to have formed part of some building that had either become ruinous, or had been pulled down to make way for the present. Very many parts of the church are of a later date: some are pretty plainly Norman, but the groundwork of the church is undoubtedly Saxon, and probably it is the oldest Christian church we have left in this country. various periods, and erected without much contrivance : | but they are arranged with little regularity, and appear but they are therefore the more picturesque in appear ance, and, as bound together by the military works of recent date, they do form a very compact and serviceable whole. The space enclosed by the castle walls is about thirty-five acres; and within that area are structures, the work of every age almost-from that of the Romans down to the present. In looking at these several parts, the most attractive to the antiquary are, unquestionably, the remains of the tower and the church-the former an undoubted Roman building, the latter as certainly Saxon. So very few vestiges remain in England of the architecture of either of these people, that these have an uncommon value-and, perhaps, the greater from their thus standing in juxtaposition, and allowing of comparison with each other. The tower is about forty feet high; in form it is an octagon, externally, but square in the interior. Opinion is divided as to whether it was erected for a watch-tower or a pharos; but it is very probable that it was intended to serve both purposes. The terrors of the British seas and shores were well known and sufficiently estimated by the Romans, and there can be little doubt that they would provide for the secure entrance of their ships to a port like this. The situation seems admirably adapted for that purpose; and if, as is said, the remains of a building upon the heights on the other side of the haven, which were destroyed at the commencement of the present century, were those of a similar structure, we have an arrangement that would at once indicate the site of the haven in the plainest and most efficient manner. The outward appearance of the building was a good deal changed by its being cased with flint, and otherwise altered in the reign of Henry V.; but part of this casing has peeled off, and the Roman work is plainly visible. It is constructed of tufa and flint, bonded together, at regular intervals, with courses of large flat tiles or bricks-a method of construction peculiar to Roman buildings. In a few steps we may see the change in the method of building that distinguishes the Saxon artificers. The Roman tower adjoins the western end of a church, evidently of very ancient date, and, like the tower, a ruin. In the last century this was commonly stated to be also of the Roman period; and it was even confidently ascribed to King Lucius. But that was by men who were so imperfectly acquainted with the subject, as to ascribe to the time of King Lucius work of the time of the fifth Henry; and now, probably, only Dover folks fancy this to be of earlier date than the seventh century. But, as we said, works of really Saxon date-for most that are called Saxon in guide-books and histories are Norman-are very rare. These remains consist of a nave, chancel, and transepts, with a tower springing from theintersection of the arms of the cross. The workmanship of the oldest parts is very rude; the materials are similar to those employed in the tower, and there is an evident, but unskilful attempt to imitate the Roman style of construction. There are a good many Roman tiles about the arches and elsewhere, The Roman fortifications are still easily traceable; they are of comparatively limited extent, being in the largest part about 400 feet by 140 feet. The Saxons are believed to have extended the works and made it a place of great strength. It was not, however, strong enough to hold out long against the Conqueror, who showed his estimation of courage in an enemy by hanging the governor of the castle and his two sons. The Norman appointed his brother, the celebrated Bishop of Bayeux, to be constable of the Castle, who soon drove the men of Kent into rebellion. They attacked the Castle, but were repulsed with great loss. The fortifications were then largely extended, and the whole seems to have been remodelled. Of the buildings of Norman date there are many yet standing, but it is unnecessary to particularize them. They are gatehouses, towers, and a massive keep, the latter being of about the middle of the twelfth century, having been built by Henry II. The keep stands in the centre of the Norman fortifications, and is the principal building in the Castle, and the most noticeable in a distant view of it. The view from the summit is magnificent. In the War of Castles, as the long struggle between Stephen and Matilda has been called, Dover was not particularly distinguished. It was at first held for the Empress, but was taken by the wife of Stephen. The ignoble deeds of John at Dover have been already mentioned. The Castle and its Constable played rather an important part in the occurrences that followed. When the dauphin Louis had been invited to England by the barons, John, with his army, withdrew from Dover, having appointed Hubert de Burgh constable of the Castle. Louis landed at Sandwich, and "being advertised," says Holinshed, "that King John was retired out of Kent, he passed through the county without any encounter, and wan all the castles and holds as he went, but Dover he could not win." He soon, however, returned to it; his father having angrily informed him that till Dover Castle was taken not a foot of land was secure, and sent with the message some besieging instruments of unusual power. For weeks Louis steadily prosecuted the siege without success, when he determined to convert it into a blockade, swearing at the same time that he would starve the place into a surrender, and then hang all he found in it. But De Burgh had imbibed none of his master's craven spirit-and for the remaining three months of that master's life he steadily refused to submit. On the death of John, Louis tried to cajole the garrison by representing that by the death of the king they were absolved from their oaths of allegiance, and ought now to yield obedience to the prince who had been called Silently and unnoticed they made their way from ledge to ledge till they had reached the summit, and only the Castle wall had to be surmounted. This was swiftly done, and the sentinels as swiftly seized. The porter by a threat of instant death, was terrified into the delivery of his keys; and before the garrison was aroused the gates had been opened and the armed band admitted. The alarmed garrison finding the Castle thus in possession of the foe-unaware of their numbers and suspicious of treachery-thought only how to escape; and thus without a blow this important stronghold was lost to the king. Thus runs the story; but it is difficult to believe that it was thus easily accomplished, without concert with some party inside. Be that as it may, it was never recovered by the king. The Kentish royalists collected an army for the purpose, but they were unable to make any impression, and were compelled to a hasty retreat on the approach of a superior army sent by the parliament under the command of Colonel Rich. by the nation to succeed him. At the same time he | with a rope, a scaling-ladder, and a loaded musket. promised them the most munificent marks of his favour. De Burgh, however, was not to be so gained; nor did he waver when the prince threatened, if he did not yield, to put his brother, who was a prisoner in France, to death. The course of events in other parts of the country obliged Louis to raise the siege, and De Burgh immediately availed himself of the opportunity to strengthen all those parts of the fortifications that he had found by experience to need strengthening. This he accomplished so thoroughly, that when Louis, a few months later, again returned to the Castle, with reinforcements which he had brought from France, he soon became convinced that the attempt to reduce it was hopeless, and marched on to London. De Burgh, now satisfied of the safety of his fortress, resolved to strike a blow in return. Apprised that a fleet of eighty great ships, and many small ones, was on its way from France, bringing a number of knights and a large body of infantry to the aid of Louis, he hastily summoned the navy of the Cinque Ports, of which he was warden, and having given strict orders that the Castle should not on any account be surrendered—even though it were to save his life, should he be made a prisoner he boldly put forth to sea. All the ships he could collect in time did not exceed forty, and many of them were of small size; but the mariners of the Cinque Ports were skilful as well as gallant sailors. They soon showed their superiority, by winning the weathergage of the enemy; when suddenly tacking they bore down upon them. The iron peaks of the English ships were driven so forcibly into the hulls of their opponents as to sink many of them. Those that were entangled in the shock, or could be grappled by hooks, De Burgh caused to be made fast to his own vessels with chains, or to be rendered unmanageable by cutting the rigging. The daringness of the encounter appears to have so terrified the French, that they offered but a feeble resistance. The whole French fleet, with the exception of fifteen vessels, were either taken or destroyed. This victory was fatal to the hopes of Louis, and he speedily agreed to leave the kingdom, and relinquish all his claims. The strange vicissitudes in the subsequent career of De Burgh will recur to the reader; but they belong not to the present record. We will only mention one other event in the history of the Castle-the gallant surprisal of it in 1642. At the outbreak of hostilities between Charles and the Parliament, the Castle was in the hands of the king. A merchant of the town, named Dawkes, a sturdy parliamentarian, having learnt by some means that a very weak guard was kept on the seaward side, where no attack was anticipated, determined to attempt to effect an entrance by scaling the cliffs. He selected ten of his fellow-townsmen, as skilful climbers, and as resolute in spirit as himself, to accompany him; and he arranged for another party to lie in ambush by the Castle-gate, ready to rush in, if he should be able to open it. At midnight, on the 21st of August, Dawkes and his companions were at the cliff foot, each provided This was the last piece of actual warfare that Dover Castle witnessed: and the building appears not to have been taken much account of for a good many years. The threats of a visit from the Pretender led to the extension of its works in 1745, under the advice and direction of the Duke of Cumberland. Several new batteries were erected in the town as well as in the Castle, but they have all been removed since the completion of the more extensive works of which we are now to speak. When Bonaparte assembled his vast army on the French coast, and made such formidable preparations, with the declared purpose of invading England, Pitt, who was then at the head of the Government, ordered a careful survey to be made of the Castle and neighbouring hills; and the entire remodelling of the whole defensive works here, and the construction of an immense series of new fortifications, in accordance with the most improved methods of military engineering, were the consequence of that survey. The works are indeed on a most extensive scale. Batteries of powerful character were placed in every assailable position, and in every position which would defend the town, or annoy a foe. Extensive outworks stretch far beyond the fortress, and are connected with it by well-arranged covered ways. The cliffs are also made to contribute to the means of annoyance as well as of defence; and barracks were hollowed out of the solid rock. were so made as that a garrison of between 3,000 and 4,000 men can be easily accommodated, and supplied with ample stores, within the walls of the Castle. The arrangements At the same time, the Heights on the other side of the town, which command the Castle, were also fortified. Barracks were built on the hill, above the town, and a passage made to them from it, by a perpendicular shaft, having three distinct sets of stairs within it of 140 steps each. The entrance to this Grand Shaft as it is called, is in Snargate-street, and the visitor would do well to ascend it for the sake of the view of the town he will obtain from the hill above. The barracks are large and complete. Above them on the right is a good-sized battery, called the Drop Redoubt. This is connected with a much larger one to the westward, called the Grand Redoubt. Both these are surrounded by deep and wide ditches. Some way to the south-west, and on the highest part of the lofty hill, is the chief of these works, the Citadel, a very complete battery, with all the outworks and appliances of the most approved character. All these extensive fortifications are connected with each other by covered ways and regular lines of communication. The entire area inclosed within the lines is arranged so as to contain a numerous army, and though at such a lofty elevation, an ample supply of water is provided by numerous wells and tanks. The batteries are not now mounted with cannon, nor indeed have the works ever been completed, but if completed and mounted, Dover would be the strongest military position in the country. The views from these Heights are of wondrous extent, and of a very impressive character-hardly the less impressive, as you look from a battery, from the recollection of the service the place you are standing on is intended to be applied to. The fortifications are not open to the general visitor, but he may, of course, stroll as he pleases about the Heights, outside the lines of circumvallation. He will do well, at least, to ascend these heights. Such views are not to be missed on account of the trifling labour necessary to attain them. If he wishes to see something of the nature of a fortification, he can visit the Castle, where under certain regulations the whole of the works may be seen. views about the Castle are, as we said, both extensive and beautiful. The Castle-hill is 325 feet above the sea, and though the Heights are much loftier, perhaps the views are not much finer. The French coast is often seen with extraordinary distinctness from the Castle. The Of the ecclesiastical edifices that were once numerous in Dover, the relics are few and unimportant. Out of the seven churches that formerly stood in the town, only two are left. St. Mary's, by the marketplace, is one of them, and is worth inspecting. The tower, with its rows of blank arcades, is a characteristic though not very handsome specimen of a Norman tower. The body of the church, both externally and internally, had suffered the most egregious alterations, and a few years ago presented a most pitiable spectacle. But it is now restored, and restored in a very satisfactory manner. The other old church stands near the 'Steps' which lead by many a wearying turn to the Castle. It also has some Norman features. There is a third church in Dover, which was erected a few years ago. The churches of Charlton, and Houghamin-Dover may, from the growing out of the suburbs, be also considered as now belonging to the town. Of the churches that have fallen into desuetude, only a shapeless fragment of one remains; and it is so blocked in by the houses and hovels huddled together by the market-place, that only so much of it as rises above their roofs is visible. The tower of another church remained till 1836. Of the monasteries and other religious houses, the remains are as few as of the old churches. The most extensive remains are those of the Augustinian Priory of St. Martin. The space inclosed by the priory-wall may be yet easily made out. A farm-house stands amidst the ruins, and the whole estate is now known as the Priory Farm. The refectory of the monks-a goodly hall 100 feet in length, is converted into a barn. A Gatehouse is the only other relic that is at all in a tolerable state of preservation. Hubert de Burgh, the brave defender of Dover Castle, founded a religious hospital at Dover, which he called the Maison Dieu.' He placed it near the entrance of the town, and furnished ample endowment for a certain number of brothers and sisters, whose employment was to consist in the due performance of religious services, and the entertainment of pilgrims and wayfarers, who should claim their hospitality. As was usual with such places, subsequent benefactors added to its revenues. We shall not attempt to trace its history till it was swept away in the general suppression of monasteries; nor the succession of hands into which its lands and buildings subsequently passed. But the fate of its magnificent church, the only part that escaped early destruction, affords too curious an instance of the mutations to which even such buildings are liable, to let us pass the recent changes it has undergone quite unnamed. The opening of the nineteenth century saw this venerable pile in the possession of a branch of the Government. It belonged to the Victualling Department of the Navy. In their hands the church served many ends. Part of it was employed as a brewhouse, part as a bakehouse, part was converted into a store-house. Thirty years later, when biscuits had come to be made by steam, and other changes had taken place, the old church was found to have become too antiquated even for the baker and the brewer; and it was accordingly transferred to the Board of Ordnance. They however found their purchase an unmanageable commodity, and by way of lessening the incumbrance, pulled down the larger half of it. And now the authorities of the town cast their eyes upon it, and longed to call it their own. The Ordnance were but too glad to rid themselves of the burden, and in 1834 the Corporation of Dover became the happy possessors of the 'Maison Dieu.' The reader is delighted to think of corporate piety thus showing its regard for antiquity, and stepping in to rescue the venerable edifice from further degradations. He perhaps recollects what Dover was fourteen years ago, and how often he looked around for the churches wherein its population could find a place. He thinks, of course, that as half the old church was left, it would yet make a good-sized modern one, and he doubts not but it was to restore it to its ancient use that the corporation purchased it. Nothing less. The corporation had grown ashamed of the dirty-looking place which had served for their town-hall, and many L other purposes, and thought that, with some reparation, | pent and new basin at high tide is collected in a large this church would make a very pretty substitute for it, reservoir, and then, at the fall of the tide, is, by means and also serve for a jail and a sessions-house. And We shall not follow the changes made in the harbour; it may suffice to state that, from time to time, very large sums of money have been expended in its maintenance and improvement. The most recent alterations and extensions have made it nearly all, probably, that a tidal harbour is capable of being made in a place so exposed as this, and which can only be maintained by a continual struggle with the elements. It is one of the peculiarities of this harbour, that the shingle beach, which is in constant motion, displays a continual tendency to form a barrier at the mouth of the harbour; and this bar sometimes forms with great rapidity during a westerly gale. When the wind blows from the east, no shingle accumulates there, and sometimes an easterly wind drives away any that may have collected. Sometimes the entrance to the harbour used to be blocked up for seven or eight days at a time. About 1837, a plan was brought into operation by which the water that enters the inner of skilful contrivances, poured forth, in a narrow and rapid current, directly against the bar, through which it seldom fails, in a short time, to force a channel. The improvements in the harbour, which were commenced in 1844, have not only nearly doubled the former quantity of wharfage, and enlarged the accommodations for shipping, and especially for steamvessels, but have also, by clearing away the mean and dirty houses known as the 'Old Buildings,' and forming a fine esplanade, which now reaches from the Castle Cliffs to the pier-head, done more to increase the comfort and enjoyment of the numerous visitors than almost any other change could have done. The harbour itself, and the pier-head, now afford constantly fresh objects of interest and amusement to the visitor, and are among the most popular of the afternoon lounging-places. With all that Dover now has to show, it probably holds out more inducements to the general visitor than any other watering-place along the whole coast. Excepting quiet or seclusion,—which very few who go to bathing-places wish for,-Dover can offer almost every variety of attraction that can be found in any; while it affords much that none else have. But we must return to the harbour. Notwithstanding all its improvements, it is still only a tidal harbour; and, when clear of shingle, only for about five hours on the average, is there a depth of ten feet of water at the entrance: consequently it is only to a confined extent that it is available, and for ships of but moderate burden. The number of vessels that enter it is open considerable; but very many more would gladly use it, were it possible to do so-especially in foul weather: but, at such a time, the entrance is seldom safe. Often considerable fleets of merchantmen, after passing to the westward, if a westerly wind comes on, (and westerly winds are much the most frequent in the Channel,) have to run back again to take shelter in the roadstead of the Downs. Of course the whole of these vessels would gladly run into a harbour, if there were one open to them, as they have not only the loss of way to make up again, but also to encounter― it may be in darkness or in haze-all the dangers of the Goodwin Sands. The urgent necessity for a safe harbour, into which vessels of any tonnage navigating the Channel might run, in any weather, and in any state of the tide, has long been recognised and made the subject of many inquiries. These inquiries, however, were partial and unsatisfactory, and led to no other result than a clearer knowledge of the difficulties in the way of any practical measures. But, in 1844, a Government Commission, consisting of naval and military officers and civil engineers,―men of considerable practical and scientific knowledge, as well as professional eminence,—was appointed to consider the subject in all its bearings. The principal objects they were to keep in view are thus stated by themselves: "First, the formation of ports of refuge, for the safety |