Gateway To Europe

Still best known as our ‘frontline town’ due to its role during the war, Dover overlooks the narrowest part of the English Channel, while its delightful neighbour St Margaret’s was a favourite haunt of Bond author Ian Fleming. 

- Caroline Read

DOVER has always been the gateway to Britain and while the past few decades have seen the seaside town weather more than just the occasional storm, it is finally receiving some much-needed attention. Just one of the many parts of Kent undergoing regeneration, Dover is setting itself up as a modern, attractive and prosperous town.

It already has a superb location going for it. With a shingle beach, sheltered within the harbour walls, there’s a real seaside resort feel to the place. It’s also well connected, as you’d expect for a port with a ferry terminal, with train times to London starting at just over an hour on the high speed to St Pancras. And best of all, there’s always been a strong continental feel to what is our nearest town to France.

Among its attractions, Dover Castle, Dover Museum, the South Foreland Lighthouse and the town’s Roman Painted House show an area rich is history. And recently, one of Dover’s most important buildings, the listed 800-year-old Maison Dieu (also called Dover Town Hall), was upgraded from a Grade II* to a Grade I, with plans for a major restoration of the building.

But it’s not all about the past. Like many of our seaside towns, regeneration is the buzz word in Dover today, with a long list of developments and plans. It is a town looking to preserve the past and improve the future.

THE PAST

Dover’s strategic position has always been its greatest asset and its greatest threat, with settlements here since the Bronze Age. When the Romans invaded, it became a fortified port known as Dubris, with a large harbour flanked by two lighthouses and three forts. More than 60 Roman sites have been uncovered in the area, including Dover’s Roman Painted House –thought to be the best-preserved example of a Roman house in the country (www.theromanpaintedhouse.co.uk).