The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868

"DEAL, a parish, market town, seaport, and municipal borough, in the hundred of Bewsborough, lathe of St. Augustine, in the E. division of the county of Kent. It is distant from London 102 miles by the South-Eastern railway, or 74 by road, and 18 miles E.S.E. of Canterbury. It is situated in 51° 14' N. lat., and 1° 23' E. long. Near this spot Julius Caesar is believed to have landed on his first invasion of Britain, in 55 B.C. but no mention is made of any town existing here till several centuries after the Romans had quitted Britain, unless the Dola of Nennius be, as Camden supposes, the same as Deal, which is spelled Dela by Leland. In 1229 it was annexed to the Cinque Ports as a member of Sandwich, and so continued until 1699, when it was made independent.

The town has grown to its present size within the last two centuries. In Henry VIII's time Leland speaks of it as merely "a little fisher village; " and owing to its insignificance very few events of historical importance have taken place there. Perkin Warbeck effected a landing in 1495, and was defeated at Deal by the Sandwich trained-bands. Anne of Cleves landed here 27th December, 1539, and spent the afternoon in the castle, which was then newly built, before continuing her journey to Dover. In 1648 Prince Charles attacked the town of Deal, his fleet being stationed in the Downs; but the attempt was frustrated by Colonel Rich, with a body of parliamentary troops. In 1692 the shock of an earthquake was felt in the neighbourhood. Colonel Hutchinson was confined in Sandown Castle after the Restoration, and died there in September, 1664.

There is a considerable trade in provisions and other necessaries with the ships stationed in the Downs. Of the pilots licensed by the Cinque Ports nearly sixty belong to Deal. The town is divided into Upper and Lower, the latter being inhabited principally by the maritime and trading population, and consisting of three streets parallel with the shore. Other streets run up towards Shoulden and Great and Little Mougeham, forming Middle or Upper Deal. The houses here are mostly detached or semi-detached, and belong to the better classes. On the S. side of the town is the detached suburb of Walmer, with its extensive barracks for infantry and cavalry, and many handsome villas inhabited by resident gentry.

The town of Deal is well paved and lighted, under the superintendence of the Pavement Commissioners, and is copiously supplied with water. At each end stands a castle, both of them built by Henry VIII. in 1539 as a defence against the French. Deal Castle, at the S. end of the town, consists of a round tower, surrounded by four bastions, and a battery facing the sea. Sandown, the other castle, stands to the N.E. of the town; it is, however, now sold, and is being entirely pulled down. Walmer Castle, the residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, is about a mile S. from Deal, standing close to the shore. It is an ancient fortified structure. The Duke of Wellington died here in 1852. The townhall stands in Lower-street, and contains portraits of William III., William IV., and of Mrs. Carter, a native of the town. The custom house is in the same street.

The other public buildings are the barracks, a public library and reading-room, the pilot house, National Provincial Bank of England, savings-bank, and baths. There is also a handsome esplanade facing the sea. The sea-bathing is very good, and attracts a large number of visitors in the summer months. There is no harbour, but the tract of sea called the Downs, between the shore and the Goodwin Sands, affords a safe anchorage to vessels of all sizes. Off the town there is a sandbank known as Deal Bank, with only 12 feet of water in some parts, and wrecks upon these sands are not unfrequent. Deal was created a borough by charter of William III., and returns two members to the House of Commons, in conjunction with Sandwich. The municipal government is in the hands of a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 councillors. There are courts of record, of general sessions of the peace, and for recovery of small debts under £50.

The municipal borough contained in 1851, 1,465 inhabited houses, with a population of 7,067. In 1861 the numbers were, of houses, 1,589; of persons, 7,531.

The parish is in the archdeaconry and diocese of Canterbury, and contains three churches. St. Leonard's, the parish church, is a spacious building, with a tower at the W. end. It contains a brass to the memory of Thomas Boys, dated 1562. The living is a rectory, value £429, in the patronage of the Archbishop of Canterbury. St. George's is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the archbishop. The church was commenced in 1707. St. Andrew's is a handsome structure, and was completed in the year 1850. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the same patronage There is an Independent chapel in Lower-street, a Wesleyan chapel in Duke-street; also places of worship for the Unitarians, Baptists, Roman Catholics, Primitive Methodists, and Calvinists.

The National schools educate about 200 boys and girls. There are besides parochial schools, and one in connection with the Wesleyan Methodists. There is a Boatmen's Benevolent Society. The pilots subscribe to a fund from which their widows receive a small annuity. Mrs. Elizabeth Carter, the translator of "Epictetus," and the antiquarian, Boys, were born in-this town. The family of Boys has resided here for some centuries. A newspaper, called the Deal and Walmer Telegrams, is published in the town on Saturdays. Market days are Tuesday and Saturday, and fairs are held twice in the year, on the 6th and 7th April, and the 12th and 13th October."

[Transcribed from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland 1868 by Colin Hinson ©2010]