White Cliffs of Dover
White Cliffs of Dover | |
---|---|
Sea cliffs | |
Coordinates: 51°06′28″N 1°16′43″E / 51.10778°N 1.27861°E | |
Grid position | TR326419 |
Location | Kent, England |
The White Cliffs of Dover are the region of English
The cliffs are part of the
Location
The cliffs are part of the coastline of Kent in England between approximately 51°06′N 1°14′E / 51.100°N 1.233°E and 51°12′N 1°24′E / 51.200°N 1.400°E, at the point where Great Britain is closest to
The White Cliffs are at one end of the Kent Downs designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.[6] In 1999 a sustainable National Trust visitor centre was built in the area. The Gateway building, designed by van Heyningen and Haward Architects, houses a restaurant, an information centre on the work of the National Trust, and details of local archaeology, history and landscape.[7]
Geology
During the
Due to the
The cliffs' chalk face shows horizontal bands of dark-coloured
In some areas, layers of soft, grey chalk known as a
Cliff erosion and change
Thousands of years ago, the cliffs were eroding at 20–60 mm (0.75–2.3 in) a year.[13] Research shows that the erosion rate over the last 150 years has increased to 220–320 mm (8.7–12.6 in) a year, and that the erosion is caused by the loss of beach underneath the cliffs exacerbated by stronger storms and human activity such as gravel extraction.[14] Despite this, the cliffs are expected to survive for tens of thousands of years more.[13]
In 2001, a large chunk of the cliff edge, as large as a football pitch, fell into the Channel.[15] Another large section collapsed on 15 March 2012,[16] another on 4 February 2020, and another on 3 February 2021.[17]
Ecology
The
The cliffs are the first landing point for many migratory birds flying inland from across the English Channel. After a 120-year absence, in 2009 it was reported that
Among the
The abundance of wildflowers provides homes for about thirty species of butterfly. The rare
Similar in appearance, but more abundant, is the
History
A possible Iron Age
It is thought that the name Albion, an ancient or poetic term referring to Great Britain, was derived from the Latin albus (meaning 'white') as an allusion to the white cliffs.[25]
Dover Castle
The castle had renewed importance in the 1740s as the development of heavy artillery made capturing ports an important part of warfare. During the Napoleonic Wars, in particular, the defences were remodelled and a series of tunnels were dug into the cliff to act as barracks, adding space for an extra 2,000 soldiers. The tunnels mostly lay abandoned until the Second World War.[30]
South Foreland Lighthouse
Second World War
The cliffs have great symbolic value in Britain because they face towards continental Europe across the narrowest part of the
Vera Lynn, known as "The Forces' Sweetheart" for her 1942 wartime classic "(There'll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover" celebrated her 100th birthday in 2017. That year she led a campaign for donations to buy 170 acres (0.7 km2) of land atop Dover's cliffs when it was feared that they might be sold to developers; the campaign met its target after only three weeks. The National Trust, which owns the surrounding areas, plans to return the land to a natural state of chalk grassland and preserve existing military structures from the Second World War.[35] In June 2021, a wildflower meadow on White Cliffs of Dover was named in honour of Dame Vera Lynn.[36]
Attractions
Dover Museum
Dover Museum was founded in 1836. Shelled from France in 1942 during the Second World War, the museum lost much of its collections, including nearly all its natural history collections. Much of the surviving material was left neglected in caves and other stores until 1946. In 1948 a temporary museum was opened and in 1991 a new museum of three storeys, built behind its original Victorian façade, was opened. In 1999, a new gallery on the second floor centred on the Dover Bronze Age Boat was opened.[37]
Samphire Hoe Country Park
Fan Bay Deep Shelter
Fan Bay Deep Shelter is a series of tunnels constructed during World War II. The tunnels were opened to the public on 20 July 2015.
In song and literature
- One of the most famous references in English literature to the White Cliffs is in Shakespeare's King Lear. In Act IV, Scene VI, Edgar persuades the blinded Earl of Gloucester that he is at the edge of a cliff at Dover. In Act IV, Scene I, Lines 76–8, Gloucester says, "There is a cliff, whose high and bending head looks fearfully in the confinèd deep: Bring me but to the very brim of it." Edgar then fools Gloucester into thinking he is at the cliff edge and describes the scene: "Here's the place! – stand still – how fearful/ And dizzy 'tis, to cast one's eye so low ... halfway down/Hangs one that gathers samphire: dreadful trade!/Methinks he seems no bigger than his head." (Act IV, Scene VI, Lines 11–16).[39]
- In 1851, English poet Matthew Arnold began his lyric poem "Dover Beach" by epitomizing the beauty of the Kent coast:
- "The sea is calm tonight,
- The tide is full, the moon lies fair
- Upon the straits:- on the French coast, the light
- Gleams, and is gone: the cliffs of England stand,
- Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay."[39]
- The verse novel The White Cliffs by Alice Duer Miller encouraged U.S. entry into World War II. The poem was extremely successful on both sides of the Atlantic, selling nearly one million copies – an unusual number for a book of verse. It was broadcast and recorded by British-American actress Lynn Fontanne (with a symphonic accompaniment), and the story was made into the 1944 film The White Cliffs of Dover.
- Jimmy Cliff wrote and recorded the song "Many Rivers to Cross" in 1969. The song included the line "Wandering I am lost, as I travel along the White Cliffs of Dover."
- The 1941 song "World War II song composed by Walter Kent to lyrics by Nat Burton. It was made famous by Vera Lynn's 1942 version.
- The White Cliffs have long been a landmark for sailors. It is noted as such in the sea shanty "Spanish Ladies":[40]
- "The first land we sighted was called the Dodman,
- Next Rame Head off Plymouth, off Portsmouth the Wight;
- We sailed by Beachy, by Fairlight and Dover,
- And then we bore up for the South Foreland light.
- The song "Calais to Dover" by Bright Eyes from the 2020 album Down In The Weeds Where The World Once Was refers to the cliffs most likely via Shakespeare or Matthew Arnold: "Threw up on the ferry ride from Calais back to Dover/As pale as the white cliffs that we faced/Wasn’t afraid, eventualities, just knew that it was over/No brushes with death could keep us sober."[41]
- The Decemberists's song "We Both Go Down Together" opens with a couple standing on the cliffs, presumably about to jump: "Here on these cliffs of Dover/So high you can't see over/And while your head is spinning/Hold tight, it's just beginning." The song appears on their 2005 album Picaresque and tells the story of either a joint suicide or a murder-suicide; the unreliable narrator is a "sociopath," according to the song's writer, Colin Meloy.[42]
- On a Piece of Chalk was a lecture by Thomas Henry Huxley presented to the British Association for the Advancement of Science in 1868 and published later that year.[43] The piece reconstructs the geological history of Great Britain from a simple piece of chalk and demonstrates science as "organized common sense".[44]
Gallery
-
Shakespeare Cliff, Dover ca. 1905
-
Lighthouse in Dover
-
Dover Castle
-
White Cliffs of Dover footpath
-
Folkestone and Dover from the International Space Station, showing the White Cliffs and the tracks of ferries.
-
Vintage photo taken by Walter Mittelholzer, Swiss photographer and aviator, 1933.
See also
- Albion, a name for Britain possibly derived from the colour of the cliffs
- Beachy Head
- Kap Arkona
- Møns Klint
- Seaford Head Nature Reserve
- Seven Sisters, Sussex
- Shakespeare Cliff Halt railway station
- South Downs
References
Citations
- ^ "White cliffs of Dover to be bought by National Trust". BBC News. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
- ^ "Designated Sites View: Dover to Kingsdown Cliffs". Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Natural England. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
- ^ "Designated Sites View: Dover to Kingsdown Cliffs". Special Area of Conservation. Natural England. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
- ^ "UK landmarks featured on new collection of stamps". ITV. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
- ^ "Royal Mail unveils new 1st class stamps". Yahoo. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
- ^ "Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty]". The White Cliffs Countryside Partnership. Retrieved 25 October 2012.
- ^ Dawson, Susan (27 May 1999). "Visitor Centre, White Cliffs of Dover van Heyningen & Haward Architects". Architects' Journal.
- ^ "White Cliffs of Dover Discover The White Cliffs". The Dover Museum.
- The Royal Institution (5 December 2012). "Helen Czerski - Coccolithophores and Calcium". YouTube. Archivedfrom the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
- ^ Professor Bryony Coles. "The Doggerland project". University of Exeter. Retrieved 3 January 2011.
- ^ Harris, C. S. "Chalk facts". Geology Shop.
- ^ a b Shepard, Roy. "Discovering Fossils - Introducing the Paleontology of Great Britain: Dover (Kent)". Discovering Fossils. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- ^ a b “The sea is swallowing the White Cliffs of Dover at faster rates, thanks to thinned beachfronts”. The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-01-25
- ^ “The Historic White Cliffs Of Dover Would Likely Vanish, Study Reveals”. Science World Report. Retrieved 2022-01-25
- ^ Beard, Matthew (1 February 2001). "White cliffs of Dover go crashing into the Channel". The Independent. Retrieved 7 November 2021.
- ^ "BBC News - White Cliffs of Dover suffer large collapse". BBC News. 15 March 2012.
- ^ Parks, Bryan (3 February 2021). "Chunks of the White Cliffs of Dover collapse into the sea | Fri, Feb 05 Part of the iconic White Cliffs of Dover dropping into the English Channel was caught on camera on Feb. 3". NBC News.
- ^ "National Trust at The White Cliffs of Dover". Kent Life. Retrieved 10 November 2017.
- ^ "Map of UK Conservation Grazing Schemes". Grazing Animals Project. 18 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
• "Wildlife Conservation of Local Downland and Heathland". Sussex Pony Grazing and Conservation Trust. Retrieved 15 May 2012.
• "Grazing Exmoor ponies to protect County Durham flowers". BBC News. 8 March 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2012. - ^ a b c "Cliff Top Wildlife". The National Trust. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
- ^ "Adonis blue" (PDF). Butterfly Conservation. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- S2CID 22067588.
- ^ "EN3775 Dover Castle, Kent". Atlas of Hillforts. 29 April 2018.
- ^ Coad (2007), pp. 40–41
- ^ Anon, Oxford Living Dictionaries, Oxford University Press, archived from the original on 1 May 2018, retrieved 30 April 2018
- ^ Cathcart King (1983), p. 230
- ^ Kerr (1984), p. 44
- ^ Broughton (1988), p. 102
- ^ Coad (2007), pp. 42–47
- ^ Coad (2007), pp. 48–50
- ^ a b "South Foreland Lighthouse: The History of the Lighthouse". National Trust. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
- ^ "The White Cliffs of Dover". The National Trust. 1 November 2016.
- ^ Wijs-Reed, Jocelyn (2012). I've Walked My Own Talk. Partridge Publishing. p. 212.
- ^ Sperber (1998), p. 161
- ^ "Dame Vera Lynn white cliffs of Dover campaign hits £1m". BBC News. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
- ^ "Wildflower meadow on White Cliffs of Dover named in honour of Dame Vera Lynn". ITV News. 17 June 2021. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
- ^ Press Releases Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Paul Holt, Shakespeare Cliff - A People's History 1843 to 1973, publ. Dover District Council and White Cliffs Countryside Project, 2008
- ^ a b "White Cliffs of Dover Discover The White Cliffs". The Dover Museum.
- ^ Palmer (1986)
- ^ https://genius.com/Bright-eyes-calais-to-dover-lyrics
- ^ The Decemberists – We Both Go Down Together, retrieved 25 March 2024
- S2CID 239878411.
- ^ Huxley, Thomas. "On a piece of chalk". University of Adelaide. Archived from the original on 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
Bibliography
- Broughton, Bradford B. (1988), Dictionary of Medieval Knighthood and Chivalry, ISBN 978-0-313-25347-8
- Cathcart King, David J. (1983), Catellarium Anglicanum: An Index and Bibliography of the Castles in England, Wales and the Islands. Volume I: Anglesey–Montgomery, Kraus International Publications
- Coad, Jonathan (2007), Dover Castle, English Heritage, ISBN 978-1-905624-21-8
- Kerr, Nigel (1984), A Guide to Norman Sites in Britain, Granada, ISBN 978-0-586-08445-8
- Palmer, Roy (1986), The Oxford Book of Sea Songs, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-214159-0
- Sperber, A. M. (1998), Murrow, His Life and Times, ISBN 978-0-8232-1881-3