INTRODUCTION TO CASTLES

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|CASTLES OF ENGLAND |

|Dover |

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|[pic] |

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|Location: Kent |

|When William the Conqueror defeated Harold II at Hastings he headed |

|towards Dover where the Angle-Saxons had already raised a burh. |

|William improved this fortification by erecting a motte-and-bailey. |

|Dover Castle has the most massive tower in Britain, an almost |

|100-foot cube with walls from seventeen to twenty-one feet thick. In |

|1216 the castle was besieged by Louis, son of the French king but |

|saved when Louis returned to France. |

|Overlooking Dover Harbour, the shortest sea-route to the Continent it|

|barred the way of anybody trying to invade England. Early in the 19th|

|century Napoleon stood opposite on the cliffs of Calais and through |

|his telescope surveyed Dover. With the British navy controlling the |

|seas and the steep cliffs beneath the castle he decided against an |

|invasion of England, immediately turned round and invaded Russia |

|instead. Hitler followed the same pattern and again after |

|contemplating the problem decided to invade Russia instead. Beneath |