West Tower and Upper Floor of Dover's Lost Castle, The Court's Folly, Kent, UK

The Georgian Court's Folly, styled in the shape of the Keep, or Great Tower (night view), of Dover Castle, was built in the early 1800s on the Western Heights cliffs above Snargate Stree by two Wine Merchants, Stephen and Rogers Court:


(Click this Court's Folly West Tower text link to see the largest size)

For much of its history, however, the 19th century miniature "lost castle" has been neglected and the ruins are now hidden under the trees and other undergrowth that cover this part of the White Cliffs of Dover.

Most Dovorians do not know the Court's Folly exists.

A Dover Museum webpage states (1):

...As well as leasing the shop (140 Snargate Street) and premises from Dover Harbour Board, the Courts' leased 2 plots of land behind, from Thomas Rutley and Thomas Papillon. On this land Stephen and Rogers built terracing for vines, tea gardens, 2 summerhouses, and dug an extensive network of vaults into the cliffs behind, with plastered and painted walls and chalk carvings.

Dover Castle Keep

The terracing up the cliffs was laid out as gardens, growing the different varieties of grapes that the wines they sold were made from, and also other exotic fruit such as figs and dates.

A summerhouse was built at the top of the terracing and further along the cliff-face they built a folly in the shape of Dover Castle silhouetted against the sky.

These became tourist attractions and customers could taste-test products sitting on the terracing and have tours of the vaults...

The internal dimensions of the Court's Folly are approximately 10.5 feet deep by 20 feet wide. The external length of the East Wall is actually about 13 - 14 feet deep, with the last 3 feet or so containing a horizontal oval recess (this extension is probably for cosmetic or structural purposes only). The front wall is 16 inches thick and is over 20 feet high. This view shows only part of the lower storey.

Apparently, the oval windows were quite a popular design feature that had originated in an earlier period (2):

The Lost Castle of Dover, The Court's Folly Keep, Western Heights, Kent, UK

The Georgian Court's Folly, styled in the shape of the Keep, or Great Tower (night view), of Dover Castle, was built in the early 1800s on the Western Heights cliffs above Snargate Stree by two Wine Merchants, Stephen and Rogers Court:


(Click this Court's Folly Keep text link to see the largest size)

For much of its history, however, the 19th century miniature "lost castle" has been neglected and the ruins are now hidden under the trees and other undergrowth that cover this part of the White Cliffs of Dover.

Most Dovorians do not know the Court's Folly exists.

A Dover Museum webpage states (1):

...As well as leasing the shop (140 Snargate Street) and premises from Dover Harbour Board, the Courts' leased 2 plots of land behind, from Thomas Rutley and Thomas Papillon. On this land Stephen and Rogers built terracing for vines, tea gardens, 2 summerhouses, and dug an extensive network of vaults into the cliffs behind, with plastered and painted walls and chalk carvings.

Dover Castle Keep

The terracing up the cliffs was laid out as gardens, growing the different varieties of grapes that the wines they sold were made from, and also other exotic fruit such as figs and dates.

A summerhouse was built at the top of the terracing and further along the cliff-face they built a folly in the shape of Dover Castle silhouetted against the sky.

These became tourist attractions and customers could taste-test products sitting on the terracing and have tours of the vaults...

The internal dimensions of the Court's Folly are approximately 10.5 feet deep by 20 feet wide. The external length of the East Wall is actually about 13 - 14 feet deep, with the last 3 feet or so containing a horizontal oval recess (this extension is probably for cosmetic or structural purposes only). The front wall is 16 inches thick and is over 20 feet high. Only the lower half of the right-hand part of the rear wall is still standing, including a fireplace and chimney course complete with sooty residue.

Apparently, the oval windows were quite a popular design feature that had originated in an earlier period (2):

The Bredenstone, West Roman Pharos, Drop Redoubt, Western Heights, Dover, Kent, UK

The Bredenstone, or "Devil's Drop of Mortar", is all that visibly remains of the Roman West Pharos located on the Drop Redoubt:


(Click this Bredenstone text link to see the largest size)

The Drop Redoubt is a 5-sided polygonal fortress embedded into the Western Heights above the town of Dover, England.

The basic structure, with sides between 70 and 100 yards long, was completed by the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Four caponiers were subsequently added in Victorian times. The Drop Redoubt caponiers (alt. caponier) are two-storey chambers extending into the moat that surrounds the fortress.

In the background of the photo are the five bomb-proof arches of the Soldiers Quarters. The lefthand arch has a tunnel and steps at the back leading down to Caponnier 2. Access to Caponier 3 is via the 2nd arch from the right; the rightmost arch itself originally housed a cookhouse. Access to Caponier 4 is via an opening set in the wall approaching the right of cookhouse.

Between the Bredenstone (alt. Bredon-stone) and the Soldiers Quarters is a "sunken road" leading to the bridge entrance to the redoubt (out-of-shot to the left). The Bredenstone sits above the Officers Quarters on one side of the road; on the far side are a guardroom and prison cells.

The photo was taken on the Drop Redoubt Open Day of June 10th, 2007.

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The Bredenstone (1)

The Ghost of the North Centre Bastion, Western Heights, Dover, Kent, UK

The North Centre Bastion is part of the extensive Napoleonic and Victorian "Forgotten Fortress" embedded into the Western Heights above the town of Dover, England. It is owned by English Heritage, but is not currently open to the public.

The photo was taken in the North/South tunnel (Tunnel 1) (West Gallery) running under the Detached Bastion along its western edge:



The area of interest is the lower half of the first arch which appears to show the 'smokey' outline of a child's profile whose arms are stretched out to the right. The smokiness extends to a further figure sat against the right-hand wall with drawn-up knees.

'Interesting' photos from the North Centre Bastion (alt. North Center Bastion, Dead Man's Island, The Smokey) and related locations are initially uploaded to these Ghost and Orb image webpages.

The above photo originally appeared on the Images of Dover website at the following url (contains Google Earth satellite map):

The Ghost of the North Centre Bastion, Dover, England (1a)

An enhanced version of the photo in which the 'white level' has been increased can be seen at:

The Ghost of the North Centre Bastion (Enhanced)

There's also a three-part video of the North Centre Bastion available on YouTube:

Part 1: The Smokey, North Centre Bastion, Western Heights, Dover UK
Part 2: The Smokey, North Centre Bastion, Western Heights, Dover UK
Part 3: The Smokey, North Centre Bastion, Western Heights, Dover UK

Dover's 'Forgotten Fortress' on the Western Heights also includes the Drop Redoubt, the Grand Shaft, the North Entrance, the North Military Road, the Outer Bastion, the Pre-Napoleonic Earthworks, and St Martins Battery.

A Napoleonic Wars and Victorian British Army history photo.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town