Dover Castle [antikvár]

View from harbourDOVER CASTLEHISTORYDover lies at the English end of the shortest Channel crossing and this position has given it a certain importance from the beginnings of British history. It lies at the mouth of a little valley cut through the chalk cliiFs, which afforded a natural harbour, most convenient for traffic desiring to proceed swiftly to Canterbury and London without risking the uncertainties of the Thames Estuary. These advantages are evident even under modern conditions, but to appreciate the full importance of the site we must turn to the Middle Ages when the great castle, ' the key and stronghold of all England ' was erected to guard the gate into the country. Even before this we can trace the story of Dover in Roman days, a period of which the pharos, or lighthouse, on Castle Hill remains as a witness more imposing than the scattered buildings and objects yielded by the soil of the town.Dubra (for such is the probable form of the classical name) was so called from the little river Dour, a Celtic word signifying water. But the name provides no evidence of a pre-Roman settlement and attempts to see in the great banks and ditches of the castle a prehistoric hill fort are supported neither by the character of the remains nor by finds of pre-Roman date. When