Heritage coast
In
England and Wales, 45 stretches of the finest, undeveloped
coastline have been defined as 'Heritage Coast'.
The two stretches of Heritage Coast in Kent were designated in
1998 and are the areas of coastline between:
- Dover and Folkestone comprising 7.2km (4.5 miles)
- South Foreland covering 6.9km (4.3 miles) of coast between
Dover and Kingsdown near Deal
Kent is steeped in maritime history and many interesting
historic features can be found around its coast, including probably
the largest number of wrecks of any county.
Kent is also extremely rich in defence heritage. Sites include
the Roman forts at Richborough and Reculver, the famous medieval
castle at Dover, and the Tudor castles at Walmer, Deal and
Upnor.
But it's not just castles:
- at Chatham, you can visit one of the most complete dockyards
from the age of sail, where Nelson's flagship, the Victory was
built
- at Faversham, some of the oldest gunpowder works in the country
can be seen
- at Dover Museum, you can see the perfectly preserved remains of
the ancient Dover Bronze Age boat.
You
can also take a walk around the very well preserved medieval town
of Sandwich. This was once a thriving Cinque port, but now due to
changes in the coastline, is 5 kilometres inland.
One way of taking all this history in, is to follow the Maritime
Heritage Trail, which provides four trails centred around Thanet,
Medway, Whitstable/Herne Bay and Dover.
For further details of the Trail and information on the historic
sites of Kent, please visit the Maritime Heritage
Trail website or call 01634 843666.