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Follow the link for an interactive version of the map.
Shortly to be updated, there are a number of historical information panels situated around the town for visitors and residents alike to learn more about Deal and Walmer’s rich history.
Smugglers, revenue men, women of the night, murders and shipwrecks: discover more of Deal’s fascinating and notorious past by following this historic town trail.
At each numbered site on the map you will find an information panel giving an illustrated account of Deal’s history.
- DEAL PIER Rebuilt in 1957 to replace the previous Victorian pier which was demolished in 1940.
- BEACH STREET Admiral Nelson stayed with his mistress Lady Emma Hamilton at the nearby Royal Hotel in 1801.
- GOODWIN SANDS For centuries untold numbers of ships ran aground and sank on the sands. The sands are now home to a diverse marine life, including a colony of 350 grey seals.
- ALFRED SQUARE & MIDDLE STREET This area was once crowded with pubs, sailors, smugglers, press gangs and ‘women of the night’.
- MIDDLE STREET The heart of the Georgian conservation area and the centre of Deal’s notorious smuggling activities.
- MIDDLE STREET No 73 is reported to be the house where in1801, Nelson’s great friend Captain Edward Parker died.
- TOWN HALL & ST GEORGE’S CHURCH During the Napoleonic wars Nelson frequently worshipped in this church.
- HIGH STREET Once called Lower Street because the land here was often flooded by the sea.
- QUEEN ANNE HOUSE & CROWN COURT The local hang man once lived in this area.
- SOUTH STREET AND CARTER HOUSE Home for the famous scholar —Elizabeth Carter.
- VICTORIA ROAD Originally called Prospect Place.
- DEAL CASTLE One of Henry VIII’s coastal fortresses.
- PRINCE OF WALES TERRACE Marks the sea frontage of the Old Naval Yard of 1703 which became a Victorian promenade.
- MARITIME DEAL The treacherous waters off Deal demanded pilots with specialised local knowledge.
- TIMEBALL TOWER Built in 1820 it stands on the site of the Old Naval yard. Connected directly to Greenwich, it gave accurate time signals to ships anchored off Deal.
- DEAL BANDSTAND Built to commemorate the lives of the 11 Musicians who were killed when the IRA exploded a bomb at the Royal Marines School of Music in 1989. Walk a little further south past the Bandstand and you will find a plaque marking what many believe was the Ianding place of Julius Caesar whose Roman fleet invaded Britain in 55BC.
- SANDOWN CASTLE No longer standing, the remains of the third of Deal’s historic castles is now a well loved community garden.
