Deal and Smuggling.
Deal and Smuggling. Deal and the Goodwin Sands. It would be doing Deal a disservice not to mention the Goodwin Sands when putting Deal into a maritime context. Deal, Kent is a strategically placed town twenty five miles from the French coast. The town has been used for crossings to Europe for hundreds of years due to its close proximity. Deal is also a town of military importance since at least King Henry the eighth's rein for harbouring the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy would anchor in the 'Downs' the local name for the Goodwin Sands guarded by three castles. Taking advantage of this were the skilled fisherman and smugglers of Deal. However, between Deal and France stands the treacherous Goodwin Sands visible at low tide. The Goodwins are six miles off the Deal coast and ten miles long. The sands rest upon a chalk rock and proves difficult to navigate without local knowledge. The Goodwin Sands is responsible for between two thousand and three thousand five hundred shipwreck