Welcome to The Friends of Dover Castle.

We are a Registered Charity with the Charity Commission. Our legal status is as an Unincorporated Association which means we are run by Trustees of the Charity as a non-profit organisation. All our funds are used for the purposes of our charitable objectives, which is basically to support and promote Dover Castle.

The Trustees task a Management Committee to run the Friends, all of whom are members and volunteers. Without volunteers we simply would not exist.

New members are always welcome and it is a great time to join.

Dover Castle known as 'The Key to England' has over 2000 Years of History, from an Iron Age fort, Roman lighthouse and Saxon church to the Castle that is seen today with the massive Great Tower built by Henry II.

Dover Castle is one of the greatest and most famous of European fortresses, its position as a frontier defence ensuring it an important place in British history. Dover Castle strategically sited, guarding the nearest landing point to mainland Europe, made it an emphatic statement of medieval royal power, highly visible across the Straits of Dover. Its unbroken active service as a castle and fortress stretches over more than nine centuries, from the invasion of William the Conqueror to the age of the nuclear missile, from the autumn of 1066 to 1958.

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns hit everyone hard, especially in the Tourism sectors. We are proud that we continued to operate and do all we could to support Dover Castle, even when it had to close.

We ran Storytelling and Art Competitions; we commissioned an original art painting to commemorate the 80^th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain – a terrible time for everyone as World War 2 was raging and our coastline became known as Hellfire Corner due to constant air raids and battles in the skies above us.

We also held an art exhibition and auction in the Town Centre – Stembrook Shopping Arcade – which is thought to be the first public event held in Dover since Lockdown and the Town Mayor, Cllr Gordan Cowans opened for us.

We have just started a Constables Tower Kitchen Garden Project which is exciting and something members interested in gardening and the outdoors can all get involved in.

And, of course, we have the exciting Dover Community Time Capsule Project which will see the community decide what to conserve for future generations with the Time Capsule being buried on Monday 12^th September 2022 as part of Heritage Week. This has seen key partnerships developing with Dover Community Engagement Teams, The Princess of Wales Royal Regiment and Queens Regiment Museum, The Reawakening the Maison Dieu Project and of course our continuing working relationship with Dover Castle – English Heritage.

Many similar associations have struggled to continue operating and rebuild after long lay off, but we have come through this and have been able to swell our coffers to the tune of £15,000 which will be made available for projects at the Castle. I am working with English Heritage people to ensure we are duly recognised.

The best way we can help the Castle at the moment is to encourage people to visit, especially at times when people in the Uk are discouraged through the bad press to go anywhere near Dover, due to traffic chaos caused by the port’s inability to cater for all the freight needing to use the Ferries and Channel Tunnel.

I hear lots of local people moan that as they live locally, they should not have to pay to visit the Castle. This was the very reason the Friends of Dover Castle was set up, so that members of the local community can pay a membership subscription and then visit free all year round. Technically this is allowing local people free access, albeit by being a member of an association.

The Castle is still a great visitor attraction and is now fully open with the Secret War Time Tunnels now being fully functional. We are so lucky to have this unique Castle on our doorstep with two thousand years of history within it’s substantial walls and ditches.

We have also been accepted as a Local Good Cause in the new Dover Lotto about to be launched which hopefully will be a good fundraiser for local charities such as ourselves.  Please register with us and sign up to buy tickets as we will then earn 50p for every ticket sold. Dover District Council will be the organisers of this but they will not make money from this lottery other than a proportion will go towards increasing the Community Grants scheme. 

All contact and communication with The Friends should be directed in the first instance to the  Chairman - Graham Hutchison - email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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