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Dover

Dover is a town in Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. Dover is a major English channel port, also the administrative centre of Dover district. The population of the town is 28,156, while the population of the whole district is 39,078 (Office for National Statistics). Since 1836 Dover has incorporated the ancient villages and parishes of Buckland and Charlton, which are now suburbs of the town.

Dover’s location makes it one of the United Kingdom's busiest cross-Channel ports. Only 34 kilometres separate the town from the French port of Calais. Regular ferry services operate from Dover to Calais and Dunkerque.18 million passengers are passing through each year.
Dover is most famous for its white cliffs, which are made of chalk. It is thought that the cliffs gave Britain its nickname-Albion, meaning "white". The town's name derives from the Dubrās (meaning "the waters" in Brythonic).

As the closest point in Britain to France and therefore to continental Europe, Dover has been strategically important and therefore vulnerable to invasion port.
One of the oldest seagoing vessels ever recovered, dating back to the Bronze Age, 1550 BC, was discovered in a depth of 6 m at the Dover coast in 1992.

A hoard (The Langdon Bay hoard) was discovered in 1974 off the Dover coast. It is alleged to contain French type bronze axes, representing the cargo of a sunken vessel, therefore it is believed to be an evidence for cross-channel trade from the Bronze Age, if not earlier.
In Roman times Dover became an important port (then named Portus Dubris) for the trade traffic between the island and the mainland. It was the starting point of the Watling Street Roman road, and was an important harbor of the Classis Britannica.

There are a few well preserved buildings left from the Roman times. In around AD 50 the Romans built two lighthouses, one on either side of the then-river-estuary, one on the Western Heights whose few remains are now within the Drop Redoubt, and the other which still stands in the grounds of Dover Castle, making it one of the oldest buildings in Britain. The "Painted House" is a Roman mansion from about AD 200 and one of the best preserved Roman houses in Britain.

After the Battle of Hastings in October 1066, William the Conqueror and his forces marched to Westminster Abbey for his coronation. The procession took a roundabout route, trough Romney, Dover, Canterbury, Surrey and Berkshire. Since the foundation of Cinque Ports in 1050, Dover has always been a major member - it could be the reason that first attracted William's attention. Dover had quickly been rebuilt. The churches of St Mary the Virgin (built over the foundations of a Roman structure) and of St. James the Apostle (destroyed in World War Two) and reconstituted the Saxon monastic church of St Martin le Grand, as well as founding a new Dover Priory on another site, also dedicated to St. Martin, were built. Several surviving buildings and various ruins of Dover Priory have been incorporated in to Dover College.

In 1216, Dover was attacked by the French and successfully defended from Dover Castle by Hubert de Burgh. In 1295 10,000 French burnt most of Dover to the ground. Despite the attacks and destructions, Dover flourished as the closest port to the continent.
Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, both threatened by continental invasion, made improvements to Dover's defences, both the castle and Moat Bulwark.

During the Civil War Dover declared for the king but was captured by the Parliamentarians without a siege. Charles II landed here at the restoration and on May 26, 1670 signed a secret treaty here ending hostilities with Louis XIV of France.

Information provided by www.wikipedia.org

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