Reculver Towers

The towers of the ruined St Mary's Church have stood on this promontory overlooking the Thames Estuary since the 12th century, around five hundred years after a church was first established here in the 7th century. The church was demolished in the 19th century, but the towers remain as an aide to navigation, and today seem to be a popular, if of the beaten track, tourist attraction, especially for cyclists using the coast path between Herne Bay and Margate.

Adjacent to the church are the remains of a Roman fort, established around 45AD to mark one end of the Wantsum Channel which originally separated the Isle of Thanet from mainland Britain. At the other end is Richborough, the landing place for the Roman Invasion of Britain in 43AD and the site of another Roman fort. The channel itself silted up by the deposits of shingle by the 16th century. Local monks attempted the stop the silting to protect the important port of Sandwich, one of the original Cinque Ports, but today the town is several miles inland.