Deal, Kent
Encyclopedia
Deal is a town in Kent England
. It lies on the English Channel
eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate
. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town. Closely associated with Deal are the villages of Kingsdown
, Sholden
and Walmer
, the latter being where Julius Caesar
first arrived in Britain
(according to the best guess by historians
).
Deal was named as a 'limb port' of the Cinque Ports
in 1278. Due to its position on the Downs
, the town grew to become for a while the busiest port
in England; today it enjoys the reputation of being a quiet seaside resort
, its quaint streets and houses the only reminder of its fascinating history. The coast of France
is approximately twenty-five miles from the town, and is visible on clear days.
Its finest building is the Tudor
Deal Castle
, commissioned by King Henry VIII
and designed with an attractive rose
floor plan.
has made its coastal waters a source of both shelter and danger through the history of sea travel in British waters. The Downs
, the water between the town and the sands, provides a naturally sheltered anchor
age. This allowed the town to become a significant shipping and military port in past centuries despite the absence of a harbour, with transit of goods and people from ship to shore conducted using smaller tender
craft. Deal was, for example, visited by Nelson
and was the first English soil on which James Cook set foot in 1771 on returning from first voyage to Australia
. The anchorage is still used today by international and regional shipping
, though on a scale far smaller than at other times in the past (some historical accounts report hundreds of ships being visible from the beach).
By the time Dickens came to Deal it had been largely forgotten how the government of 1784, under Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger
(who was staying at nearby Walmer Castle
, and was later to be appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
in 1792), ensured that the Deal boats were all set ablaze, suspecting some of the Deal lugger
s of being engaged in smuggling. Pitt had awaited an opportunity that January, when the boats were all 'hoved up' on the beach on account of bad weather, to send a regiment of soldiers to smash and burn them. A naval cutter was positioned offshore to prevent any of the boatmen escaping.
The boatmen's ancestors had the right, under charter, freely to import goods in return for their services as Cinque Port
men in providing what had been long recognised as the sole naval defence of the realm. These men continued to risk their lives and their boats, in saving the lives of shipwreck victims.
The irrepressible spirit of the Deal boatmen remained undaunted by these events throughout the Napoleonic Wars
, and they continued to assert their hard-earned right to trade.
From these activities news of the events unfolding in France would reach England quickly and regularly, with about 400 men making a living off Deal beach at that time. The war only made the boatmen’s efforts more profitable, so that afterwards the Government immediately turned a part of its naval blockade
into a coastal blockade, which lasted from 1818 to 1831.
Deal had a naval shipyard which provided Deal with much of its trade. On the site of the yard there is now a building originally used as a semaphore tower, and later used as a coastguard house, then as a timeball tower, which it remains today, and as a museum. Besides this and the Deal Maritime Museum, there is no museum of the town's history yet, though a campaign to start one is ongoing - Deal's history is told at Dover Museum instead.
in Kent was established at Chatham in 1755. Because of its proximity to the continent and the fact that it possessed a thriving naval dockyard, Deal has been closely associated with the corps ever since its foundation. Records from the old Navy yard at Deal exist from 1658 and show that Marines from Chatham and Woolwich were on duty in Deal, and quartered in the town, until the Deal depot was established in 1861.
Deal Barracks has become known over its long history as the Royal Marine School of Music, the barracks at Walmer
consisting of the North, East and South (or Cavalry) barracks, and all were constructed shortly after the outbreak of the French revolution.
Part of the South barracks was used from 1815 as the quarters for the 'blockade men', drafted against a threat of local smuggling. The South barracks became a coastguard station thereafter, and this duty continued until 1840.
It was the East barracks which accommodated the School of Music, until the Royal Naval School of Music was formed at Plymouth in 1903, but which moved to Deal in 1930, replacing the original depot band formed in 1891. Thus the institution became known as the Royal Marine School of Music in 1950.
During 1940, at St. Margaret's Bay, close to Deal, the Royal Marines Siege Regiment came into being and manned cross-channel guns for most of the remainder of the war.
On 29 October, a Home Security Report detailed in the RAF's Campaign Diary was made:
"Army Stations 29thU October 1940
Deal: At 1640 hours three HE bombs were dropped in the barracks, the casualties being 1 Officer and 7 other ranks killed, 6 Officers and 6 other ranks wounded."
These casualties are buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.
Ironically, they rest next to the joint grave of three Luftwaffe bomber crew who died just fourteen days later when their aircraft crashed near Kingsdown.
At approximately 8:20 am on 22 September 1989, the Royal Marines School of Music was bombed by the IRA, resulting in the death of 11 bandsmen, and injury to 22 other marines. The memorial garden is situated in the grounds of the old barracks where the bomb went off. This was built in remembrance of the 11 that died and was then restored after an arson attack a number of years ago. Every year the families and friends of those that died join together at the garden to pay their respects and lay flowers in a memorial service.
On the evening of 26 March 1996, the Deal populace were privy to a special ceremony, the Beating Retreat
, coming from the South barracks, as the Royal Marines Band Service
were commanded to vacate their ancient Kent depot and move to new quarters at Portsmouth
. The Marines every year come up to the bandstand
and put on a display which attracts well over 4,000 people.
s in the town's history. The first, built in 1838, was designed by Sir John Rennie. After its wooden structure was destroyed in an 1857 gale, it was replaced by an iron pier in 1864. A popular pleasure pier, it survived until the Second World War, when it was struck and severely damaged by a mined Dutch ship, the Nora, in January 1940. This was not the first time the pier had been hit by shipping, with previous impacts in 1873 and 1884 necessitating extensive repairs.
The present pier, designed by Sir W. Halcrow & Partners, was opened on 19 November 1957 by the Duke of Edinburgh
. Constructed predominantly from concrete
-clad steel
, it is 1026 ft (311 m) in length (a notice announces that it is the same length as the RMS Titanic, but that ship was just 882 feet in length), and ends in a three-tiered pier-head, featuring a cafe, bar, lounge, and fishing decks. The lowest of the three tiers is underwater at all but the lowest part of the tidal range, and has become disused. The pier is a popular sport fishing venue.
Deal's current pier is the last remaining fully intact leisure pier in Kent
. Its structure was extensively refurbished and repaired in 1997, with work including the replacement of much of the concrete cladding on the pier's main piles. Work began in April 2008 to construct a new pier-head with a modern restaurant, with the restaurant opened in December 2008.
are operated by English Heritage - Deal has a display on the events in the reign of Henry VIII that led to the invasion threat which caused its construction, along with some material on its subsequent history, whereas displays at Walmer concentrate on Walmer's post-Tudor role as the Lord Warden's residence. There is also a ruin of the third Tudor castle, Sandown Castle
, in North Deal. The Deal Maritime and Local History Museum has exhibits of boats, smuggler galleys and model naval ships. It also contains extensive histories of the lifeboats as well as local parish registers. The Timeball Tower Museum, on the other hand, focuses on the importance of timekeeping for ships, and the role the building it occupies played.
Deal Maritime and Local History Museum is currently closed due to a dispute over a fence (reference link not allowed by wikipedia).
was to comment on the character of the East Kent boatmen, and on one of his visits to Deal (later used for an episode in Bleak House) he wrote:
Earlier descriptions of Deal were much less favourable, with the town notorious in the 17th century as a location for smugglers. Daniel Defoe
wrote of the town:
Diarist Samuel Pepys
recorded several visits to the town, being moved on 30 April 1660 to describe it as "pitiful".
William Cobbett
passing through in September 1823 noted in his book Rural Rides
:
, so that Woodcourt and Esther's paths can cross when Woodcourt's ship happens to anchor in the Downs at the same time as Esther and Ada are visiting Richard:
In Jane Austen
's Persuasion
, chapter 8, the town is mentioned as the only place where Admiral Croft's wife Sophia Croft was ever ill, as it was the only place she was ever separated from him, whilst he was patrolling the North Sea
:
(published by the KM Group
. Free newspapers for the town include the Dover Extra, part of the KM Group; and yourdeal, part of KOS Media
.
. Deal is also served by the county-wide stations Heart, Gold and BBC Radio Kent
. Deal is also covered by Podcasting service Dover
Community Radio who cover Dover District with local podcasts on their website. They hope to create a district-wide internet based radio station in the future leading to a community licence.
, writer Simon Raven
and actors William Hartnell
, Charles Hawtrey
all lived or live in Deal. Notable people born in the town include James Arbuthnot
, John Hulke
, Elizabeth Carter
, Clive Metcalfe
, Jack Scanlon
who is an actor and John Stanton Fleming Morrison
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It lies on the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
eight miles north-east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
. It is a former fishing, mining and garrison town. Closely associated with Deal are the villages of Kingsdown
Kingsdown, Kent
Kingsdown is a village immediately to the south of Walmer, itself south of Deal, on the English Channel coast of Kent. Parts of the village are built on or behind the shingle beach that runs north to Deal and beyond, while other parts are on the cliffs and hills inland...
, Sholden
Sholden
Sholden is a quiet village near Deal towards Sandwich in Kent, South East England. It has one church, a school and a cricket field.-External links:*...
and Walmer
Walmer
Walmer is a town in the district of Dover, Kent in England: located on the coast, the parish of Walmer is six miles north-east of Dover. Largely residential, its coastline and castle attract many visitors...
, the latter being where Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
first arrived in Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
(according to the best guess by historians
Caesar's invasions of Britain
In his Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar invaded Britain twice, in 55 and 54 BC. The first invasion, made late in summer, was either intended as a full invasion or a reconnaissance-in-force expedition...
).
Deal was named as a 'limb port' of the Cinque Ports
Cinque Ports
The Confederation of Cinque Ports is a historic series of coastal towns in Kent and Sussex. It was originally formed for military and trade purposes, but is now entirely ceremonial. It lies at the eastern end of the English Channel, where the crossing to the continent is narrowest...
in 1278. Due to its position on the Downs
The Downs
The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...
, the town grew to become for a while the busiest port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
in England; today it enjoys the reputation of being a quiet seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
, its quaint streets and houses the only reminder of its fascinating history. The coast of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
is approximately twenty-five miles from the town, and is visible on clear days.
Its finest building is the Tudor
Tudor architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
Deal Castle
Deal Castle
Deal Castle is located in Deal, Kent, England, between Walmer Castle and the now lost Sandown Castle .-Construction:It is one of the most impressive of the Device Forts or Henrician Castles built by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1540 as an artillery fortress to counter the threat of invasion from...
, commissioned by King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
and designed with an attractive rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
floor plan.
Maritime history
The proximity of Deal's shoreline to the notorious Goodwin SandsGoodwin Sands
The Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east off Deal in Kent, England. The Brake Bank lying shorewards is part of the same geological unit. As the shoals lie close to major shipping channels, more than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked...
has made its coastal waters a source of both shelter and danger through the history of sea travel in British waters. The Downs
The Downs
The Downs are a roadstead or area of sea in the southern North Sea near the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland in southern England. In 1639 the Battle of the Downs took place here, when the Dutch navy destroyed a Spanish fleet which had sought refuge...
, the water between the town and the sands, provides a naturally sheltered anchor
Anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, that is used to connect a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the vessel from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ancora, which itself comes from the Greek ἄγκυρα .Anchors can either be temporary or permanent...
age. This allowed the town to become a significant shipping and military port in past centuries despite the absence of a harbour, with transit of goods and people from ship to shore conducted using smaller tender
Ship's tender
A ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship used to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or supplies to and from shore or another ship...
craft. Deal was, for example, visited by Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
and was the first English soil on which James Cook set foot in 1771 on returning from first voyage to Australia
First voyage of James Cook
The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, from 1768 to 1771...
. The anchorage is still used today by international and regional shipping
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
, though on a scale far smaller than at other times in the past (some historical accounts report hundreds of ships being visible from the beach).
By the time Dickens came to Deal it had been largely forgotten how the government of 1784, under Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger
William Pitt the Younger was a British politician of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He became the youngest Prime Minister in 1783 at the age of 24 . He left office in 1801, but was Prime Minister again from 1804 until his death in 1806...
(who was staying at nearby Walmer Castle
Walmer Castle
Walmer Castle was built by Henry VIII in 1539–1540 as an artillery fortress to counter the threat of invasion from Catholic France and Spain. It was part of his programme to create a chain of coastal defences along England's coast known as the Device Forts or as Henrician Castles...
, and was later to be appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports
The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports is a ceremonial official in the United Kingdom. The post dates from at least the 12th century but may be older. The Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was originally in charge of the Cinque Ports, a group of five port towns on the southeast coast of England...
in 1792), ensured that the Deal boats were all set ablaze, suspecting some of the Deal lugger
Lugger
A lugger is a class of boats, widely used as traditional fishing boats, particularly off the coasts of France, Scotland and England. It is a small sailing vessel with lugsails set on two or more masts and perhaps lug topsails.-Defining the rig:...
s of being engaged in smuggling. Pitt had awaited an opportunity that January, when the boats were all 'hoved up' on the beach on account of bad weather, to send a regiment of soldiers to smash and burn them. A naval cutter was positioned offshore to prevent any of the boatmen escaping.
The boatmen's ancestors had the right, under charter, freely to import goods in return for their services as Cinque Port
Cinque Ports
The Confederation of Cinque Ports is a historic series of coastal towns in Kent and Sussex. It was originally formed for military and trade purposes, but is now entirely ceremonial. It lies at the eastern end of the English Channel, where the crossing to the continent is narrowest...
men in providing what had been long recognised as the sole naval defence of the realm. These men continued to risk their lives and their boats, in saving the lives of shipwreck victims.
The irrepressible spirit of the Deal boatmen remained undaunted by these events throughout the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
, and they continued to assert their hard-earned right to trade.
From these activities news of the events unfolding in France would reach England quickly and regularly, with about 400 men making a living off Deal beach at that time. The war only made the boatmen’s efforts more profitable, so that afterwards the Government immediately turned a part of its naval blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
into a coastal blockade, which lasted from 1818 to 1831.
Deal had a naval shipyard which provided Deal with much of its trade. On the site of the yard there is now a building originally used as a semaphore tower, and later used as a coastguard house, then as a timeball tower, which it remains today, and as a museum. Besides this and the Deal Maritime Museum, there is no museum of the town's history yet, though a campaign to start one is ongoing - Deal's history is told at Dover Museum instead.
Royal Marines
The first home of the Royal MarinesRoyal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
in Kent was established at Chatham in 1755. Because of its proximity to the continent and the fact that it possessed a thriving naval dockyard, Deal has been closely associated with the corps ever since its foundation. Records from the old Navy yard at Deal exist from 1658 and show that Marines from Chatham and Woolwich were on duty in Deal, and quartered in the town, until the Deal depot was established in 1861.
Deal Barracks has become known over its long history as the Royal Marine School of Music, the barracks at Walmer
Walmer
Walmer is a town in the district of Dover, Kent in England: located on the coast, the parish of Walmer is six miles north-east of Dover. Largely residential, its coastline and castle attract many visitors...
consisting of the North, East and South (or Cavalry) barracks, and all were constructed shortly after the outbreak of the French revolution.
Part of the South barracks was used from 1815 as the quarters for the 'blockade men', drafted against a threat of local smuggling. The South barracks became a coastguard station thereafter, and this duty continued until 1840.
It was the East barracks which accommodated the School of Music, until the Royal Naval School of Music was formed at Plymouth in 1903, but which moved to Deal in 1930, replacing the original depot band formed in 1891. Thus the institution became known as the Royal Marine School of Music in 1950.
During 1940, at St. Margaret's Bay, close to Deal, the Royal Marines Siege Regiment came into being and manned cross-channel guns for most of the remainder of the war.
On 29 October, a Home Security Report detailed in the RAF's Campaign Diary was made:
"Army Stations 29thU October 1940
Deal: At 1640 hours three HE bombs were dropped in the barracks, the casualties being 1 Officer and 7 other ranks killed, 6 Officers and 6 other ranks wounded."
These casualties are buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.
Hamilton Road Cemetery, Deal, Kent.
Hamilton Road Cemetery is a combined municipal and military burial ground situated in the coastal town of Deal, Kent, in South East England. Opened in May 1856, it was created to provide a new burial ground for Deal at a time when its general population was expanding and when previous, often ad hoc...
Ironically, they rest next to the joint grave of three Luftwaffe bomber crew who died just fourteen days later when their aircraft crashed near Kingsdown.
At approximately 8:20 am on 22 September 1989, the Royal Marines School of Music was bombed by the IRA, resulting in the death of 11 bandsmen, and injury to 22 other marines. The memorial garden is situated in the grounds of the old barracks where the bomb went off. This was built in remembrance of the 11 that died and was then restored after an arson attack a number of years ago. Every year the families and friends of those that died join together at the garden to pay their respects and lay flowers in a memorial service.
On the evening of 26 March 1996, the Deal populace were privy to a special ceremony, the Beating Retreat
Beating Retreat
Beating Retreat is a military ceremony dating back to 16th century England and was first used in order to recall nearby patrolling units to their castle.-History:...
, coming from the South barracks, as the Royal Marines Band Service
Royal Marines Band Service
The Royal Marines Band Service is the musical wing of the Royal Navy. It currently consists of five Bands and its headquarters is the Royal Marines School of Music at HMS Nelson in Portsmouth dockyard.-History:...
were commanded to vacate their ancient Kent depot and move to new quarters at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
. The Marines every year come up to the bandstand
Bandstand
A bandstand is a circular or semicircular structure set in a park, garden, pier, or indoor space, designed to accommodate musical bands performing concerts...
and put on a display which attracts well over 4,000 people.
Piers
The seafront at Deal has been adorned with three separate pierPier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
s in the town's history. The first, built in 1838, was designed by Sir John Rennie. After its wooden structure was destroyed in an 1857 gale, it was replaced by an iron pier in 1864. A popular pleasure pier, it survived until the Second World War, when it was struck and severely damaged by a mined Dutch ship, the Nora, in January 1940. This was not the first time the pier had been hit by shipping, with previous impacts in 1873 and 1884 necessitating extensive repairs.
The present pier, designed by Sir W. Halcrow & Partners, was opened on 19 November 1957 by the Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh is the husband of Elizabeth II. He is the United Kingdom's longest-serving consort and the oldest serving spouse of a reigning British monarch....
. Constructed predominantly from concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
-clad steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, it is 1026 ft (311 m) in length (a notice announces that it is the same length as the RMS Titanic, but that ship was just 882 feet in length), and ends in a three-tiered pier-head, featuring a cafe, bar, lounge, and fishing decks. The lowest of the three tiers is underwater at all but the lowest part of the tidal range, and has become disused. The pier is a popular sport fishing venue.
Deal's current pier is the last remaining fully intact leisure pier in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
. Its structure was extensively refurbished and repaired in 1997, with work including the replacement of much of the concrete cladding on the pier's main piles. Work began in April 2008 to construct a new pier-head with a modern restaurant, with the restaurant opened in December 2008.
Museums
Deal has several museums; all are related to Deal's maritime history. Both Deal Castle and Walmer CastleWalmer Castle
Walmer Castle was built by Henry VIII in 1539–1540 as an artillery fortress to counter the threat of invasion from Catholic France and Spain. It was part of his programme to create a chain of coastal defences along England's coast known as the Device Forts or as Henrician Castles...
are operated by English Heritage - Deal has a display on the events in the reign of Henry VIII that led to the invasion threat which caused its construction, along with some material on its subsequent history, whereas displays at Walmer concentrate on Walmer's post-Tudor role as the Lord Warden's residence. There is also a ruin of the third Tudor castle, Sandown Castle
Sandown Castle, Kent
Sandown Castle was one of Henry VIII's Device Forts or Henrician Castles built at Sandown, North Deal, Kent as part of Henry VIII's chain of coastal fortifications to defend England against the threat of foreign invasion. It made up a line of defences with Walmer Castle and Deal Castle to protect...
, in North Deal. The Deal Maritime and Local History Museum has exhibits of boats, smuggler galleys and model naval ships. It also contains extensive histories of the lifeboats as well as local parish registers. The Timeball Tower Museum, on the other hand, focuses on the importance of timekeeping for ships, and the role the building it occupies played.
Deal Maritime and Local History Museum is currently closed due to a dispute over a fence (reference link not allowed by wikipedia).
Notable references
During the 19th century, Charles DickensCharles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
was to comment on the character of the East Kent boatmen, and on one of his visits to Deal (later used for an episode in Bleak House) he wrote:
Earlier descriptions of Deal were much less favourable, with the town notorious in the 17th century as a location for smugglers. Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
wrote of the town:
Diarist Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
recorded several visits to the town, being moved on 30 April 1660 to describe it as "pitiful".
William Cobbett
William Cobbett
William Cobbett was an English pamphleteer, farmer and journalist, who was born in Farnham, Surrey. He believed that reforming Parliament and abolishing the rotten boroughs would help to end the poverty of farm labourers, and he attacked the borough-mongers, sinecurists and "tax-eaters" relentlessly...
passing through in September 1823 noted in his book Rural Rides
Rural Rides
Rural Rides is the book for which the English journalist, agriculturist and political reformer William Cobbett is best known.At the time of writing in the early 1820s, Cobbett was a radical anti-Corn Law campaigner, newly returned to England from a spell of self-imposed political exile in the...
:
In fiction
Dickens, who had visited the town, had Richard Carstone garrisoned here in chapter XLV of Bleak HouseBleak House
Bleak House is the ninth novel by Charles Dickens, published in twenty monthly installments between March 1852 and September 1853. It is held to be one of Dickens's finest novels, containing one of the most vast, complex and engaging arrays of minor characters and sub-plots in his entire canon...
, so that Woodcourt and Esther's paths can cross when Woodcourt's ship happens to anchor in the Downs at the same time as Esther and Ada are visiting Richard:
In Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
's Persuasion
Persuasion (novel)
Persuasion is Jane Austen's last completed novel. She began it soon after she had finished Emma, completing it in August 1816. She died, aged 41, in 1817; Persuasion was published in December that year ....
, chapter 8, the town is mentioned as the only place where Admiral Croft's wife Sophia Croft was ever ill, as it was the only place she was ever separated from him, whilst he was patrolling the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
:
- A renamed Deal served as the setting for the William HorwoodWilliam Horwood (novelist)William Horwood is an English novelist. He grew up on the East Kent coast, primarily in Deal, within a model modern family—fractious with "parental separation, secret illegitimacy, alcoholism and genteel poverty"....
book The Boy With No Shoes (ISBN 0-7553-1318-6). It is also the setting for part of his earlier novel The Stonor Eagles. - It is also the (renamed) setting of Frances Fyfield's crime novel Undercurrents (ISBN 0-7515-3028-X).
- It is also the setting for David Donachie's book A Hanging Matter (ISBN 0-330-32862-X), a murder and nautical mystery.
- North & South Deal were swapped round in the semi-autobiographical novel The Pier by Rayner HeppenstallRayner HeppenstallJohn Rayner Heppenstall was a British novelist, poet, diarist, and a BBC radio producer.-Early life:...
. - Deal also features briefly in H. G. Wells The War of the Worlds.
- Deal is mentioned as the destination for a Marine recruit from Edinburgh in the novel "Guns of Evening" by Ronald BassettRonald BassettRonald Leslie Bassett is a British writer and novelist. He wrote numerous works of historical fiction, sometimes under the pseudonym of "William Clive". He received many awards for his medical and pharmaceutical writing.-Personal life:...
. "What's Deal?" the recruit replies having never heard of it. - Deal is the setting for Ian Flemming's 1955 James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
book Moonraker. Villain Hugo Drax has built his MoonrakerMoonrakerMoonraker is the third novel by British author Ian Fleming featuring the fictional British Secret Service agent Commander James Bond. The book was first published by Jonathan Cape on 5 April 1955, bearing a cover based on Fleming's own concept...
rocket just outside Deal, where Bond has to go and investigate a murdered undercover operative. - Characters in the Aubrey-Maturin novels of Patrick O'BrianPatrick O'BrianPatrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
frequently stay in Deal waiting for their ship to be ordered to sea.
Newspapers
Deal has two paid for newspapers, the Deal and Sandwich Express (published by Kent Regional News and Media) and the East Kent MercuryEast Kent Mercury and Dover Mercury
The East Kent Mercury and Dover Mercury are weekly newspapers serving the district of Dover in Kent. The Dover Mercury covers the town of Dover, and the East Kent Mercury the towns of Deal and Sandwich...
(published by the KM Group
KM Group
The KM Group, formerly known as the Kent Messenger Group until 2008, is a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England...
. Free newspapers for the town include the Dover Extra, part of the KM Group; and yourdeal, part of KOS Media
KOS Media
KOS Media is a multimedia company based in the county of Kent in South East England. The company operates local newspapers and internet sites throughout the county.-History:...
.
Radio
The local radio station for Deal is KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs CountryKMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country
KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country is an Independent Local Radio serving the districts of Dover and Shepway and the surrounding areas in Kent, South East England. It is part of the KMFM group of radio stations in the county, which are part of the KM Group....
. Deal is also served by the county-wide stations Heart, Gold and BBC Radio Kent
BBC Radio Kent
BBC Radio Kent is the BBC Local Radio service for the English county of Kent.It broadcasts on FM on 96.7 , 97.6 and 104.2 also 774 and 1602 MW and DAB.- History :The radio station was launched in 1970 under the name of BBC Radio Medway, originally only serving the...
. Deal is also covered by Podcasting service Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
Community Radio who cover Dover District with local podcasts on their website. They hope to create a district-wide internet based radio station in the future leading to a community licence.
Notable residents
Comedian Norman WisdomNorman Wisdom
Sir Norman Joseph Wisdom, OBE was an English actor, comedian and singer-songwriter best known for a series of comedy films produced between 1953 and 1966 featuring his hapless onscreen character Norman Pitkin...
, writer Simon Raven
Simon Raven
Simon Arthur Noël Raven was an English novelist, essayist, dramatist and raconteur who, in a writing career of forty years, caused controversy, amusement and offence...
and actors William Hartnell
William Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell was an English actor. During 1963-66, he was the first actor to play the Doctor in the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who.-Early life:...
, Charles Hawtrey
Charles Hawtrey (film actor)
George Frederick Joffre Hartree , known as Charles Hawtrey, was an English comedy actor and musician.Beginning at a young age as a boy soprano, he made several records before moving on to the radio...
all lived or live in Deal. Notable people born in the town include James Arbuthnot
James Arbuthnot
James Norwich Arbuthnot, MP is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for North East Hampshire.-Early life:...
, John Hulke
John Hulke
John Whitaker Hulke FRCS FRS FGS was a British surgeon, geologist and fossil collector. He was the son of a physician in Deal, who became a Huxleyite despite being deeply religious....
, Elizabeth Carter
Elizabeth Carter
Elizabeth Carter was an English poet, classicist, writer and translator, and a member of the Bluestocking Circle.-Biography:...
, Clive Metcalfe
Clive Metcalfe
Clive Metcalfe is a British musician and artist. A student at Southampton Art College and Chelsea School of Art in the early 1960s, Metcalfe played rhythm, and occasionally bass guitar as a member of the 1965 band The Abdabs with Roger Waters , Richard Wright , Nick Mason , , and...
, Jack Scanlon
Jack Scanlon
Jack Scanlon is an English child actor who played one of the lead roles in the Holocaust film The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas ....
who is an actor and John Stanton Fleming Morrison
John Stanton Fleming Morrison
John Stanton Fleming Morrison was a British golf course architect born in Newcastle-on-Tyne, UK. He worked predominantly with Charles Alison, Harry Colt, and Alister MacKenzie, in 1928 forming Colt, Alison & Morrison Ltd....
.
Sources
- Green, Ivan. The Book of Deal and Walmer, Barracuda Books Ltd, 1983, ISBN 0860231569