Deal , Kent Deal is a town in Kent , England , UK . It lies on the English Channel eight miles north - east of Dover and eight miles south of Ramsgate . It is a former fishing , mining and garrison town . Closely associated with Deal are the villages of Kingsdown , Sholden and Walmer , the latter being a possible location for Julius Caesar ' s first arrival in Britain . Deal was named as a ' limb port ' of the Cinque Ports in 1278 . Due to its position on the Downs , the town grew to become for a while the busiest port in England ; today it enjoys the reputation of being a quiet seaside resort , its quaint streets and houses the only reminder of its history . In 1968 , Middle Street was the first Conservation Area to be designated in Kent , and since that time the boundary has been extended three times . The coast of France is approximately twenty - five miles from the town , and is visible on clear days . Its most notable building is the Tudor Deal Castle , commissioned by King Henry VIII and designed with an attractive rose floor plan . History . Mentioned as a village in the Domesday Book Deal developed into a port by the end of the 13th century . Sandown , Deal and Walmer castles were constructed around the town by Henry VIII to protect against foreign naval attack . In 1861 Royal Marines Depot was established in the town . Maritime history . The proximity of Deal ' s shoreline to the notorious Goodwin Sands has made its coastal waters a source of both shelter and danger through the history of sea travel in British waters . The Downs , the water between the town and the sands , provides a naturally sheltered anchorage . This allowed the town to become a significant shipping and military port in past centuries despite the absence of a harbour , with transit of goods and people from ship to shore conducted using smaller tender craft . Deal was , for example , visited by Nelson and was the first English soil on which James Cook set foot in 1771 on returning from first voyage to Australia . The anchorage is still used today by international and regional shipping , though on a scale far smaller than at other times in the past ( some historical accounts report hundreds of ships being visible from the beach ) . By the time Dickens came to Deal it had been largely forgotten how the government of 1784 , under Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger ( who was staying at nearby Walmer Castle , and was later to be appointed Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1792 ) , ensured that the Deal boats were all set ablaze , suspecting some of the Deal luggers of being engaged in smuggling . Pitt had awaited an opportunity that January , when the boats were all ' hoved up ' on the beach on account of bad weather , to send a regiment of soldiers to smash and burn them . A naval cutter was positioned offshore to prevent any of the boatmen escaping . The boatmen ' s ancestors had the right , under charter , freely to import goods in return for their services as Cinque Port men in providing what had been long recognised as the sole naval defence of the realm . These men continued to risk their lives and their boats , in saving the lives of shipwreck victims . The irrepressible spirit of the Deal boatmen remained undaunted by these events throughout the Napoleonic Wars , and they continued to assert their hard - earned right to trade . From these activities news of the events unfolding in France would reach England quickly and regularly , with about 400 men making a living off Deal beach at that time . The war only made the boatmen ’ s efforts more profitable , so that afterwards the Government immediately turned a part of its naval blockade into a coastal blockade , which lasted from 1818 to 1831 . Deal had a naval shipyard which provided Deal with much of its trade . On the site of the yard there is now a building originally used as a semaphore tower , and later used as a coastguard house , then as a timeball tower , which it remains today , and as a museum . Besides this and the Deal Maritime Museum , there is no museum of the town ' s history yet , though a campaign to start one is ongoing - Deal ' s history is told at Dover Museum instead . Royal Marines . The first home of the Royal Marines in Kent was established at Chatham in 1755 . Because of its proximity to the continent and the fact that it possessed a thriving naval dockyard , Deal has been closely associated with the corps ever since its foundation . Records from the old Navy yard at Deal exist from 1658 and show that Marines from Chatham and Woolwich were on duty in Deal , and quartered in the town , until the Deal depot was established in 1861 . Deal Barracks has become known over its long history as the Royal Marine School of Music , the barracks at Walmer consisting of the North , East and South ( or Cavalry ) barracks , and all were constructed shortly after the outbreak of the French revolution . Part of the South barracks was used from 1815 as the quarters for the ' blockade men ' , drafted against a threat of local smuggling . The South barracks became a coastguard station thereafter , and this duty continued until 1840 . It was the East barracks which accommodated the School of Music , until the Royal Naval School of Music was formed at Plymouth in 1903 , but which moved to Deal in 1930 , replacing the original depot band formed in 1891 . Thus the institution became known as the Royal Marine School of Music in 1950 . During 1940 , at St . Margaret ' s Bay , close to Deal , the Royal Marines Siege Regiment came into being and manned cross - channel guns for most of the remainder of the war . On 29 October , a Home Security Report detailed in the RAF ' s Campaign Diary was made : " Army Stations 29thU October 1940 Deal : At 1640 hours three HE bombs were dropped in the barracks , the casualties being 1 Officer and 7 other ranks killed , 6 Officers and 6 other ranks wounded . " These casualties are buried in the Hamilton Road Cemetery , Deal , Kent . IRA Bombing . At approximately 8 : 20 am on 22 September 1989 , the Royal Marines School of Music was bombed by the IRA , resulting in the deaths of 11 bandsmen , and injuries to 22 other marines . The memorial garden is situated in the grounds of the old barracks where the bomb went off . This was built in remembrance of the 11 that died and was then restored after an arson attack a number of years ago . Every year the families and friends of those that died join together at the garden to pay their respects and lay flowers in a memorial service . On the evening of 26 March 1996 , the Deal populace were privy to a special ceremony , the Beating Retreat , coming from the South barracks , as the Royal Marines Band Service were commanded to vacate their ancient Kent depot and move to new quarters at Portsmouth . The Marines every year come up to the bandstand and put on a display which attracts over 10 , 000 people . Piers . The seafront at Deal has been adorned with three separate piers in the town ' s history . The first , built in 1838 , was designed by Sir John Rennie . After its wooden structure was destroyed in an 1857 gale , it was replaced by an iron pier in 1864 . A popular pleasure pier , it survived until the Second World War , when it was struck and severely damaged by a mined Dutch ship , the " Nora " , in January 1940 . This was not the first time the pier had been hit by shipping , with previous impacts in 1873 and 1884 necessitating extensive repairs . The present pier , designed by Sir W . Halcrow & Partners , was opened on 19 November 1957 by the Duke of Edinburgh . Constructed predominantly from concrete - clad steel , it is 1026 ft ( 311 m ) in length ( a notice announces that it is the same length as the RMS " Titanic " , but that ship was just 882 feet in length ) , and ends in a three - tiered pier - head , featuring a cafe , bar , lounge , and fishing decks . The lowest of the three tiers is underwater at all but the lowest part of the tidal range , and has become disused . The pier is a popular sport fishing venue . Deal ' s current pier is the last remaining fully intact leisure pier in Kent and is a Grade II listed building . Its structure was extensively refurbished and repaired in 1997 , with work including the replacement of much of the concrete cladding on the pier ' s main piles . Work began in April 2008 to construct a new pier - head with a modern restaurant , with the restaurant opened in December 2008 . Museums . Deal has several museums ; all are related to Deal ' s maritime history . Both Deal Castle and Walmer Castle are operated by English Heritage - Deal has a display on the events in the reign of Henry VIII that led to the invasion threat which caused its construction , along with some material on its subsequent history , whereas displays at Walmer concentrate on Walmer ' s post - Tudor role as the Lord Warden ' s residence . There is also a ruin of the third Tudor castle , Sandown Castle , in North Deal . The Deal Maritime and Local History Museum has exhibits of boats , smuggler galley s and model naval ships . It also contains extensive histories of the lifeboats as well as local parish registers . The Timeball Tower Museum , on the other hand , focuses on the importance of timekeeping for ships , and the role the building it occupies played . Notable references . Diarist Samuel Pepys recorded several visits to the town , being moved on 30 April 1660 to describe it as " pitiful " . Deal was notorious in the 17th century as a location for smugglers , and Daniel Defoe wrote of the town : William Cobbett passing through in September 1823 noted in his book Rural Rides : In fiction . Dickens , who had visited the town , had Richard Carstone garrisoned here in chapter XLV of " Bleak House " , so that Woodcourt and Esther ' s paths can cross when Woodcourt ' s ship happens to anchor in the Downs at the same time as Esther and Charley are visiting Richard : In Jane Austen ' s " Persuasion " , chapter 8 , the town is mentioned as the only place where Admiral Croft ' s wife Sophia Croft was ever ill , as it was the only place she was ever separated from him , whilst he was patrolling the North Sea . Local media . Newspapers . Deal has one paid for newspaper , the " East Kent Mercury " ( published by the KM Group . Free newspapers for the town include the " Dover Extra " , part of the KM Group ; and " yourdeal " , part of KOS Media . Radio . The local radio station for Deal is KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country . Deal is also served by the county - wide stations Heart , Gold and BBC Radio Kent . Deal is also covered by Podcasting service Dover Community Radio who cover Dover District with local podcasts on their website . They hope to create a district - wide internet based radio station in the future leading to a community licence . Sport and Leisure . Deal has a Non - League football club Deal Town F . C . , which plays at The Charles Sports Ground . There is a Farmer ’ s Market on Wednesday which sells local produce , as well as a long - running market on Saturday . The town has a thriving independent retail sector in the North End of Deal High Street , and a number of chains on the High Street , though there are some retail voids . The Astor Theatre in Deal offers musical performances , live theatre , exhibitions , movies , classes and clubs , and more . Deal , used to have two cinemas up until 1981 , but these finally closed in the 1984 with the closure of the Cannon Classic in Queen Street and although a small cinema re - appeared in the former Cannon Classic Cinema building , that too closed in 2007 . Deal ' s former bingo hall the Regent another art deco cinema building closed in 2008 and has been sold by the local council to reopen as a branch of Silver Screen Cinemas . As of January 2013 , the building remains shuttered . Notable residents . Comedian Norman Wisdom , writer Simon Raven , television presenter Karl Pilkington , jazz musician Dick Morrissey , and actors William Hartnell , Charles Hawtrey , and Jack Scanlon all lived or live in Deal . Notable people born in the town include James Arbuthnot , John Hulke , Elizabeth Carter , Clive Metcalfe , John Stanton Fleming Morrison , and Bruce Montague , playwright Gregory Motton