Reculver is a summer resort situated about 1 mile (2 km) east of Herne Bay, on the North Kent coast, and is popular with visitors. Its main features are the ruins of a Roman fort, or "castra", and a medieval church, and a country park which includes an interpretation centre run by the Kent Wildlife Trust.

Owing to historic coastal erosion, the church ruins are now on the edge of a cliff. They form a backdrop to wide Thames-side marshes, and are sited within the remains of the Roman, Saxon Shore fort. Called "Regulbium", the fort guarded the north end of what were then the broad waters of the Wantsum Channel, which separated the Isle of Thanet from the rest of Kent, and was open to shipping. The name "Regulbium" is Celtic in origin, probably meaning "at the promontory", or similar.^[2] The place still sits on a gentle promontory today. In Old English, the place-name became corrupted to "Raculf", ultimately giving rise to the modern "Reculver".

In more recent times, Reculver has continued to be threatened by the retreating cliff line. Erosion is causing the coast to retreat extremely quickly, threatening residents and the local tourism industry. The area is barely protected, with only a few groynes in place. Protecting the area is still under debate.

History

During the later years of the Roman occupation of Britain, the Saxon Shore was defended by a series of fortifications, built along the coast of south-eastern England, and intended to deter raiders from Europe. However, whether the name "Saxon Shore" refers to Saxon raiders or local settlers, or is merely locative, is unclear.^{[citation needed]} In 287 AD, Roman admiral and commander Carausius discarded his Roman allegiance and declared himself Emperor of Britain. One of his acts was to organise the forts of the Saxon Shore, of which Regulbium was one, but it was already in existence since about 200 AD. (See B. J, Philp, Report on the Excavations of Roman Reculver, pub. 2005). Regulbium was also used as a lighthouse and watch-tower, because of its prominent position near the mouths of both the Thames and Medway.

A visitor centre within Reculver Country Park, just west of Reculver Towers, highlights the significant archaeological, historical, geological and wildlife conservation value of the area. The cliffs between Reculver and Herne Bay are composed of soft sand and clays originally laid down in the shallow seas about 60 million years ago. The cliffs are up to 30 metres (98 ft) in height.

An early Saxon church was constructed on the site of the abandoned Roman fort in 669 when King Ecgberht of Kent granted land for the foundation of a monastery. When the Roman occupation ended, Regulbium became a seat of the Saxon kings and in the 9th century, following the arrival of Saint Augustine, a Benedictine abbey was founded. The Saxon Minster later became St. Mary's Church of Reculver, and the towers were added in the 12th century.

A legend persists whereby it is reported there is often heard the sound of a crying baby in the grounds of the fort and Church ruins. The Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit excavations conducted in the 1960s within the fort revealed several infant skeletons buried under the walls of Roman barrack blocks which are estimated to have been built approximately between 200-250 AD.

Another more enduring legend concerning the church itself, the towers of which are locally called the 'Twin Sisters', is related below. At one time each had a spire on top of the towers that were finally removed in 1925 and 1931. The Saxon church itself has existed on the site in varying forms since 669 AD, (when a Benedictine Abbey was established, but later destroyed by Vikings); but the church was demolished in 1809. Two massive pillars from the Saxon church are now stored in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral.

Due to coastal erosion, the village surrounding the church was abandoned and the inhabitants built a new church, a mile inland. The twin towers of St Mary's Church were a well-known landmark and navigational aid by sea and land along this stretch of the North Kent marshes between Herne Bay and Margate. When the church was demolished, the site was bought from the parish by Trinity House in 1810. The corporation also laid down the original groynes to protect the cliffs upon which the towers stand.

New spires replaced the original, restored by Trinity House, after a gale is reported to have blown them down, sometime before 1819, to continue to act as a Daymark to shipping. Today the struggle to protect the Towers from the sea continues and new sea defences were built in the 1990s.

The legend of the Twin Sisters

Some time in the distant past there were two sisters, the orphaned daughters of Sir Geoffrey St Clare, Frances and Isabella. Frances became abbess of the Benedictine priory of Davington near Faversham, whilst Isabella, as the ward of John Abbot of Canterbury was betrothed to Henry de Belville, who fought for Richard III, and was fatally injured at the battle of Bosworth Field. Isabella then like her sister 'took the veil', for 14 years until Frances was taken ill.

The sisters made a vow that if Frances recovered they would make a pilgrimage and make offerings at the Shrine of Our Lady (Broadstairs) to give their thanks. Sailing from Faversham, when off Reculver they became shipwrecked on the Columbine Sands in a storm for lack of any sea mark.

Frances was rescued, but Isabella had to stay on the wreck until daylight, at length rescued she was later to die herself from exposure, in her sister's arms. Frances completed the pilgrimage alone on foot. In loving memory of her sister Frances restored the Reculver church adding two spires to the existing towers and they were thereafter known as the "twin sisters". Unfortunately for this 18th century legend, the towers had spires already in the 15th century.

The coastline was being rapidly eroded at this point and the churchyard, to the North of the Church has long since been lost to the sea, together with a large proportion of the remains of the Roman fort.

As long ago as 1700 the sea had begun to threaten the stability of the shallow hill the reculver (Regulbium) Roman fort had been built upon, whereby the great north wall . After vainly trying to save the remains of the church and its yard, in 1809 the authorities allowed its demolition. The vicarage also abandoned in 1809, was briefly used as a public house known as 'The Hoy and Anchor', while the present 'The King Ethelbert Inn' was being built to replace the old Hoy and Anchor which had fallen into the sea from the cliff a few years before. The story has been retold and reinvented many times perhaps the most famous being from the Ingoldsby Legends, when two brothers (Robert and Richard de Birchington) were substituted as the sisters who adopted this famous landmark. (Tom Ingoldsby being the pen name of Richard Harris Barham).

Barnes Wallis explosives found in the Thames

The Reculver coastline is where Barnes Wallis was able to test the "bouncing bomb" used during the Second World War and is often cited for its connection with the "Dambusters" - 617 Squadron. It was in the shadow of the Twin Sisters that prototypes of Barnes Wallis's famous 'bouncing bombs' were secretly tested, which were to be used so successfully in the Dambusters raids. The final versions of these bombs were dropped on the Ruhr Dams on 17 May 1943, by a formation of Lancaster bombers led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson (for which he was awarded the VC).

On 6 June 1997 It was announced on the BBC World News that four of the prototype "bouncing bombs" had been discovered washed up and sitting in the mud offshore. Fortunately as prototypes they contained no explosive material. Four of these "bombs", each weighing approximately four tons were thereafter subject to an attempted salvage, one of which is on display in Dover Castle. One prototype is displayed in the Herne Bay Museum & Gallery, another in the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum in Manston.

A 60th anniversary fly over of Reculver took place on 17 May 2003, when a Lancaster overflew the site to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the exploit.

Reculver Country Park

Reculver Country Park, a small area of protected countryside, is situated 1 mile (2 km) east of Herne Bay. Due to the natural rates of erosion which are high a lot of work has been done to try and manage this section of coast with varying degrees of success. The coast at Reculver is eroding approximately 1 to 2 metres a year. When the Romans built the fort the sea was 2 kilometres (1 mi) away. The shingle beach has timber groynes giving way to sandy mudflats at low tide.

Wildlife

Annually many thousands of birds visit Reculver during their migrations back and forth from the Arctic. In winter Brent Geese and wading birds such as Turnstone may be seen, whilst during the summer months Sand Martins nest in the cliffs. The grasslands on the cliff top are amongst the few remaining cliff top wildflower meadows left in Kent, and home to butterflies and Skylarks.

The soft cliff slopes at Reculver and nearby Bishopstone Glen have a rich insect fauna, including UK Nationally Scarce species such as the Digger wasp Alysson lunicornis, and the cuckoo bee Nomada fucata - a cleptoparasite of the mining bee Andrena flavipes.

Millennium Cross

The stone cross at the entrance to the car park was commissioned by Canterbury City Council to commemorate two thousand years of Christianity. The cross was carved from Portland Stone by the cathedral stone masons. The design is based on the original Reculver Cross, fragments of which survive in Canterbury Cathedral.

External links

• Reculver Virtual Fieldwork
• Reculver Visitor Centre and Country Park (Kent Wildlife Trust)
• Map sources for Reculver

References