Reculver Sea Wall

United Kingdom / England / Herne Bay /
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This sea wall goes from Reculver to Margate and is great fun for the family to walk/cycle.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reculver
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Coordinates:   51°22'40"N   1°14'23"E

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  • When the weather is good this is a very enjoyable afternoon out whatever your age.
  • This is where Barnes Wallace tested the "Bouncing Bomb" during World War 2. Remains of the bombs were rested along this wall and were removed to museums in 1992.
  • 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.
  • I enjoy this walk in the summer, well worth a visit.
  • Great information, will try it out this summer.
  • Thanks, will go here when we visit Kent
  • I also did this ride on Reculver wall to Westgate Bay, Ian is right it is well worth doing.
  • Good advice.
  • This wall also takes to the old Flying Boat (RFC) base at Westgate. A great posting and very helpfull
  • Thanks a lot to Ian Blanthorn for the information. I will be happy to try this out when I come to Kent.
  • I was not aware of this path...we walked it and yes I would be happy to recommend this area.
  • We measured this...it is a 7km ride.
  • This is one of most worthwhile items I have found here. I took the advice and did the walk, very good, well done.
  • We have also tried this route and it is great fun on a summer day. Thanks for alerting us to this. Don from Hayle Cornwall.
  • History of Coastal Management at Reculver 1809 After thousands of years of natural retreat, the first attempt at coastal management was in 1809 when Trinity House protected the base of the Twin Towers of St. Mary's Church with wooden and then ragstone blocks. The 'apron' of rocks protected the Towers, which started life about 3kms from the sea but were by this time right next to the sea, from further erosion. A few wooden groynes were later added to the beaches on either side of the Towers to retain the shingle beach. 1950s Following the disastrous floods of 1953, which left many parts of North Kent under 2 metres of seawater, a great deal of engineering activity took place. The aim was to build 'hard defences' to reduce the risk of further floods and damage. A concrete sea wall stretching for 4.5 kms (about 3 miles) was built from Reculver to Minnis Bay near Margate.. This protected the low-lying farmland adjacent to the Isle of Thanet and also the Ramsgate to London railway. A much smaller concrete sea wall west of the Twin Towers was built to prevent flooding at Reculver. This had a curved upper section to break up the energy of the waves. More wooden and some metal groynes were placed on the beaches to slow down longshore drift. 1960s At Bishopstone Glen, the soft clay and sandstone cliffs were so unstable that the houses at the top were under threat of destruction. So a sea wall was built beneath the cliffs and a further line of wooden groynes built to protect the sea wall by retaining more of the shingle beach. On the top of the cliff, the clay layer was graded (given a gentler slope) to stop it slipping and drains put in to take away excess water. Grass was planted so that the roots held the surface together. A monitoring system was also installed to detect movements in the cliff. 1980s In the 1980s it was decided to extend the defences at Bishopstone Glen but because the eastern side was part of a protected S.S.S.I. (Site of Special Scientific Interest), a less harsh approach was needed. Instead of extending the concrete sea wall, a layer of huge boulders or rip rap, was built up to absorb the energy of the waves. The cliff top was again graded and grassed over to prevent further slumps in the clay layer. 1990s By 1995 a large number of sea defences were showing their age and the Environment Agency and Canterbury City Council spent some £4.5 million upgrading the coastal defences at Reculver. Prior to this, there had already been the need to start a beach nourishment scheme whereby shingle was brought in by lorry and dumped on the beach each winter. To the west of the Twin Towers, 14 rock groynes were built using large blocks of hard, mainly igneous, rock. In between the rock groynes, half a million tonnes of shingle were sprayed on to the beach from a dredger anchored offshore. Together, the rock groynes and the extra shingle were expected to protect the sea wall from further erosion and undermining by winter storms. In 1999, further work was carried out at Reculver to strengthen even further the defences. The concrete sea walls were repaired. The last of the old wooden and metal groynes were removed and thousands of tonnes of massive boulders were placed in front of the western and eastern sea walls. Some of the individual boulders weighed up to 10 tonnes each! Beach nourishment continues each winter to replace the material lost by longshore drift. The Future ? We now know that the problem of coastal management is getting more complicated. Some people believe that we should not build any more 'hard' defences and that the environment should be left alone as much as possible - such a policy of 'managed retreat' would result in a lot more land being lost to the sea with dunes and marshland eventually forming a natural barrier. As if all that wasn't enough, sea level is rising in Kent at about 6mm per year (0.6 metre in 100 years). Floods are, therefore, much more likely in future years whatever we do along this coast. The Isle of Thanet may yet become an island again...
  • We walked the wall and it was a delight. More people should do this and take the air. Reculver wall is a delight!!
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This article was last modified 14 years ago