Walmer Castle
| Walmer Castle | ||
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 Aerial view |
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| Creation time : | 1539/40 | |
| Conservation status: | receive | |
| Place: | deal | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 12 '3 " N , 1 ° 24' 8" E | |
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Walmer Castle is a former coastal fortification in Kent in the UK . It is south of the city of Deal . The fortress, classified as a Grade II cultural monument, is one of the best preserved coastal fortifications from the time of Henry VIII .
history
Walmer Castle was built from 1539 to 1540 and was part of the 20 castles chain of fortresses that Henry VIII had built to ward off Spanish or French invasions. Together with Deal Castle, two kilometers to the north, and Sandown Castle , two kilometers further north, the fortress was supposed to protect the stretch of coast in front of The Downs from enemy landings.
The only military action the fortress saw was during the English Civil War , when the royalist-held castle was captured by parliamentary troops in 1648 after a three-week siege.
Since 1708 the fortress has served as the residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports . The Lord Wardens rarely visited their residence, however, until the Duke of Wellington , who held that post for 23 years, continued to build the interior. Wellington died in the fortress in 1852.
The fortress and surrounding gardens are now managed by English Heritage and can be toured. An exhibition, paintings and memorabilia commemorate Wellington and the visits of Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Queen Mum), who also held the office of Lord Warden.
investment
fortress
The fortress was built according to plans by Stephan von Haschenperg and consists of a round, three-story central tower and four concentrically arranged semicircular bastions , which are surrounded by a walled dry moat. The northern bastion serves as a gatehouse. The interior was converted into an apartment from the early 18th century.
garden
In 1725 a kitchen garden was laid out in front of the fortress for the fortress governor. Towards the end of the 18th century, a landscape garden was laid out in the trenches and around the fortress , which was expanded around 1865 and today comprises 15 hectares. In honor of the 95th birthday of Queen Dowager Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, Penelope Hobhouse designed a new formal garden from 1995 to 1997. A 30 m long, rectangular pond was created in a walled area south of the fortress, which is surrounded in the north by a loggia-like pavilion and in the south by an artificial hill with trimmed yew trees.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ The National Heritage List: Walmer Castle. Retrieved January 5, 2012 .
- ↑ Fortified Places: Walmer Castle. Retrieved December 10, 2011 .
- ↑ Patrick Taylor: English Gardens: Landscape Parks and Cottage Gardens in Great Britain and Ireland. Dorling Kindersley, Starnberg 1993, ISBN 3-8310-0781-0 , p. 180.