Very close to Deal, on the same Kent coast, Walmer Castle is its twin brother: one of the 'Device Forts' built by Henry VIII in 1539-1540 to bar the way to invasion. But Walmer had a singular destiny — that of transforming, over the centuries, from a fortress of war into an elegant residence.
A fort of the Downs programme
Like Deal, Walmer was born of the great coastal-defence programme launched by Henry VIII after his break with Pope Paul III, against the threat of a Franco-Imperial invasion. Built in 1539-1540, it presents a central keep (~25 m) with four circular bastions, with 39 artillery positions on three levels. Its shape — a compact quatrefoil bristling with guns — illustrates, like its twin, the revolution in military architecture in the age of gunpowder: no more high vulnerable walls, but low rounded masses made to take and return fire. With Deal and Sandown, Walmer forms the triad of forts commanding the anchorage of the Downs.
From war to garden
The fort scarcely knew the battle for which it was designed. From 1708, it became the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports — a prestigious honorary office — and gradually adorned itself with formal gardens and comfortable arrangements. The most famous of its Lords Wardens was the Duke of Wellington, who died here. Thus Walmer tells a whole journey: born for war under Henry VIII, it ended as a pleasure residence — the exact opposite of the fate of so many medieval castles. To see: the keep with four circular bastions, the artillery positions on three levels, the sixteenth-century moated stone structure and the formal gardens.
Did you know?
Henry VIII's fort of war became, against all expectation, a place of peace and gardens: since 1708, Walmer has been the residence of the Lords Wardens of the Cinque Ports. The Duke of Wellington, victor of Waterloo, lived and died here in 1852 — and the chair in which he passed away is still shown in the former artillery casemate.
Notes
Walmer Castle & Gardens lies at Walmer, Kent, by the sea, very close to Deal; run by English Heritage, castle and gardens open to the public. Seasonal hours to check.
Quiz
- In what year was Walmer built?
- 1539-1540 (Henry VIII's programme)
- In 1066
- In 1700
- How many bastions does its keep have?
- Four circular bastions
- Twelve
- None
- What did Walmer become from 1708?
- The residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
- A prison
- A monastery