Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Deal

DEAL, a municipal and parliamentary borough and market town of England, in the county of Kent, eight miles N. N".E. of Dover and five miles by rail S.S.E. of Sandwich. It consists of three divisions : Lower Deal, which is the most important, on the coast ; Middle Deal ; and, about a mile inland, Upper Deal. Though largely frequented as a sea-bathing place, the town derives its im portance mainly from its vicinity to the Downs, a fine anchorage about eight miles long and six miles wide between the shore and the Goodwin Sands, in which large fleets of wind-bound vessels may lie in safety. The trade consequently consists largely in the supply of provisions and naval stores ; though boat-building and a few other indus tries are carried on. The Deal pilots, limited by statute to the number of 56, are famous for their skill and daring. Among the public buildings in the town the most remark- abl: are St Leonard s Church in Upper Deal, which dates from the Norman period ; the Baptist chapel in Lower Deal, founded by Captain Taverner, governor of Deal Castle, in 1663 ; the Deal and Walmer Institute, established in 1864 ; the military and naval hospital ; and the barracks, which date from 1795. The site of the old navy yard is now occupied by villas ; and the esplanade has been improved by the construction of a promenade pier. At the. south end of the town is Deal Castle, erected by Henry VIII. ; and about a mile to the east is Sandoun Castle, which owes its origin to the same monarch, and is of interest as the prison in which Colonel Hutchinson died in 1664. Walmer Castle, the official residence of the warden of the Cinque- Ports, is about a mile to the south. It has become inti mately associated with the memory of the duke of Welling ton, who died within its walls in 1852. Deal was possibly the site of a Roman station, but it has not received any definite identification. In the 13th century it was regarded as a subordinate member of the Cinque-Port guild ; but even as late as the time of Henry VIII. it was still but a small village. Perkin Warbeck landed at this point in 1495. The castle was vainly besieged by the royalists in 1648; and in 1652 the Downs were the scene of Blake s victory over Van Tromp. Mrs Elizabeth Carter was a native of Deal. The population of the borough, which unites with Sandwich and Walmer in sending one member to Parlia ment, was, in 1871, 8009. The area is 1124 acres.