About Us

Seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors each year as they tour Dover Castle, St. Mary in Castro is, first and foremost, a working place of worship. 

Services are usually at 10am every Sunday,  (unless highlighted below)

Services are normally Holy Communion unless otherwise stated, with Sung Matins on the second Sunday each month. 

All are welcome to attend any of our services, please advise the kiosk of your intentions.
If you are intending to continue to visit the Castle after the service please purchase a ticket in the usual manner.

The Church is open at all times during your visit to the Castle. 

The Churchwardens are :
              Marianne Slater & Mary Sherred 
               01304 790340

Services In October / November / December 2024

Sun 06 Oct         11:00                               Trinity 19 / Harvest Service

Sun 13 Oct          10:00 Matins                  Trinity 20
Sun 20 Oct          10:00                               Trinity 21
Sun 27 Oct          10:00                               Last Sunday in Trinity

Sat 02 Nov          12:00                              All Souls
Sun 03 Nov          10:00                              All Saints
Sun 10 Nov         10:15 Special               Remembrance Sunday
Sun 17 Nov          10:00                             2nd before Advent
Sun 23 Nov          10:00                             Christ the King

Sun 01 Dec          10:00                             Advent Sunday / St Andrew
Sat 07 Dec           09:00                            Becket Eucharist in Royal Chapel with                                                                              breakfast fo follow - booking essential
Sun 08 Dec         10:00 Morning Prayer  Advent 2 / St Barbara
Sun 15 Dec         10:00                              Advent 3
Sun 15 Dec         18:30                            Carol Service
Sun 22 Dec         10:00                             Advent 4
Sun 22 Dec         15:00                            Christmas Concert - Open to All
Tue 24 Dec         16:30                            Crib & Christingle Service
Tue 24 Dec         23:30                            Midnight Mass
Wed 25 Dec       10:00                            Christmas Day
 Sun 29 Dec        10:00                            Christmas 1

Once the local Garrison church, it is now an Extra-parochial Church in Canterbury Diocese,  but it still keeps a military ethos. All services are open to everyone,  if attending worship, an entry ticket from English Heritage is not required. The church is inside the Castle grounds and, from its Saxon beginnings, has served garrisons within the castle and in the surrounding area.

There is still an active congregation, with a Church council and Co-coordinating Chaplain and is part of the Church of England, if not technically the Deanery of Dover.

Although we have no parish we have many thousands of children visiting each year. Our Church Council takes Safeguarding very seriously and has appointed a Safeguarding Coordinator for both Vulnerable Adults and Children - Miranda Chapman - who may be contacted on 07969 614420.

Sited on the White Cliffs of Dover with a 360 degree panorama the age of the church is uncertain but the current building dates from 800 to 1000AD (late Saxon ). It is likely that it is on the site of earlier Roman foundations, either a place of worship or a building linked to the Roman lighthouse, Pharos, which is by the West door. Roman building materials, especially tiles, were re-used by the Saxons in walls and arches.

At the end of the seventeenth century, church attendance dropped, the church fell into ruins. It was later used as a fives court, a coal store and rubbish dump. In 1862 the church was restored by George Gilbert Scott and the distinctive mosaic work and other cosmetic additions were added by William Butterfield in 1889/90.

The church played a major part during the two world wars as a place of worship and contemplation for those stationed in the castle, or those heading overseas. During the spring and summer of 1940 services continued despite almost constant air-raids and anti-aircraft fire.