KENT. 207 



all Christendom, Canterbury no longer holds its ancient rank as a place of 

 commerce and industry, notwithstanding the navigable river upon which it stands, 

 and the five railways which converge upon it. As a W'ool and hop market it is 

 still of some importance, but the industries introduced by French or Flemish 

 refugees in the sixteenth century have ceased to be carried on, and the population 

 diminishes. But notwithstanding this, Canterbury, with its many churches and 

 ancient walls, now converted into public walks, remains one of the most interesting 

 and picturesque towns of England. 



The smiling town of Deal rises on the east coast of Kent, opposite the dreaded 

 Goodwin Sands, and is separated from them by the roadstead of the Downs. The 

 boatmen of Deal are renowned for their daring, and only too frequently are their 

 services called into requisition by vessels in distress. Of the three castles which 

 Henry YIII. built for the defence of the town, that of Sandown was pulled down 

 in 18G2, owing to the inroads made by the sea, that of Deal is now in private 

 occupation, w'hilst Walmer Castle continues the official residence of the Lord 

 Warden of the Cinque Ports — an honorary office, held in succession by some of 

 the most distinguished men of the kingdom. The great Duke of Wellington died 

 in this castle in 1852. 



Dover, which retains in French its ancient Celtic appellation of Douvres, 

 occupies a commanding position directly opposite to the clifis rising along the coast 

 of France. It is one of those towns which, notwithstanding historical vicissitudes, 

 the shifting of sandbanks, and the changes of currents, are able to maintain their 

 rank as places of commerce. Its port, at the mouth of the Dour, which enters 

 the sea between steep cliffs, offers the greatest facilities to vessels crossing the 

 strait. Dover is the only one of the Cinque Ports which has not merely retained its 

 traffic, but increased it, and this is exclusively due to the mail-steamers which 

 several times daily place it in communication with Calais and Ostend.* Dover 

 Harbour scarcel}^ suffices for the many vessels which fly to it during stress of 

 weather, and proposals for its enlargement are under discussion. The Admiralty 

 Pier is a noble work, extending 700 feet into the sea. It is composed of 

 enormous rectangular blocks, formed into a wall rising perpendicularly from the 

 sea. A vertical pier like this is exposed to all the fury of the waves lashed by a 

 storm, but the recoiling weaves enable vessels to keep at a safe distance. A 

 powerful fort has been erected at the termination of the pier ; for Dover is a 

 fortress, no less than a place of trade. A picturesque castle occupies a command- 

 ing site to the north. It consists of structures of many different ages, including 

 even a Roman pharos, or watch-tower. Other heights, crowned Avith batteries and 

 forts, command the castle. Only a short distance to the north of Dover, near 

 St. Margaret's Bay and the South Foreland, preliminary works, with a view to the 

 construction of a railway tunnel between France and England, have been carried 

 out. It can no longer be doubted that this great work is capable of realisation. 

 The rocks through which the tunnel is to pass are regularly bedded, and without 



* Over 180,000 passengers annual] j' cross from Djver to Calais, as compared with 135,000 who go 

 from Folkestone to Boulogne. 



