Roman Lighthouse — Attraction in Dover

★★★★☆ – Great tower, poor time travel

Visited the Roman Pharos at Dover Castle and let me tell you, it's a solid piece of ancient real estate. Tower’s been standing since around 50 AD, which is frankly more commitment than I’ve seen from most modern architecture. It’s like the Romans said, “Let’s build something that’ll outlive our empire, our descendants, and possibly the concept of weekends.”

The structure itself is impressive: four storeys of weathered stone, medieval tweaks on top, and a vibe that screams “we lit fires here before it was cool.” You can practically hear the ghost of a Roman sailor yelling, “Oi, that’s the lighthouse!”

But, and it’s a big but, no actual Romans. Not one toga in sight. I came prepared to ask Claudius for directions to the nearest bathhouse, and all I got was a very polite English Heritage guide and a church next door built from Roman leftovers. Bit of a rip-off, really. If you’re going to advertise Roman ruins, I expect at least one centurion doing crowd work.

Still, worth the visit. Just bring your own laurel wreath and...

The Dubris Pharos (lighthouse) is located on the highest part of Castle Hill, within the grounds of Dover Castle (beside the church of St Mary in Castro). It's much older than the medieval castle and it's amazing really that it has survived and still stands today. Apparently it's the oldest building in England, the tallest Roman structure in Britain, and is only one of three lighthouses to survive from the whole of the former Roman empire. The four story, eight-sided lighthouse was built by the Romans around AD 115-40, during the time when Britain was an outpost of the Roman Empire. It was no doubt built to act as a beacon to guide ships into the harbour below. When the church of St Mary in Castro was built, in about AD 1000, the Dubris Pharos was incorporated into the design as the church's bell tower. When visiting Dover Castle a visit to the Dubris Pharos is a must. Dubris was the name used for Dover by the Romans and Pharos, from ancient Greek, is an ancient lighthouse or beacon to...

The ancient Saxon church and the even more ancient Roman lighthouse can be visited at no additional charge once you have paid to visit Dover Castle. They are located between the parking lot and the castle itself and you can easily make a quick detour to see them both. You can see the traditional Kentish Flintstones in use on the church, just as you would in many other ancient structures throughout Kent county.

What a piece of history! The lighthouse is the tallest Roman building still standing in Britain, and the most complete example of a Roman lighthouse left anywhere in the world. There are always some big, noisy black birds at the top, adding a creepy vibe to the lighthouse when you go inside. My mum thinks they are rooks, and who am I...