Walmer Castle against Charles' brother, King James II, the townsfolk of Deal seized Walmer Castle on behalf of William III, the Prince of Orange. By the end of the century, however, the castle was increasingly regarded as out of date from a military perspective. In the 18th century, Walmer Castle became the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The Lord Warden was originally a medieval title linked to five key ports along the coast of England; the position's prominence had faded, but it still retained important judicial and military functions. When Lionel Sackville, the Duke of Dorset, was
Cinque Ports (1703 ship) Juan Fernández in solitude for four years and four months, before being rescued by Woodes Rogers in 1709. His experience was one of the likely sources of inspiration for the character Robinson Crusoe in the novel by Daniel Defoe. Selkirk's suspicions were soon justified, as "Cinque Ports" foundered near Malpelo Island from the coast of what is now Colombia, with Stradling and the surviving members of his crew being taken prisoner by the Spanish. An eyewitness account of the last voyage of "Cinque Ports" was published by William Funnell, an officer on board "St George", who went on to circumnavigate