admin – Page 4 – Deal Heritage

Middle Street Car Park

When Lower Deal began to develop in the 1600s this area was the first to grow, and it had some of the oldest buildings in the town. Where this car park now stands was once the heart of Lower Deal, a crowded maze of houses, inns, workshops and factories.

Middle Street

Middle Street was the centre of the notorious smuggling activities in Deal. It has a character all of its own, with narrow cross-lanes and variety of houses, mostly from the 17th and 18th centuries – some are tiny and simple, others more substantial and elaborate.

Maritime Deal

Deal’s coastal position has historically provided a living from the sea for much of its population. Boatmen from Deal provided the link from the town to the hundreds of ships moored offshore in the days of sail, providing them with supplies and ferrying sailors to and from their ships; they also travelled to the continent and smuggling was rife. Other men used their skills as pilots around the treacherous waters, and boat building was an important trade.

Lower Walmer – South

This area developed after the building of Walmer Castle by King Henry VIII in 1539-40 which subsequently developed as the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and is maintained by English Heritage for visitors. Hawkshill Freedown is a ridge running from the castle and was used as an airfield in the First World War.

Lower Walmer – North

Lower Walmer developed as a fishing community nearer to the sea than the original village of Walmer (now known as Upper Walmer). It was home for many years to the Royal Marines, and is home to one remaining lifeboat station on this section of coast.

High Street

This is the lowest land in the area and was originally known as Lower Street. The High Street developed from the 17th century as the town expanded back from the maze of lanes nearer the sea. Although much of it is now a modern shopping centre, many of the old buildings survive behind the shop facades, and you can still see their interesting architecture in the upper storeys.

Goodwins Sands Heritage and History

Seven and a half kilometres out to sea lie the Goodwin Sands, a series of sandbanks stretching for about 16 kilometres between Ramsgate and South Foreland. They have posed a navigational hazard to mariners for centuries and became known as the ‘shippe swallower’, they are now the graveyard of over 2,000 ships, submarines and aircraft.

Goodwin Sands

The Goodwin Sands created a sheltered stretch of sea to the coast, known as The Downs. Sailing ships anchored here to wait for the wind to change before they could continue their journey. For centuries untold numbers of ships ran aground and sank on the sands. The sands are a diverse marine habitat, including a colony of grey seals.

Deal Pier

Despite once being a bustling port, Deal never had a recognisable harbour but there have been three piers. The present concrete pier was officially opened in 1957 to replace the previous pier which was destroyed during the Second World War.

Deal Memorial Bandstand

Built to commemorate the lives of the 11 Musicians who were killed when the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) exploded a bomb at the Royal Marines School of Music in 1989.