The name is common Brittonic with "Dover" coming from "dwfr", which is "water" in modern Welsh; the origin of "court" is unknown but possibly meant "land cut off by".

Countess Juliana's son Roger Bigod, 2nd Earl of Norfolk founded a chapel at Harwich and granted it to Colne Priory, Essex, a Vere foundation.

[4] The present town dates back to 1845 when John Bagshaw, an East India merchant, moved to the area and bought the land where Dovercourt now stands.

He started the project in 1845 by building a mansion, Cliff House, for himself and his family and actively promoted the railway link to the Harwich area.

When a chalybeate spring was discovered in the grounds of Cliff House, Bagshaw extended the property to incorporate a spa, library, pump room, and conservatory.

He next developed Orwell Terrace where his son Robert John Bagshaw, like his father an MP for Harwich, moved into Banksea House in 1857.

[7] This was carried out under the direction of Anna Essinger and aided by several of the staff from Bunce Court School,[8][9] In the 1980s Warner's was used as the set for the filming of BBC sitcom Hi-de-Hi!.

The accounts of John Howard, 1st Duke of Norfolk, show that he donated money to the shrine "including clothing in 1482 used to dress the image of Christ on the rood", according to Ashdown-Hill.

[citation needed] The 1981 edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable[11] says that John Foxe reported that the crowd in the church was so great "no man could shut the door".

The book cites Lines in the Belfry of St Peter's, Shaftesbury, as saying: "When bells ring round and their order be, They do denote how neighbours should agree; But when they claim, the harsh sound spoils the sport, And 'tis like women keeping Dovercourt."