Walmer Castle is not your average stately home. Built by Henry VIII in 1539-40 as a coastal defence against expected invasion from Spain, it was used as a fortress, rather than a home, until it became the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (the trade and military body established to protect the south-east coast) in 1708.
Over the next two centuries it gradually became less military and more domestic in character as subsequent tenants made alterations to the interiors and developed the gardens.
By the early 19th century, the castle had become so fashionable that the 1st Duke of Wellington specifically requested to be made Lord Warden so that he could live in it, and eventually...