History of Dover - The Middle Ages

The Middle Ages

Twenty years after the Norman conquest of England, in 1086, the Domesday Book was compiled. The entry for Dover in the Kent section of the Book came first, before all other entries; there were also two entries specifically to the lands held by the Canons of Dover Priory. The value of Dover was put at £40; its value in the time of Edward the Confessor could not be established, since Dover had been burnt at the time of the Conquest. The town was now a borough; the town burgesses ran their own guild and possessed a guildhall

Soon after 1066, William appointed a Governor (also known as the Constable) of Dover Castle, who was given the additional title of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports.

The period saw much activity in the founding of churches, hospitals and other religious buildings. Archaeological evidence suggests that a new castle was constructed near the Saxon church of St Mary in Castro in what is now Dover Castle, rather than or as well as repairing the old burgh. The church was repaired twice in the thirteenth century.

In Dover the churches of St Mary the Virgin and of St. James the Apostle were also built.

St Edmund's Chapel was consecrated in 1253 as a chapel of rest; The large Saxon monastic church of St Martin le Grand, had by this time incorporated three other churches within its walls, although by the time of the Reformation it was closed down. A new Priory was founded on another site, also dedicated to St. Martin; and a college for secular priests was established. hospitals were built for the relief of pilgrims: there were five in Dover, including Maison Dieu. Several of the surviving buildings remain in 2008, either as ruins or in another guise.

A great deal of Saxon Dover was rebuilt. By 1190 the new Dover Castle was complete, and maritime trade was increasing, even though the port itself was small and remained so for some centuries. In the thirteenth century, Dover withstood two attacks. The first, in 1216, involved the siege of Dover Castle by Prince Louis of France and was almost successful; in 1295 a French raiding party overran the town and set most of the town ablaze