Oldgreytravel recently had the pleasure of visiting Deal on the East Kent coast. The old town is a pleasant jumble of ancient and historic buildings running in long streets broadly parallel to the wide seaside promenade, typical of many of our historic seaside towns. It was for long, one of the most important naval and shipping centres of this island, but the oddity about Deal is that there is no harbour, just the long, gently-shelving shingle beach looking out due east over the widening Channel.
Its strategic significance is defined by its geography, close to France and the Continent and in an area of shallow waters with no cliffs offering natural protection for any defenders. It may well have been here that Julius Caesar first landed in Britain. In 1495, the pretender to the English throne, Perkin Warbeck, attempted to land, but his supporters were driven off the beach by locals loyal to Henry VII. As such, Deal has always been a vulnerable part of the nation’s coastline and Deal castle and associated fortifications were built in the C16 to bolster its defences against threats of invasion.
However, it was the proximity of Deal to the notorious Goodwin Sands that made the fortunes of Deal and it’s townsfolk. The Downs, the water between the town and the Sands provided a naturally sheltered anchorage. Positioned at the eastern end of the English Channel, this is where sailing ships would wait, in relative safety, for a favourable wind either to proceed into the North Sea or heading west down the Channel. In the age of sail, “turning the corner” around the Dover cliffs would prove a challenge too far. Ships leaving London on a fair westerly wind would find themselves unable to turn due east to pass through the Channel and they would have to moor up in the Downs while waiting for a change in the wind direction. The reverse would be the same for ships heading for London from the west. The result was that it was often found that 400-500 ships may be waiting in the Downs for onward progress.
When the port of Sandwich silted up by the late C15, the only way to provision ships in the Downs was in boats launched directly from the beach at Deal. This was an extensive and profitable trade for Deal and the town’s reputation and wealth grew accordingly. Deal also provided a convenient landing and boarding place for passengers to and from London. Anne of Cleves, herself. landed at Deal on her way to meet Henry VIII in London.
As steamships began to be introduced in the late 1860’s, the importance of the Downs as a safe anchorage started to reduce and by the turn of the century, the town had subsided into the quiet residential and commercial centre that it remains today. Few ships, other than small sailing vessels, use the Downs for safe anchorage today, but Deal still remains that oddity of a port without a harbour.
