Archaeological finds have revealed that the area has always been a focus for peoples entering and leavingBritain. The name derives from theRiver Dour that flows through it.
In recent times the town has undergone transformations with a high-speed rail link to London, new retail in town with St James' area opened in 2018, and a revamped promenade and beachfront. This followed in 2019, with a new 500m Pier to the west of the Harbour, and new Marina unveiled as part of a £330m investment in the area. It has also been a point of destination for manyillegal migrant crossings.
The Port of Dover provides much of the town's employment, as doestourism including to the landmarkWhite Cliffs of Dover. There were over 368,000 tourists visiting Dover castle in the year of 2019.[3]Dover is classified as a Large-Port Town, due to its large volumes of port traffic and low urban population.[4]
View of Dover, byRichard Wilson, 1746-47View of Dover, byGeorge Chambers, 1832Photochrom showing Dover Harbour Beach, c. 1900
Archaeological finds have shown that there wereStone Age people in the area, and that someIron Age finds also exist.[5] During theRoman period, the area became part of the Roman communications network. It was connected by road toCanterbury andWatling Street and it becamePortus Dubris, a fortified port. Dover has a partly preserved Roman lighthouse (the tallest surviving Roman structure in Britain) and the remains of a villa with preserved Roman wall paintings.[6] Dover later figured inDomesday Book (1086).
Forts were built above the port and lighthouses were constructed to guide passing ships. It is one of theCinque Ports.[7] and has served as a bastion against various attackers: notably the French during theNapoleonic Wars and Germany during theSecond World War.
During theCold War, aregional seat of government was located within the White Cliffs beneath Dover Castle. This is omitted from the strategic objects appearing on the Soviet 1:10,000 city plan of Dover that was produced in 1974.[8] The port would have served as an embarkation point for sending reinforcements to theBritish Army of the Rhine in the event of a Soviet ground invasion of Europe.
In 1974, a discovery was made atLangdon Bay off the coast near Dover. It contained bronze axes of French design and is probably the remainder of the cargo of a sunken ship. At the same time, this find also shows that trade routes across the Channel between England and France existed already in theBronze Age, or even earlier. In 1992, the so-called Dover boat from the Bronze Age was discovered in six metres depth underwater. This is one of the oldest finds of a seaworthy boat. Using theradiocarbon method of investigation, the boat's construction was dated to approximately1550 BC.
First recorded in its Latinised form ofPortus Dubris, the name derives from theBrythonic word for water (dwfr inMiddle Welsh,dŵr inModern Welsh apart from 'dwfrliw' (Watercolour) which has retained the old Welsh spelling,dour inBreton). The same element is present in the town's French nameDouvres and the name of the river,Dour, which is also evident in other English towns such asWendover. However, the modernModern Welsh nameDofr is an adaptation of the English nameDover.[9]
The current name was in use at least by the time of Shakespeare'sKing Lear (between 1603 and 1606), in which the town and its cliffs play a prominent role.[10]
Louis VIII of France landed his army, seeking to deposeKing Henry III, on Dover's mainland beach. Henry III ambushed Louis' army with approximately 400 bowmen atopThe White Cliffs of Dover and his cavalry attacking the invaders on the beach. However, the French slaughtered the English cavalry and made their way up the cliffs to disperse the bowmen. Louis' army seized Dover village, forcing the English back to Canterbury. French control of Dover lasted for three months after which English troops pushed back, forcing the French to surrender and return home.[citation needed]
1945 Ordnance Survey map of Dover, showing the harbour
Dover is in the south-east corner of Britain. FromSouth Foreland, the nearest point to the European mainland,Cap Gris Nez is 34 kilometres (21 mi) away across the Strait of Dover.[11]
The site of its original settlement lies in the valley of theRiver Dour, sheltering from the prevailing south-westerly winds. This has led to the silting up of the river mouth by the action oflongshore drift. The town has been forced into making artificial breakwaters to keep the port in being. These breakwaters have been extended and adapted so that the port lies almost entirely on reclaimed land.
The higher land on either side of the valley – theWestern Heights and the eastern high point on whichDover Castle stands – has been adapted to perform the function of protection against invaders. The town has gradually extended up the river valley, encompassing several villages in doing so. Little growth is possible along the coast, since the cliffs are on the sea's edge. The railway, being tunnelled and embanked, skirts the foot of the cliffs.
Dover has anoceanic climate (Köppen classificationCfb) similar to the rest of the United Kingdom with mild temperatures year-round and a light amount of rainfall each month. The warmest recorded temperature was 37.4 °C (99.3 °F), recorded atLangdon Bay on 25 July 2019,[12] While the lowest recorded temperature was −9.5 °C (14.9 °F), recorded atDover RMS on 31 January 1972.[13] The temperature is usually between 3 °C (37 °F) and 21.1 °C (70.0 °F).
Climate data for Dover, elevation: 0 m (0 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1918–present[a]
In 1800, the year before Britain's first national census,Edward Hasted (1732–1812) reported that the town had a population of almost 10,000 people.[17]
At the 2001 census, the town of Dover had 28,156 inhabitants, while the population of the whole urban area of Dover, as calculated by theOffice for National Statistics, was 39,078 inhabitants.[18]
With the expansion of Dover, many of the outlying ancient villages have been incorporated into the town. Originally the parishes of Dover St. Mary's and Dover St. James, since 1836 Buckland and Charlton have become part Dover, andMaxton (a hamlet to the west),River,Kearsney,Temple Ewell, andWhitfield, all to the north of the town centre, are within its conurbation.
The town's main shopping streets are the High Street, Biggin Street, Market Square, Cannon Street, Pencester Road and Castle Street. The Castleton Retail Park is to the north-west of the town centre. The new St James' Retail and Leisure Park opened in 2018 and is a southern extension of the town centre; it consists of shops, restaurants, a Travelodge Hotel and a Cineworld Cinema.[19]
The Dover Harbour Board[20] is the responsible authority for the running of the Port of Dover. TheEnglish Channel, here at its narrowest point in the Straits of Dover, is the busiest shipping lane in the world. Ferries crossing between here and the Continent have to negotiate their way through the constant stream of shipping crossing their path. TheDover Strait Traffic Separation Scheme allots ships separate lanes when passing through the Strait. The Scheme is controlled by the Channel Navigation Information Service based at Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre Dover. MRCC Dover is also charged with co-ordination of civil maritime search and rescue within these waters.[21]
ThePort of Dover is also used by cruise ships. The oldDover Marine railway station building houses one passenger terminal, together with a car park. A second, purpose-built, terminal is located further out along the pier.[22]
The ferry lines using the port are (number of daily sailings in parentheses):
Blériot memorial: the outline ofLouis Blériot's aircraft, marked with granite setts, at the exact spot where Blériot landed after the first cross-Channel flight, 1909[25]
Dover's main communications artery, theA2 road replicates two former routes, connecting the town with Canterbury. The Roman road was followed for centuries until, in the late 18th century, it became atoll road.Stagecoaches were operating: one description stated that the journey took all day to reach London, from 4am to being "in time for supper".[26]
The other main roads, travelling west and east, are theA20 toFolkestone and thence theM20 to London, and theA258 through Deal to Sandwich.
In December 2020, a long line of freight trucks formed due to sudden border closures with France, because of new strains ofCOVID-19 within the United Kingdom.[27][28][29][30]
TheChatham Main Line into Priory was electrified underBritish Railways in 1959 as part of Stage 1 of Kent Coast Electrification, under the BR1955 Modernisation Plan.[31] The line up to Ramsgate, via Deal, was subsequently electrified under stage two of Kent Coast electrification in January 1961.[31] The line from Folkestone into Priory was electrified in June 1961.[31]
Atram system operated in the town from 1897 to 1936.
TwoNational Cycle Network routes begin their journey at the town. Route one goes from Dover to Canterbury.[32]This route links withNational Cycle Route 2 from Dover to St Austell, Regional route 16, and Regional route 17 in Dover. It passes three castles. Firstly from Dover on the steap incline past Dover Castle. ThenSouth Foreland Lighthouse is visible from the route. Mostly traffic-free along the east coast from Kingsdown to Deal, passingWalmer Castle andDeal Castle. Follows toll road (free to cyclists) through the Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club to the town of Sandwich. In Sandwich the route links with Regional route 15.Dover town centre is cycle friendly: There are dedicated cycle lanes along the seafront and cycle routes through the town's pedestrianised High Street area.
ThePort of Dover is a 20-minute walk fromDover Priory railway station.The port offers crossings to bothCalais (DFDS, P&O and Irish Ferries) andDunkerque (DFDS). The Dover toDunkirk ferry route was originally operated by ferry operatorNorfolkline. This company was later acquired by the pan European operatorDFDS Seaways in July 2010.[33] The crossing time is approximately two hours.[34] The location ofDunkirk is also more convenient for those travelling by road transport on to countries in Northern Europe includingBelgium, theNetherlands, Germany and further afield.
The Dover lifeboat is aSevern class lifeboat based in the Western Docks.[35]Dover Lifeboat station is based at crosswall quay in Dover Harbour. There is aSevern-class lifeboat, which is the biggest in the fleet. It belongs to theRNLI which covers all of Great Britain. The lifeboat number is 17–09 and has a lot of emergencies in the Channel. The Severn class is designed to lay afloat. Built from fibre reinforced composite (FRC) the boat is lightweight yet very strong and is designed to right itself in the event of a capsize.
Astor Secondary Schoolfederated with St Radigunds Primary School (then renamed White Cliffs Primary College for the Arts) to form the Dover Federation for the Arts (DFA). Subsequently, Barton Junior School and Shatterlocks Nursery and Infant School joined the DFA. In 2014, the DFA was warned by the Department for Education about "unacceptably low standards of performance of pupils ".[37]
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC South East andITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the nearbyDover TV transmitter situated south of the town[39] and a local relay transmitter in the centre of Dover.[40]
Dover was the home to television studios and production offices ofSouthern Television Ltd, the company which operated the ITV franchise for South and South East England from 1958 to 1981. The studios were located on Russell Street and were home to programmes like 'Scene South East', 'Scene Midweek', 'Southern News', 'Farm Progress' and the nightly epilogue, 'Guideline'. The studios were operated by TVS in 1982 and home to 'Coast to Coast', however they closed a year later when the company moved their operations to the newly complete Television Centre inMaidstone.
Dover has two paid for newspapers, theDover Express (published by Kent Regional News and Media) and theDover Mercury (published by theKM Group). Free newspapers for the town previously included theDover and Deal Extra, part of the KM Group; andyourdover, part ofKOS Media.
Dover has one local commercial radio station,KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country, broadcasting to Dover on 106.8FM. The station was founded in Dover as Neptune Radio in September 1997 but moved to Folkestone in 2003 and was consequently rebranded after a takeover by the KM Group. Dover is also served by the county-wide stationsHeart South,Gold andBBC Radio Kent.
The Gateway Hospital Broadcasting Service, in Buckland Hospital radio, closed at the end of 2006. It was the oldest hospital radio station in East Kent being founded in 1968.[41]
DCR 104.9FM (Dover Community Radio) started broadcasting on 104.9FM in May 2022 and is Dover and White Cliffs Country's community radio station. The online station of the same name launched on 30 July 2011 offering local programmes, music and news for Dover and district. Prior to this DCR was an online podcasting service since 2010. .[42] Dover Community Radio was awarded a community radio licence by OFCOM on 12 May 2020.[43]
As of November 2021, BFBS Gurkha Radio has been broadcasting on 90.8FM in Dover and can be picked up within 1 mile of its transmission site at the Dover Community Centre located at Burgoyne Heights. This is part of a trial broadcast of small scale FM services by OFCOM due to end in September 2022 but it maybe extended to serve the Gurkha community living at Burgoyne Heights.
There are three museums: the mainDover Museum,[44] the Dover Transport Museum[45] and theRoman Painted House.[46] The town has two cinemas, the Silver Screen Cinema[47] located at the Dover Museum and the Cineworld Cinema opened in 2018 as part of the St James' Retail and Leisure complex.[19] A former cinemaKing's Hall, dating from 1911 and now a bingo club, is in Biggin Street.[48]
The Discovery Centre located off the Market Square houses Dover's library, Dover Museum, Silver Screen Cinema, the Roundhouse Community Theatre as well as adult education facilities.[49] The Charlton Shopping Centre[50] off the High Street has retail units, the Dover Local community hub, leisure facilities and the studios of Dover Community Radio.[51]
The White Cliffs Theatre opened in 2001[52] is based at Astor College.[53] There is also a community theatre based at St Edmund's Catholic School[54]
Dover District Leisure Centre operated by Places Leisure[57] located in Whitfield opened in March 2019 replacing the previous facility on Townwall Street, which was operated by Your Leisure, a not for profit charitable trust,[58] which caters for sports and includes a swimming pool.
Dover Rowing Club is the oldest coastal rowing club in Britain and has a rich history, at one time becoming the best club on the south coast. More information can be found on the history page of the club's website.[60]
Lydia Huntley Sigourney's poemDover., published in her volume 'Pleasant Memories of Pleasant Lands', records her thoughts following her visit during her tour of 1840.
Matthew Arnold used the setting of Dover in his 19th-century poem,Dover Beach.
"Cliffs of Dover" is an instrumental rock composition by the American guitarist, singer and songwriterEric Johnson, released on his 1990 studio albumAh Via Musicom.
"Clover Over Dover" by British bandBlur is track 12 on their 1994 albumParklife.
"Dover Beach" byBaby Queen is on her 2021 albumThe Yearbook. She wrote the song following a visit to Dover, taking inspiration fromMatthew Arnold's poem of the same name. Queen filmed an accompanying music video at Samphire Hoe.
^Oldfield, Thomas Hinton Burley. (1794). An entire and complete history, political and personal, of the boroughs of Great Britain: Together with the Cinque Ports, 2d ed. corr. and improved. London: B. Crosby.
^"Website".ancestry.co.uk.Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved20 September 2020.
^Goldberg, Jonathan (1984). "Dover Cliff and the Conditions of Representation: King Lear 4:6 in Perspective".Poetics Today.5 (3):537–547.doi:10.2307/1772378.JSTOR1772378.
^"Gradovi prijatelji Splita" [Split Twin Towns].Grad Split [Split Official City Website] (in Croatian). Archived fromthe original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved19 December 2013.
Statham, S.P.H. (1899).The history of the castle, town, and port of Dover. London: Longmans Green & Co. pp. 462 p.
Foot, William (2006).Beaches, fields, streets, and hills ...: the anti-invasion landscapes of England, 1940. CBA research report144. York: Council for British Archaeology.ISBN1-902771-53-2.
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