See Dover Castle like NEVER before: incredible digital model reveals original entrance, vanished towers and long-lost defensive walls for the first time in almost 1,000 years

It is one of England’s most beloved landmarks and the country’s largest castle by area.

But Dover Castle in Kent – ​​described as ‘the key to England’ – was badly damaged in an attack by the French over 800 years ago.

Now a beautiful 3D model is available that recreates the original castle as it looked just before the ‘great siege’ of 1216.

Researchers from English Heritage spent over 800 hours carefully creating the model using historical data, plans, maps and archaeological, topographical and laser measurements.

The castle’s towers, defensive walls and original entrance have been restored, all of which had to be rebuilt in the years following the French attack.

The model ‘restores’ the castle as it probably looked in 1216 – before it was besieged and badly damaged in a ‘forgotten’ civil war that decided the fate of the kingdom and changed the course of English history

The model was created as part of ‘Dover Castle Under Siege’, a new experience at Dover Castle which opens to the public on 22 July.

The model was created as part of ‘Dover Castle Under Siege’, a new experience at Dover Castle which opens to the public on 22 July.

“When you see the model, it looks like Dover Castle is rising from the ashes of the 1216 siege,” said Paul Pattison, senior property historian at English Heritage.

‘The level of detail is astonishing.

‘It took us months of research, consultation and difficult decision-making to be able to produce this model.

‘We have done everything we can to make this model as accurate as possible, based on historical data, plans and maps, and archaeological, topographic and laser surveys.’

It restores towers, defensive walls and the original entrance to the castle, all of which had to be rebuilt in the years following the French attack.

King Henry II began building the current castle in the 1180s and over the next 800 years the buildings, defences and tunnels were adapted to meet the changing demands of warfare. Pictured, before the siege of 1216

Dover Castle probably originated as a motte-and-bailey castle, a more primitive type of fortification, built after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

It was rebuilt by King Henry II between 1179 and 1188, but a bloody civil war raged in England between 1215 and 1217.

French soldiers, led by Prince Louis (the son of King Philip II of France), fought alongside English rebel barons against King John (son of Henry II).

At that time, the French prince and his barons controlled most of England. He was proclaimed ‘King of England’ by rebellious barons in London, but was never crowned.

King John of England fighting the Franks (left), Prince Louis VIII of France on the march (right)

The Model 1216 is part of Dover Castle Under Siege – a major new experience that will open the castle to the public like never before from 22nd July

This annotated version of the model shows elements of Dover Castle added during a rebuilding shortly after the siege, including the closing up of the damaged entrance and the building of an additional tower as an additional defensive post.

The English resistance at Dover Castle played a crucial role in preventing Prince Louis of France from becoming King Louis I of England

The son of King Philip II of France, Prince Louis ‘the Lion’, was offered the English crown by the rebel barons who fought against King John. Painting by Henri Lehmann, 1837

Dover Castle, however, remained loyal to King John (the monarch memorably portrayed by Forbes Collins in the 1990s BBC television series ‘Maid Marian and her Merry Men’).

To the kingdom, Dover Castle was an impressive fortress, which had been considerably extended and strengthened over the previous 40 years.

The castle’s garrison – led by the English nobleman Hubert de Burgh, Earl of Kent – ​​repulsed all attempts by the French and the rebels to take the castle.

During the great siege of July 1216, hundreds of knights and soldiers in chain mail wielded swords, axes and clubs and dug tunnels to undermine the gate and gain entry, but the castle’s defenders were not defeated.

However, much damage was done to the castle, including King John’s two-tower gatehouse on the north side.

This main gate, accessed via a wooden bridge over a ditch, was later sealed after the siege – sometime between 1216 and 1227, according to English Heritage.

This before and after photo shows the loss of the barbican and the main gate on the north side of the castle during the siege of 1216. After the damage, this entrance was closed.

The location of the twin-towered gatehouse on the north side of the castle as seen in modern times

When one of the two towers collapsed, the French launched a full-scale assault on the breach, only to find that the garrison behind it had erected a barrier of boulders, wooden crossbeams and mighty oak stakes.

Shocked by this defence, the French and rebel attackers were driven off with heavy losses – and the garrison held out until a truce was agreed in October 1216 (the same month King John died of dysentery).

Louis was given 10,000 marks as a reward for promising never to invade England again. In May 1217, however, he tried again in vain to take Dover Castle.

The Frenchman died in 1226, also of dysentery.

Ultimately, the resistance at Dover Castle played a crucial role in preventing Prince Louis of France from becoming King Louis I of England.

‘After the siege, the castle was extended and fortified at great expense so that it could never be stormed again,’ Pattison said.

Dover Castle Under Siege opens to the public on Monday 22nd July.

The Great Siege of Dover Castle

Between 1215 and 1217, a civil war raged in England. French soldiers, led by Prince Louis ‘the Lion’ (son of King Philip II of France), fought alongside English rebel barons against King John.

By 1216, Dover Castle, which remained loyal to John, had become a formidable stronghold. Over the previous 40 years, the castle had been greatly expanded and fortified.

The layered defences offered only one practical route of attack: the northern point, where the castle’s main gate stood.

The origins of the settlement on Castle Hill, where Dover Castle stands, may date back to the pre-Roman Iron Age. Pictured, Dover Castle in modern times

French and rebel armies broke through to the outer bailey and a fierce, bloody battle ensued for control of the castle.

Hundreds of knights and soldiers in chain mail wielded swords, axes and clubs, digging tunnels to undermine the gate and gain entry.

But the defenders of the castle, led by the great warrior Hubert de Burgh, would not be defeated.

The new digital model shows that this was the original entrance, defended by King John’s twin-towered gatehouse. From here a wooden bridge crossed the deep outer moat to a barbican, a fortified bulwark that defended the entrance to the gate.

Now, for the first time in almost 1,000 years since the beginning of that fateful conflict, there is a vision of Dover Castle in a brief moment of calm before the siege.