Tudor and Stuart Dover
Tudor and Stuart kings and queens took
a particular interest in Dover. Henry VIII and Elizabeth I
recognised the value of the harbour, by this time threatened with
blockage by shingle, and financed expensive repairs and
enlargements. Henry also made improvements to Dover's defences and
built castles at Deal, Sandown and Walmer to protect the Downs
anchorage.
During the reign of Charles I, Dover
declared against the King in the Civil War but enthusiastically
welcomed the return of his son Charles II to England via Dover
beach, in 1660.
From this period, until the building
of the great harbour in the 19th century, Dover's fortunes were to
depend entirely upon the state of its small and unreliable
harbour.