Hurst's Tower and 'Naafi Restaurant' of Dover Castle (UK)

John Latter, on November 23, 2007, said:

This Victorian structure located in the grounds of Dover Castle has been converted by English Heritage to house a "Naafi Restaurant" [1] in the southern half of the building (nearest the viewer) along with Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol [2] and a remnant of a Barnes Wallis prototype 'Bouncing Bomb' [3] in the northern part. Hurst Tower [4] is visible on the west outer curtain wall on the left of the photo.

[1] Naafi stands for "Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes" and the restaurant seats 80 people with a children's menu"complete with high chairs". The main menu is themed on the food that was available to the local population during the Second World War (I didn't notice - I never saw anything beyond the cakes). There is access for wheelchairs.

[2] The photo, "Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol, Dover Castle UK (1)", has the historical background information to this 'long gun' attached to it which has been summarized in the comment appended to, "Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol, Dover Castle UK (2)". Part of this summary reads:

This is the second photo to be uploaded of a 16th Century 24-foot long 12 pounder basilisk cannon, nicknamed "Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol". It is located in the NAAFI Restaurant building close to Canons' Gate in Dover Castle.

The gun was built in 1544 in Utrecht (Holland/Netherlands) by Jan Tolhuys. The 19th Century carriage, however, was made in 1827 by the Royal Carriage Department from cannon brought back from the Battle of Waterloo.

Despite this cannon being an easily accessible object nearly 500 years old there are remarkable discrepancies between the current internet and non-internet sources regarding its characteristics. These are presented in the first photo of Queen Elizabeth's Pocket Pistol and include what it's made of (bronze, brass), range of shot (1200 yards, 2000 yards, 7 miles, 21+ miles), size of shot (10 pounds, 12 pounds, 60 pounds), and much else besides!

[3] The photo, "The Barnes Wallis 'Bouncing Bomb' at Dover Castle (UK)", contains more information about the 'Bouncing Bomb' and the Dambusters Raid (led by Guy Gibson). A nearby plaque reads:

This is a prototype of the 'bouncing bomb' which was used in the famous Dambuster operation. This operation, which breached the Mohne Dam and Eder Dam in Western Germany, was carried out by No. 617 Squadron of the RAF on 16th May, 1943.

These special bouncing bombs resembled giant garden rollers and needed to spin away from the Lancaster aircraft, which were travelling at 220 mph at a height of 60 ft above ground.

This prototype was drop tested in April 1943 off Reculver beach, Kent and was rediscovered in June 1996.

[4] Hurst's Tower or Hirst's Tower

At present I do not have any close-ups of this tower but check later 'Comments' or the Tower tag in case I forget to come back here once the images are available.

From "The History of the Castle, Town and Port of Dover" by Reverend S. P. H. Statham, Rector of St Mary-in-the-Castle (ie St Mary-in-Castro) (Longmans, Green, and Co., 1899):

[Hirst Tower] was supported by the manor of Hirst, which appertained to the manor of Chilham, and John de Hirst seems to have held it on military tenure from one of the Lords of Dover. [page 266]

On page 287 of his book, Statham also mentions that Hirst's Tower was put "in order" in 1576 following the visit of Queen Elizabeth I in 1573.

snorth, on November 23, 2007, said:

Wow, Amazing detail for comments. John, I hope you can keep up that level of detail :o)

John Latter, on November 23, 2007, said:

snorth said:

Wow, Amazing detail for comments. John, I hope you can keep up that level of detail :o)

Thank you, snorth - I'll have to see how it goes!

Basically, I feel looking at an image that hasn't any commentary is like admiring a new car that lacks an engine, if you see what I mean.

On the other hand, it's possible to go to the other extreme!

I intend uploading many more photos of Dover Castle and adding comments will become easier because I'll be able to cut and paste snippets from earlier pics - as is the case with this particular photo.

On the third hand, I may just bin the lot and do something else :)

© Wim, on December 23, 2007, said:

John Latter,

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Bonn

Kind regards, Wim

John Latter, on December 23, 2007, said:

Thank you, Evangelos and Wim - Happy Christmas to you, too!