Deal and Walmer Castles and the ruined castle at Sandown were all known as the "Castles in the Downs". These castles (and the other coastal defences) were the first attempt to protect landing places along the coast since the Roman forts of the Saxon Shore, constructed over l200yrs before.

A survey was made of the South coast in February 1539 in response to Henry VIII's desire to protect potential invasion beaches, fleet anchorages, harbours and ports. It was reported that the coast at Deal was very vulnerable, due to the fact that this part of Kent is close to mainland Europe, and that the coast was made up of long shingle beaches, with deep water close to the shore, making an excellent landing place.

Walmer Castle

Walmer Castle was built as one of a line of coastal forts by Henry VIII as a protection against possible French invasion. Since 1708 it has been the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and the home of many famous men and women from William Pitt (1792-1806), The Duke of Wellington (1829-1852, Sir Winston Churchill (1941-59) and the Queen Mother (1917-2002)

Deal Castle

Deal Castle is situated right on the seafront. The building was commissioned by Henry VIII in the late 1530s against a threat of invasion by the catholic powers of Europe. This was one of many castles built along the South coast of England and was originally built to protect the Downs anchorage, and also the Kent coast itself. Together with Walmer and the now much destroyed castle at Sandown, Deal castle was an important link in the coastal defences of England.

Timeball Story

The Timeball Tower used to stand in the naval yard, next to the gate at the main entrance. At first it was the site of a shutter telegraph built in 1795/96, to warn Admiralty in London of an expected invasion by Napoleon's forces. Using a system of large wooden shutters, the telegraph passed a message along a long relay of fifteen telegraph stations between Deal and London: these were positioned at Betteshanger, Barham, Downs, Shottenden, Beacon Hill, Callun Hill, Swanscombe, Shooters Hill, New Cross and Southwark. The message was supposed to take two minutes to reach London.

Mariners of the day required an accurate time reference for their sextant readings to provide precise navigation; accordingly, at 12.53 pm every day, the ball was raised halfway to warn ships to be ready to correct their chronometers. At 12.59 it was raised to the top of the shaft, and was then dropped at 1pm precisely, triggered by an electrical signal sent from Greenwich. Greenwich also has its own Timeball, around 20 years older than Deal's; it acted as the ‘parent', sending the electric signal to make Deal's ball rise and fall. This system was accurate as the time variation was only half a second. However, if there was a minute difference for any reason, a black flag would be hoisted to signal to ships there was a problem, and the process was repeated manually.

The Timeball Tower and Museum stand in Beach Street.