No place like Rome

Above: Reculver (Kent Life Magazine)

Above: Reculver (Kent Life Magazine)

Above: Richborough (Kent Life Magazine)

Above: Richborough (Kent Life Magazine)

Kent is bigger than it used to be. Erosion in the north and sea deposits and silting in the south, mean that the coastline is shifting towards Europe, while drainage has exposed acres of low-lying land. Few places show the cumulative effect of silting and drainage more startlingly than the Wantsum Channel.

Search for the Wantsum Channel on modern maps and you won’t find it. Yet for more than 1,000 years, it separated the Isle of Thanet from the mainland. Already in use long before the Romans arrived, the Wantsum was a sea channel up to three miles wide in places.

Ships could travel between the east coast and the Thames estuary along a passage which was not only shorter but also calmer than the route around the north of the island. Silting and man-made drainage caused the sea to recede, but even during the 17th century, the Wantsum was still passable enough to be useful. It was only finally closed in the late 18th century, when an earth embankment was built at Reculver.

The invading Romans recognised the importance of such a safe passage, both for trade and for moving men and supplies northwards to continue their conquest. To protect the Wantsum, they built forts at either end: Regulbium at Reculver and Rutupiae at Richborough.

In the early days of occupation, Richborough was very much the Roman equivalent of present-day Dover

In the early days of occupation, Richborough was very much the Roman equivalent of present-day Dover, with troops and visitors using it as an entry port. In fact, Richborough is almost the only place which was in continuous use during the whole 400 years of Roman occupation.

The first fort on the site would have been a hurried affair of wooden palisades and earthworks, but once Roman rule had been established, the conquerors wanted something a bit grander to mark the gateway to Britain. And a gateway was what they built.

Richborough is the only place in Britain known to have had a monumental arch – think Marble Arch by the sea. Approximately 85 feet high, it had foundations 30 feet deep and was clad in Carrara white marble, which is the same kind of stone out of which Michelangelo’s David is carved. The arch would have been a hugely impressive structure to the native Celts for whom anything larger than a roundhouse would have been a novelty.

All that remains of the arch today are its foundations and the crossroads which passed beneath it. Even they are impressive as they are raised above the surrounding level; the archway was thought to have marble paved steps leading up to the walkways.

The wider of the two metalled paths led away from the harbour and straddled the beginning of Watling Street, the Roman road leading to London, the new province’s capital. Roman visitors had no need of signposts. In such flat country, Richborough’s monumental arch would have been visible for miles, marking the importance of the town and being a visible symbol of Rome’s dominance.

All that remains of the arch today are its foundations and the crossroads which passed beneath it

Reculver’s most striking feature still stands and, although not Roman, it too dominates the landscape. The tiny Saxon church of St Mary was built within the walls of the disused Roman fort in around 670, much of it with stone scavenged from the earlier building.

The 64 feet high towers were grafted onto the church in about 1200. Legend tells that they were build by the survivor of twin sisters who were travelling by sea to Broadstairs when their ships was wrecked off Reculver. One of the sisters died and the surviving twin built the two towers as a memorial to her sister and a warning to mariners.

Wooden spires were added to the towers during the 13th century and a memorial stone dated 1819 at the foot of the tower explains that: “These towers and the remains of the venerable church of Reculvers were purchased of the parish by the corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond [sic] in the year 1810 and groins laid down at their expence [sic] to protect the cliff on which the church had stood.

“When the ancient spires were afterwards blown down the present substitutes were erected to render the towers still sufficiently conspicuous to be useful to navigation.” The replacement spires no longer exist, but the towers are still the most conspicuous landmark both from land and sea.

The two Roman forts could hardly be more different. Richborough is hidden in a quiet backwater; Reculver the centrepiece of a bustling country park. Many of Richborough’s walls still stand to the height of 20 feet or more, Reculver’s are visible only from the minor roads surrounding the fort.

Yet both played a vital strategic role in the conquest of Britain, both stood as guardians to one of the busiest shipping lanes of the time – and both are well worth a visit.

Did you know?

• Once surrounded on three sides by the sea, Richborough is now more than two miles away from it
• It’s still possible to visit Richborough castle by water; occasional boats leave Sandwich and arrive at the castle via the River Stour
• Richborough was once famous for its oyster beds
• The bells for St Clement’s church in Sandwich came from London via the Wantsum channel in the 17th century
• The church of St Mary’s at Reculver is ruined because the vicar blew up the walls with gunpowder
• The church at Reculver, six feet from the cliff edge, was once half a mile inland
• Reculver was used to trial the bouncing bomb of Dam Busters fame. The sea is shallow so enemy submarines couldn’t get close enough to check on what was happening, and anything dropped could be easily fished out!
• The coast at Reculver is eroding by more than a metre a year
• The Red Sand Army Fort, seven towers erected in the sea in 1943 as anti-aircraft gun emplacements, can be seen from the cliff at Reculver
• King Ethelbert had a palace at Reculver. His name is still remembered in the King Ethelbert inn