9 interesting facts about Dover Castle that we bet you didn’t know!

Long before the medieval castle existed, the Romans built a lighthouse on the hill shortly after AD 43. Known as the Roman Pharos, it remains one of the best-preserved Roman structures in England and one of only three surviving Roman lighthouses from the former Roman Empire.

Hidden beneath the castle is a maze of tunnels stretching for more than three miles. Originally dug during the Napoleonic Wars for gun batteries, these chalk passages were later expanded into wartime command centres, hospitals, and communication hubs during the 19th and 20th centuries.

During the Second World War, the castle’s underground tunnels became a protected military headquarters. In 1940, commanders planned and directed the evacuation of more than 330,000 Allied troops from Dunkirk from rooms carved directly into the chalk beneath the cliffs.

One of Dover Castle’s most famous Tudor weapons was nicknamed “Queen Elizabeth’s Pocket Pistol.” Despite the humorous name, the enormous bronze cannon measured over seven feet long and symbolised the growing importance of heavy artillery in defending England’s coastline.

Captured foreign prisoners once held at the castle scratched names, drawings, and messages into the stone walls of the Great Tower. Many of these carvings still survive today, offering small but personal glimpses into lives shaped by war and imprisonment centuries ago.

The underground passages have earned a reputation for ghost stories and mysterious noises. However, experts believe the castle’s exposed cliffside location creates unusual air currents and echoes inside the chalk tunnels, making ordinary sounds seem eerie and unexplained.

The hilltop has served defensive purposes since the Iron Age, long before the Romans arrived. Over centuries, the same strategic position continued evolving from hillfort to medieval castle to modern military headquarters, giving the site one of Britain’s longest defensive histories.

The tunnels built for Napoleonic gun batteries were never actually used in battle at the time. Instead, later generations transformed the chambers into hidden wartime facilities complete with telephone exchanges, map rooms, offices, and even underground medical wards.

Beneath the stone walls lie massive ditches and earth ramparts first created by Iron Age communities. The landscape itself has been reshaped repeatedly over thousands of years, making the castle grounds an extraordinary layered record of Britain’s defensive past.