Cannon - Walmer Castle, Walmer, Kent, UK
Posted by: MeerRescue
N 51° 12.035 E 001° 24.161
31U E 388403 N 5673343
A row of six cannon displayed at the front of Walmer Castle, Kent, UK.
Waymark Code: WME7AW
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 04/13/2012
Views: 3
The cannons shown would have been housed within the walls of Walmer Castle
pointing out into the English Channel, as they still do, waiting for an event
that never came, an invasion. Several cannon are on display within Walmer
Castle, most originate from the late 1700's, early 1800's and bear the crest of
King George III.
Although no admittance to Walmer Castle is required to see this row of 6 cannon,
clearly visible from the promenade close to the given parking co-ords, if you
wish to see more cannon and the rest of Walmer Castle,
here is the website for fees and opening details.
Between 1539 and 1543, King Henry VIII, who feared an invasion after divorcing
his Spanish Queen Catherine of Aragon and splitting from the Catholic church,
constructed a chain of defensive castles. Built to a common design, the three
artillery forts created to protect a stretch of beach along the Kent coast
consisted of a central circular keep with lower semi-circular bastions that were
arranged symmetrically around the keep to allow several tiers of guns to be
mounted. Although one of the three, Sandown Castle, was almost entirely
destroyed in the nineteenth century, Deal, the largest of the three, and Walmer
survive.
Although Walmer Castle was occupied by Royalists and put under siege by
Parliamentarians following the execution of Charles I in 1648, its design had
become old-fashioned by the end of the seventeenth century and Walmer Castle
began to be used as the official residence of the Lords Warden of the Cinque
Ports in 1708. Holders of the post are usually appointed for life, but it is not
a hereditary title. The office continues to be “seen as a high honour to be
conferred on those who have given especially distinguished service to the
State”, so it is not surprising that previous Lords Warden include the Duke of
Wellington, Viscount Palmerston, Sir Winston Churchill, and Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth the Queen Mother. The incumbent Lord Warden is
Admiral Michael
Cecil Boyce, Baron Boyce, KG, GCB, OBE, DL. - Lord Boyce is a former First
Sea Lord of
the Royal
Navy and Chief
of the Defence Staff.
He was born in Cape
Town, South
Africa.