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Walmer Castle dates originally from 1539-40 being ordered by Henry VIII as one of numerous castles built along the south coast in preparation for an expected invasion. Henry had incurred the wrath of Catholic Europe by splitting from Rome in 1534 with the Act of Supremacy which made him head of the Church in England. The anticipated invasion did not come during Henry's reign and when finally the Spanish sent an Armada in 1588, it was famously defeated by the Navy in the Channel, so none of these forts ever saw action.
The Henrician castles fall into two main styles; (a) with four or six squat round towers surmounted by another round tower over their centre and (b) star forts with pointed bastions. Walmer belongs to the first type and was built along with Deal and Sandown to protect the Downs of East Kent. These were among the first castles to be built at this time. There are only scant remains of Sandown Castle, but Deal is a fine example which was not adapted later and shows what these forts originally looked like. Walmer on the other hand had a radical make-over in the Georgian period and was turned into a comfortable residence for the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The round bastions of the original Tudor fort are however still obvious - the Georgian additions effectively being placed on top of them.
As the official residence of the Lord Warden (LW), Walmer has had many famous occupants (though some only visiting for brief periods). Among these are:
William Pitt the Younger (LW 1792-1805)
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (LW 1829-52) who died here.
George Leveson Gower, 2nd Earl Granville (LW 1866-91) - who expanded it (see plaque TR3750 : Walmer Castle - Plaque above entrance)
Prince George, Prince of Wales (later King George V) (LW 1905-07)
Sir Winston Churchill (LW 1941-65)
HM Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother (LW 1978-2002)

There are fine gardens surrounding the castle, in particular the Queen Mother's Garden with its rectangular pool and arcaded summerhouse which sits within one of William Pitt's walled gardens.

The castle and grounds are administered by English Heritage and are open to the public: Link
The castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument - see Link
The gardens are Grade II listed: Link

Created: Tue, 16 Nov 2021, Updated: Tue, 16 Nov 2021