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Dover: Lock and Key of the Kingdom
The Pharos and St Mary-in-Castro
The Roman pharos or lighthouse was probably built in the first century A.D.
A similar lighthouse was built on the Western Heights and at night guided
Roman ships into the port of Dubris. The tower was octagonal outside and
rectangular inside rising to a height of perhaps 80 feet (24m). It had eight
storeys each set back 1 foot (0.3m) from the one below, which gave the
whole structure the appearance of an extended telescope.
Only the first four Roman storeys remain, the present topmost storey being
a fifteenth century reconstruction. The present splayed shape of the pharos
is a result of the severe weathering it suffers in exposed position and
mediaeval refacing.
In the late Saxon period when the church of St Mary-in-Castro was built the
already ancient pharos became a free standing bell tower. The church was
built in the late tenth or early eleventh century and reused much Roman
brick in its construction. Cruciform in plan with a central tower and aisle
less nave, it was considerably altered in the thirteenth century by Henry
III. After the mediaeval period the church fell into ruin and was restored
first in 1862 and then again in 1883 when the mosaics on the wall of the
nave were added.
A similar lighthouse was built on the Western Heights and at night guided
Roman ships into the port of Dubris. The tower was octagonal outside and
rectangular inside rising to a height of perhaps 80 feet (24m). It had eight
storeys each set back 1 foot (0.3m) from the one below, which gave the
whole structure the appearance of an extended telescope.
Only the first four Roman storeys remain, the present topmost storey being
a fifteenth century reconstruction. The present splayed shape of the pharos
is a result of the severe weathering it suffers in exposed position and
mediaeval refacing.
In the late Saxon period when the church of St Mary-in-Castro was built the
already ancient pharos became a free standing bell tower. The church was
built in the late tenth or early eleventh century and reused much Roman
brick in its construction. Cruciform in plan with a central tower and aisle
less nave, it was considerably altered in the thirteenth century by Henry
III. After the mediaeval period the church fell into ruin and was restored
first in 1862 and then again in 1883 when the mosaics on the wall of the
nave were added.
