History of Dover - Roman Dover and After

Roman Dover and After

From now on the history of Dover is completely one with the sea. Roman Dover, or ‘’Portus Dubris’’ as it was called, was one of the three ports used for trade and the movement of the army; the other two being ‘’Lemanis’’ Lympne and ‘’Rutupiae’’ Richborough. All three connected to Watling Street at Canterbury. In due course the longshore drift along the coast silted up the latter two ports, and also the mouth of the River Dour, Kent on which Dover stands.

The Romans, for whom the port was a base for their navy, the ‘’Classis Britannica’’, constructed breakwaters against the sea‘s depredations, and added two lighthouses on the heights either side of the estuary. It is possible that they also constructed a fort on what is now the site of Dover Castle to protect the port.

Dover became one of the three important towns in Kent, after Canterbury (‘’Durovernum’’) and Rochester (‘’Durobrivae’’). Evidence of that is in an extremely well preserved Roman mansion.

After the departure of the Romans came the Jutes, who left behind the legacy of the establishment of the Kingdom of Kent; from which followed the establishment of Christianity in Kent. The story of Dover Castle may well have begun during the Anglo-Saxon period. By the time of the Viking Danish invasions of Kent in 850, Dover was a principal town and Dover Priory had been established in the early seventh century.

In about 1050 five ports on the south coast of Britain joined together to form the Cinque Ports, in order to provide ships and men for the king on fifteen days a year: Dover being one of them.