Our Blog - Summer 2024 Trip - Walmer Castle, England

The castle started as an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII between 1539 and 1540. It had a keep and 4 circular bastions surrounded by a moat with 39 firing positions on the upper levels for artillery. In the 18th century, Walmer became the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and was gradually modified from a military fortification into a private residence. By 1904, the War Office agreed that the castle had no remaining military utility and it passed to the Ministry of Works. Successive Lord Wardens continued to use the property but it was also opened to the public. It is now purely a tourist attraction.

Most of the original 16th-century structure remains: the keep flanked by 4 rounded bastions and the moat, surrounded by a curtain wall.

Not that we went inside (we had Lucy with us and dogs were only allowed outside), but the interior of the castle displays a range of historical objects and pictures associated with the property and its Lord Wardens. The grounds include the Queen Mother's Garden, a 95th birthday gift for Elizabeth in 1997.