Just about 40 miles up the coast from Rye is one of the rarest of buildings, not just in Britain but in the world. In the grounds of Dover Castle is a Pharos, a Roman lighthouse, one of only three in the world to have survived from that time. Of those three, the Dover example is the best preserved. It is also the best preserved Roman building in Britain.
The Dover Pharos was constructed just a few years after the successful Roman invasion of England, about 46 – 50 AD. Octagonal in plan, it was originally about 24 metres high, with between six and eight internal levels. Today there are four. It is said to have been a copy of an earlier Pharos built at Cap Griz Nez near Boulogne in 40 AD. A further Pharos was built on the Western Heights at Dover, but there are scant remains of that one. The two were built to act as beacons, guiding shipping into Dover, then called Dubris, via the river Dour estuary. The position of the Castle Hill Pharos meant that communication via beacon was possible with those at Western Heights and Cap Griz Nez. The base of the tower, uncovered during an excavation in 1915, is made of Kentish ragstone. Then, going up the tower, and separated by bands of brick, there are levels of cemented flint, Dour Valley Tufa and green sandstone. Just one of the original windows has survived.
The Pharos is next to the church of St Mary in Castro (in the castle,) which was founded in about 1000 AD, and itself originally built with material from Roman buildings, but then partially rebuilt during the middle ages. During the 13th and 14th centuries the Pharos was the belfry of the church. The top story was rebuilt between 1426-36, at the expense of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. The rebuild included adding five new windows, which were made in Folkestone. The work, when completed, made the tower appear medieval, with its crenellated top storey. Its original height was about 24 metres. Now it is about 16 metres tall, with 12.5 metres of that height being Roman work. On the side facing the sea, there is naturally considerable erosion of the Roman building, although there is less on the later stonework.
Between 1542-3, three bells were sold from the tower, rendering it rather less useful as a belfry. However, it took on a new lease of life in 1582, when it was reroofed, and put to use for storing gunpowder. A corridor linking it to the body of the church seems to have been added then. By the beginning of the 18th century, it was in a state of disrepair. In 1722, William Stukeley, a physician, clergyman and historian wrote that the lead had gone from the roof, which had left ‘this rare piece of art and masonry to struggle with the sea air and weather.’ The church of St Mary was restored during the 1860s, but the Pharos had to wait until 1913, when it was restored enough to preserve it.
Image Credits: Graham Horn .