Come and learn how smugglers were caught on the Dover Deal and Sandwich coast,in the days before telephones were invented at Deal in Kent's historic Timeball Tower Museum.
How did people communicate along the Deal Dover and Sandwich coast in Kent, before the invention of telephone and radio?
How did historic naval ships anchored off the Deal Dover and Sandwich, Kent coast keep in touch with the Admiralty in London in the late 1700's during the Napoleonic wars?
How did seamen check the accuracy of their clocks before setting off on long voyages, a matter of great importance to ensure safe navigation when setting off from the Deal Dover and Sandwich coast?
Find out all the answers to these questions and about historic Deal's intriguing smuggling past in the early 1800s at The Timeball Tower Museum, a fabulous tourist attraction on Deal's seafront, in Kent.
The historic Timeball Tower, a fascinating landmark and must see tourist attraction on Deal's seafront in Kent, is one of only three left in the country. It is a working educational example of how communication was made before the age of telephone and radio.
In the 1800s Deal was England's smuggling headquarters.The historic Timeball Tower carried a semaphore mast which was used to send signals along the Kent coast to catch those responsible.
The town's historic Timeball was linked to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich by electric telegraph wires running alongside the railway. This enabled all the timeballs in England to synchronise their drop and allow masters of ships anchored at sea to accurately set their chronometers, and navigate safely.
Today the historic Timeball Tower Museum and popular tourist attraction in Deal over looking the Dover to Sandwich coastline in Kent, is run by volunteers, passionate about preserving our history through education. This enables visitors to access this historic Deal museum. Local school children on educational visits play on the Morse Key & learn for themselves how messages were sent.
The historic Museum also displays some of the first cross-Channel telegraph and telephone cables.
You will also find a full display of historic navigational instruments in the museum which highlight the difficulties faced in order to navigate safely.
Use the historic museum's telescopes at the north and west windows to see as far as Richborough Power Station and the Goodwin Sands.
Even today on special occasions, the famous historic Timeball, which features in the centre of the museum, is dropped by motor.
The Time Ball Tower Museum
is open
Easter to September: weekends and bank holidays 1200 - 1600
July - August 1200 - 1600 Tues, Weds, Thurs
Other times by appointment
Entrance is excellent value: Adults £2, Children & Seniors £1, (under 5's free)
Why not make a visit to the historic Timeball Tower Museum a regular feature and must see tourist attraction on a trip to the Deal Dover and Sandwich Kent coast? Become a friend of the museum!
With annual membership giving you free unlimited access to the museum and 10% of shop items, at just £7.50 per person or £15 for a family, don't miss out on a rare insight into our fascinating, historic town of Deal in Kent.
Educate your children at the same time as supporting one of the greatest remaining historic landmarks left on our coast.
Call 01304 360897 or 01304 368824
Please Mention
The Best of Deal Dover & Sandwich
when you call to discover Deal in Kent's Historic Timeball Museum and fascinating Tourist Attraction.