GATES OF ENGLAND

With an important history, plenty of visitor attractions and a positive programme of regeneration, we welcome you to White Cliffs Country – the very gates of England

HISTORY

Even if it’s your first visit to Dover, it’s immediately familiar. The towering chalk cliffs; the ancient fortress overlooking the town; the passenger ferries leaving the busy port – it’s an iconic view that few Brits can fail to recognise.

Having been an international port for thousands of years, Dover has long been considered essential and therefore vulnerable. The threat from across the Channel has been real on a number of occasions over the centuries, so it’s no surprise to see the huge Dover Castle overseeing the safety of the area.

The first defences were built as far back as the Iron Age, with the Romans and the Saxons recognising the need to protect the area from attack too.

The castle, considered the largest in England, was founded in the 11th century by the Normans and has been nicknamed the ‘key to England’.

The town itself had been a settlement since the Neolithic era, with many artefacts found to suggest that it had one of the largest populations in Kent at the time.

Two of the area’s most impressive ancient finds are on display at Dover Museum: the remains of a Bronze Age boat and a collection of axes of a similar age found at Langdon Bay.

BEST BITS

Being a coastal town there are no shortage of wonderful windswept walks, beautiful beaches and clifftop adventures to be had nearby.