near sea-level, and an upper terrace set part-way up the cliff-side containing the West Gatehouse (or Guardroom) shown in the photo.

Canterbury Tornado 60163 Steam Locomotive, Dover Priory Rail Station, Kent, UK

The LNER A1 Class 4-6-2 no 60163 Tornado Steam Locomotive venting steam while stationary at Platform 1 of the Victorian Dover Priory Railway Station, England:


(Click this Canterbury Tornado 60163 Steam Locomotive text link to see the largest size)

LNER stands for "London and North Eastern Railway".

The steam is partially obscuring The Priory Hotel on the far side of Priory Station Approach Road. The houses to the right of the pub front onto Priory Gate Road, the western border to Dover College. The flat-roofed white building towards top-left is the Dover Priory Booking Hall.

The photo was taken from the road-bridge on Folkestone Road at 5.47 pm on Saturday, June the 18th, 2011, during an evening cycle ride around town (Robsons Yard - Eastern Docks - Prince of Wales Pier - Robsons Yard).

The Canterbury Tornado is shown part-way through a Willesden - Canterbury - Willesden (Brent, London) round-trip railtour calling at the train stations listed below:

The Norman Keep or Great Tower of Henry II, Dover Castle at Night, Kent, UK

The north-western face of the Keep (or "Great Tower") with the North Tower on the left and the West Tower on the right:


(Click this Dover Castle Keep at Night text link to see the largest size)

The Keep from King's Gate

The East Tower is behind and to the left of the North Tower, the South Tower (Flag Tower) is out of view, although the Union Jack flag can be seen flying above it.

The Keep, once known as the Palace Tower, was designed by Henry II's architect 'Maurice the Engineer' (or mason) and built between 1180 - 1185. It is 83 feet high, just under 100 feet square, and has walls up to 21 feet thick.

Half-way down the Norman great tower on its north-eastern side (ie to the left) is the Forebuilding with its two chapels.

The Keep's largest pair of windows (difficult to spot at first glance - they're in line with the top of the Forebuilding) are those of the second floor: