The Pharos Lighthouse - Britain's oldest standing Roman building

[John Latter]

The Roman lighthouse known as the Pharos stands in the grounds of Dover's 12th Century Norman Castle, adjacent to the Saxon church of St Mary-in-Castro.

The first view is from the south (click for larger size) and shows 4 levels. The bottom 3 are Roman and the top one is a medieval addition:



Below is the view from the north. There's a small square stone at the bottom left of the center top window which is referred to in the following quote:

The [Pharos] was repaired and cased with flint, according to Lyon, in "the year 1259, when Richard de Grey, of Codnore [alt. Codnor, Derbyshire], was Constable of the Castle; and his arms, cut in a small square stone, were placed on the north side of the tower, and are still remaining there. A barry of six, argent and azure [ie silver/white/blank and blue]."

The Pharos, and the remains of its sister, the Bredenstone (shown below), were built in AD 46.

The Bredenstone:



In the 16th & 17th centuries the East (Castle) Pharos was known as "Caesar's Tower" and the West (Bredenstone) Pharos as "[Julius] Caesar's Altar".

I'm not a religious person but it did fire my imagination as a youngster to think that ordinary Roman soldiers on guard duty at the Pharos and Bredenstone might have been similarly employed in and around Jerusalem a dozen or so years earlier.

"Comments" are welcome but I'm not so sure about "Critique" - I'm a newbie and these are some of my first photos with a K100D

John Latter / Jorolat



Dover Castle

 

[Jonnyreb]

Thanks for that John; nice to see a bit of backgroud getting written up with your shots.

One comment though - I'm a lazy sod and would much rather see the full size shots (800pxls ~ 160kb) in the thread than have to click for full size.

Good stuff though

 

[John Latter]

Thanks for that John; nice to see a bit of backgroud getting written up with your shots.

One comment though - I'm a lazy sod and would much rather see the full size shots (800pxls ~ 160kb) in the thread than have to click for full size.

Good stuff though

Thank you for your comments, Johnnyreb

With regard to the photo size, its not always clear what to do for the best. If I have any 'style' at all then it is to post a topic with 2 or 3 thumbnails where the written word is just as important as the photos.

Its just a personal preference - loads of times I've seen really interesting photos but then felt let down because there's little or no background info.

John Latter