Dover Castle (12th Century, Norman)

John Latter

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Dover, UK
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www.panoramio.com
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The grounds of Dover's 12th Century Norman Castle contain traces of earlier fortifications which are most noticable in the form of the Saxon church of St Mary-in-Castro (which wasn't always a church), the Roman Pharos (a lighthouse/watch tower built in AD 46), and Iron-Age earthworks.

Below is a popular view of Dover Castle showing the Keep on the left and the Constable's Gate entrance just right of center:



Click on any of the following thumbnails for a larger view and/or more background information.

Colton Gate or Colton Tower (alt. Coclico) from the south. A Norman tower built on a Saxon or even earlier base:



The Roman Pharos and Church of St Mary-in-Castro (only the nave is visible here) stand on a huge horseshoe-shaped earthwork delineated by the low wall beginning in the left-hand corner of the photo. Colton Tower (see below) appears above the low wall, just left of center:



This view of Queen Mary's Tower and Constable's Tower was taken looking north from under the archway of Peverell's Tower, all three are on the West Outer Curtain Wall:



A view looking northwards of the West Outer Curtain Wall of Dover Castle. The photo was taken from the bridge of Canons' Gateway (Canons' Gate) and shows, from right to left, Fulbert's Tower, Peverell's Tower, Queen Mary's Tower and Constable's Gate:



The statue erected to Admiral Sir Bertram Home Ramsay, KCB KBE MVO, (January 20, 1883 - January 2, 1945) stands in the grounds of Dover Castle, near to the cliff edge. Vice-Admiral Ramsay co-ordinated Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the British Army from Dunkirk in May/June 1940, during World War II:



John Latter / Jorolat
 
First off, welcome to the forum. That's a nice series of pics...I like how you've composed them, and the light is lovely. And it's very cool (IMHO) how, at the site to which they're linked, you've got the google earth view as well.
 
Thank you for the welcome and comments, Antarctician and Sweetsomedays :)

The Google Earth view is pretty neat! Some of my photos appear in the Google Earth program itself and in a month or two ('fingers crossed') I'm hoping some of the Castle photos will appear there, too.

I like your 'Aged' photo in particular, Sweetsomedays. My first reaction was, "Wow - I'm gonna do that!" but I seem to have more enthusiasm than time just now - after using a Pentax optio 33LF for a few months I bought a Pentax K100D but haven't progressed beyond using "Auto" yet.

Er, while I'm here I may as well post some of my other photos of Dover Castle:

Constable's Tower, as big as many other castles in its own right, is only a gateway to Dover Castle proper. It was built by John de Fiennes under William the Conqueror and for this reason was once known as Fiennes' Tower:



At the end of the eighteenth century, during the wars with Revolutionary and Napoleonic France, Colonel William Twiss modernized Dover Castle. As part of the program he constructed the Canons' Gateway to help troop movements between castle and town defences (I like this one because of the 'green sky'):



A view from the north-east of the round tower of Peverell's Gate (alt. Peverell's Tower) which lies between Gatton's Tower and Queen Mary's Tower on the West Outer Curtain Wall:



Avranches Tower (designed for crossbows) is located on the first corner where the East Outer Curtain Wall of Dover Castle briefly changes direction before continuing on its way to the cliff edge:



Queen Mary's Tower is a fairly typical medieval D-type tower but its location within the garden grounds of Constable's Tower makes close-ups difficult to get:



John Latter / Jorolat
 
If you ever need any pictures of Knights for photoshop composits with your castles let me know. I have a about 200...and there is another joust in April so I will have more down the road.
I am always on the hunt for good castle pics...since there arent any castles for me to take pictures of in Socal ;)
You have a way with buildings. I can't take a picture of a building to save my life ;) That picture of Peverelle's gate has so much depth to it.
 
Maybe we can do a deal further down the line, Sweetsomedays :)

I looked up "Socal" in wikipedia so I see what you mean about the lack of castles, which is a shame considering your interest in Knights 'n stuff!

Dover, on the other hand, actually has two castles although most local people aren't aware of it.

The second one is a mini-castle (about 20 long x 10-13 feet deep) hidden on the cliffs on the opposite side of the valley to its 'big brother'.

The undergrowth at the bottom of the photo below makes the "Courts Folly" appear to be a single-storey structure but in reality it is two storeys high (its difficult taking pics when standing on a cliff-face and I also wanted to include a false skyline in order to help protect the location):



At the moment, the greatest problem I have in taking photos is in 'tilting' them - I think I'm too heavy-handed in pressing the shutter release but I haven't gotten around to seeng if it may be anything else yet.

John Latter / Jorolat
 
I love those pictures :)

I like number 1 probably the most :)
 
I'm always up for a deal :)

However, some day I will make it out there to explore and photograph such wonderful structures.
 
I'm always up for a deal :)

OK!

However, some day I will make it out there to explore and photograph such wonderful structures.
When I win the lottery I'm going to go to lots of interesting places, too!

'Course, I won't talk to poor people anymore but people who know me will probably consider that to be a bonus :)

John Latter


The Grand Shaft of Dover
 

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