despite attempts to keep the walls low and thick, its relatively high profile, driven by the requirement to support several tiers of defences, exposed it to attack. Deal Castle is entered through the gatehouse, which originally overlooked a walled garden, since largely destroyed. The dry, stone-lined moat, wide and deep, would originally have been crossed over a stone causeway and a drawbridge, the latter now replaced by a modern wooden bridge. The gatehouse still has its original iron-studded doors – the historian Jonathan Coad considers them "among the best preserved for their date" – and five murder-holes to enable the garrison to defend the internal passageway with missiles or handguns; it would originally have also been protected by a portcullis at the entrance. The outer bastions were filled with earth in the 1570s, and have 18th-century ramparts; the superstructure around the eastern bastion was rebuilt after the Second World War. A passageway called "the Rounds" runs along the outside of the outer bastions, linking the handgun positions covering the base of the moat. The keep has a central newel staircase, linking the basement, ground and first floors. When first built, the garrison would have lived on the ground floor of the keep, the first floor being used by the captain, and the basement for stores. The ground floor is subdivided by radial walls and originally would have been further subdivided by partitions; the original ovens and fireplace survive. The first floor mainly dates from the 1720s, although some Tudor elements remain. There is a wooden lantern structure on the top of the keep that contains a bell dating from 1655 and early 18th-century graffiti. The keep's gun embrasures were converted to form sash windows in the 18th and 19th centuries. See also List of Captains of Deal Castle Notes References Bibliography External links English Heritage visitors' site Castles in Kent Device Forts Forts in Kent Tourist attractions in Kent English Heritage sites in Kent Deal, Kent Museums in Dover District Military and war museums in England 1540 establishments in England