Deal, Kent
The Domesday Book of 1086 records the settlement as Addelam. This name evolved into Dela by 1158 and later became Dale in 1275. The Old English word dael means valley, a cognate with the modern term dale. Deal developed into a port by the end of the thirteenth century. In 1278 it became a limb port of the Cinque Ports. By that time it had grown into the busiest port in England. Today the town remains a seaside resort with ancient buildings and monuments lining its streets. Middle Street became the first conservation area in Kent in 1968.
The Downs provided a naturally sheltered anchorage between the town and the Goodwin Sands. Sailing vessels waited here for favorable winds to proceed into the North Sea or down the Channel. Ships from London would turn south past the North Foreland only to find the wind against them further on. At times three hundred or more ships could be windbound in the Downs. When the port of Sandwich silted up, boats launched directly from the beach supplied fresh provisions and stores. This extensive trade lasted until steamships replaced sail. The quality of holding ground was chalk which was not ideal material. Hence ships often dragged their anchors in strong winds from north round to east northeast. This created salvage work as an additional source of income for the town. The importance of the Downs started to reduce from the late eighteen sixties due to competition from steamships. By the eighteen eighties only small sailing vessels used the anchorage regularly.
Deal boatmen were internationally famous for skilled seamanship operating locally built craft. They launched and recovered from the open beach regardless of weather conditions. A range of work included taking provisions out to anchored ships and delivering mail paid for by the Post Office. Ballast in the form of shingle loaded from the beach was sold to other vessels. It was common for a ship to lose her anchor either slipping the cable in emergency or if a chain parted. In 1607 two boatmen received thirty pounds a year for sweeping and recovering lost anchors. Over six hundred anchors were swept up from the Downs between 1866 and 1869 when the Board of Trade paid for this service. A large store of ground tackle of every size was kept by the boatmen. A suitable example could be loaded into one of the larger luggers and taken out to sell to the ship needing it. After the Merchant Shipping Act 1854 salvage claims became more fairly assessed. Substantial payments could be made to boatmen launching into strong winds. In November 1859 within twelve days thirty anchors and chains were supplied to ships in the Downs. The lugger Albion earned the most at over two thousand pounds.
Sandown, Deal and Walmer castles were constructed around the town by Henry VIII to protect against foreign naval attack. Deal Castle is a device fort commissioned by then-King Henry VIII. A small Naval Yard was established at Deal in 1672 providing stores and minor repair facilities. The yard covered some five acres of land north of the castle. There was also a victualling yard on site. No place existed for ships to dock alongside at Deal so supply boats launched from the shingle beach carried provisions or equipment. The Yard closed in 1864. The Royal Marines Depot was constructed shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolution. From 1861 the complex served as a sizeable Depot for the Royal Marines. It later became known for the Royal Marines School of Music which moved there in 1930. During the Second World War twelve people were killed by shelling from one hundred twenty shells. In 1989 the depot was bombed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army killing eleven bandsmen.
The seafront has been adorned with three separate piers in the town's history. The first built in 1838 was designed by Sir John Rennie. After its wooden structure was destroyed in an 1857 gale it was replaced by an iron pier in 1864. This popular pleasure pier survived until the Second World War when it was struck and severely damaged by a mined Dutch ship named Nora in January 1940. The present pier opened on the 19th of November 1957 by the Duke of Edinburgh. Deal's current pier is the last remaining fully intact leisure pier in Kent and is a Grade II listed building. Several museums relate to maritime history including Deal Castle and Walmer Castle operated by English Heritage. The Deal Maritime and Local History Museum houses exhibits of boats smuggler galleys and model naval ships. The Timeball Tower Museum focuses on timekeeping for ships. The Kent Museum of the Moving Image explores early moving image history through exhibitions on Vinten Cameras and Ealing Studios work. Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club is located immediately north of the town as a renowned championship links course founded in February 1892.
William Boys lived from 1735 to 1803 as an English surgeon and topographer. Admiral Sir John Harvey served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars between 1772 and 1837. Antonio Blitz worked mainly in Europe and the United States as a magician born in 1810. John Hulke was a surgeon geologist and fossil collector living from 1830 to 1895. Freddy McConnell is a multimedia journalist for The Guardian and trans man. Edward Millen became Australian journalist and politician serving as first Minister for Repatriation from 1860 to 1923. Alan Patterson competed at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London and 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. Captain John William Pinder was a British First World War flying ace born in 1898. Carole White was born in Deal in 1950 before becoming co-founder of Premier Model Management raised in Ghana. James Arbuthnot born in 1952 last served as MP for North East Hampshire from 1997 to 2015. Richard Ovenden born on the 25th of March 1964 serves as Bodley's Librarian at Oxford University.
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Common questions
When was the settlement in Deal first recorded as Addelam?
The Domesday Book of 1086 records the settlement as Addelam. This name evolved into Dela by 1158 and later became Dale in 1275.
What year did Middle Street become the first conservation area in Kent?
Middle Street became the first conservation area in Kent in 1968. The town remains a seaside resort with ancient buildings and monuments lining its streets today.
Who commissioned Deal Castle and when was it built?
Deal Castle is a device fort commissioned by then-King Henry VIII to protect against foreign naval attack. It was constructed around the town alongside Sandown and Walmer castles during his reign.
When did the Royal Marines School of Music move to the Deal depot?
The complex served as a sizeable Depot for the Royal Marines from 1861 before becoming known for the Royal Marines School of Music which moved there in 1930.
On what date did the present pier open in Deal?
The present pier opened on the 19th of November 1957 by the Duke of Edinburgh. Deal's current pier is the last remaining fully intact leisure pier in Kent and is a Grade II listed building.
When was Richard Ovenden born and what position does he hold at Oxford University?
Richard Ovenden was born on the 25th of March 1964 and serves as Bodley's Librarian at Oxford University.
All sources
56 references cited across the entry
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- 14bookHeroes of the Goodwin SandsThomas Stanley Treanor — The Religious Tract Society — 1904
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- 20inlineDeal Radio
- 21webDCR FM
- 22webSix community radio licence awards12 May 2020
- 25webSport: Deal Walmer & Kingsdown Amateur Rowing ClubDeal Town Council
- 27webDeal Saturday Market
- 28webLighthouse
- 29webThe Astor
- 30dnbJennett Humphreys
- 31newsTransgender dad and Seahorse star Freddy McConnell loses court caseEleanor Perkins — 2019-09-25
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- 46webBlue Plaque Walks in DealHigh Street Deal
- 50bookThe Oxford Companion to Edwardian FictionOxford University Press — January 2005
- 54webDeal climate