Walmer, Kent

Description
Walmer, a small town and a parish in Kent. The town stands on the coast, and consists of two parts, Lower Walmer and Upper Walmer, with a station on the Dover and Deal Joint railway, 83 miles from London, and 1 1/4 mile from Deal. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. Acreage of parish, 867; population, 4565. There is an urban district council consisting of twelve members. The town contains Walmer Castle, an infantry barracks, a naval hospital, and a house which was tenanted by the Duke of Wellington when Sir Arthur Wellesley; is a sea-bathing resort, and has two churches and a garrison school. Walmer Castle stands at nearly the south-eastern extremity of the parish; was built by Henry VIII. as a block-house; had the same form and design as the neighbouring and contemporaneous castles of Deal and Sandown; became soon the official residence of the Lord Wardens of the Cinque Ports; has been greatly altered from its original form; commands from the windows of its principal apartments a splendid sea-view; contains a small room in which W. Pitt, as Lord Warden, held frequent conferences with Lord Nelson; was the autumn residence of the Duke of Wellington, as Lord Warden, from 1829 till his death there in 1852. The barracks were built in 1795, occupy an area of 22 acres, and have accommodation for 1600 infantry. The naval hospital was originally constructed simply as an hospital for 250 patients; was converted after the Crimean War into a barrack for marines, but is used again as a marine hospital The old parish church is a building of rough flints, but has been closed for some years. The new parish church of St Mary was erected in 1887-88, and is a building of stone in the Perpen-oicniar style. A memorial tower with a peal of eight bells was erected in 1893. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £'260 with residence. St Saviour's church is a chapel of ease, built in 1849. There is a Roman Catholic convent with school and church attached. The town is gradually forming a populous suburb to the town of Deal.