Saxon Church and Roman Pharos on Harold's Earthwork, Dover Castle, Kent, UK

The East Roman Pharos (on the right: a lighthouse and watchtower) and Saxon church of St Mary-in-Castro sit in a shallow depression on top of a huge horseshoe-shaped mound called "Harold's Earthwork":


(Click this St Mary-in-Castro and Pharos text link to see the largest size)

The rampart is rimmed by a the ruins of a low parapet wall, visible either side of the buildings, that was once connected to the composite Norman and Saxon Colton Gate (behind the viewer; alt. Colton Gateway, Colton Tower).

Harold's Earthwork was raised by Henry III (Henry of Winchester, Plantagenet) and lies south of Henry II's Keep, or "Great Tower", out-of-shot to the left (1).

The photo was taken at 5.31 pm on Sunday, 26th of June, 2011.

Click to see all photos of the Pharos and St Mary-in-Castro; also see all Dover Lighthouse and Church photos.

Dover Castle is a Grade I Dover Listed Building and Dover English Heritage site; the Pharos and St Mary-in-Castro have separate Grade I listings.

The following notes are divided into three sections - Pharos and Church, Pharos, Church:

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).