Future Plans For Dover Castle

Works are currently underway at Dover Castle for a new visitor experience launching summer 2024.

The works will be taking place in the castle’s northern defences and the route past this area of the site will be closed – along with the medieval tunnels - until the experience launches this year.

The new experience will reveal the dramatic history of the northern defences where you’ll be able to place yourself within the story of the castle, stepping into the shoes of those who lived, worked in and protected it during the most testing times in the fortress’s history. There will also be an interactive play area which the whole family can enjoy and access to parts of the castle which have never previously been open to the public.

We can’t wait to unveil this new experience to you this summer!

Discover Medieval Dover Castle

History of Dover Castle

Learn about the long history of the castle, from its likely origins as an Iron Age hillfort, through its development as a great fortress, to its secret role in the Cold War.
The Angevin Empire

King Henry II, who built Dover Castle’s great tower, also created the largest European empire of his age, stretching at its height from Scotland to the Pyrenees.
The Great Siege of Dover Castle

Find out how, in 1216, Dover Castle and its stalwart defenders played a crucial part in preventing Prince Louis of France from becoming King Louis I of England.
Eleanor de Montfort and the Siege of 1265

Caught up at the centre of a civil war, Eleanor de Montfort held Dover Castle against the king in 1265 after her husband and eldest son were killed in battle.