Deal

Deal, a municipal borough and watering-place on the E. coast of Kent. Though not one of the original Cinque Ports, it became a "limb" of them and shares their privileges, being a corporate member of Sandwich. Between the N. and S. Forelands, it is 89 miles from London and 6 S.E. of Sandwich, to which parliamentary borough it formerly belonged. The industries of Deal took their rise in the fitness of its situation for supplying the wants of vessels lying in the Downs between the coast and the Goodwin Sands. The Deal boatmen, called "hovellers," are renowned for their fearless daring in carrying aid to ships in distress. Of three castles built by Henry VIII. for the protection of the coast, one - Sandown - has been demolished; another - Walmer - 2 miles S., is now the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports; and Deal Castle is the residence of the Captain. There is a fine beach, and an iron pier was built in 1864. Perkin Warbeck landed here in 1495.