Reculver: Difference between revisions
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| population_ref = <ref name=census2001>[http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=457352&c=CT6+6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1 Census 2001] (2001). [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp Office for National Statistics]. Retrieved 7 September 2010.</ref> |
| population_ref = <ref name=census2001>[http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=457352&c=CT6+6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1 Census 2001]. (2001). [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/default.asp Office for National Statistics]. Retrieved 7 September 2010.</ref> |
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|shire_district= [[City of Canterbury]] |
|shire_district= [[City of Canterbury]] |
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|os_grid_reference= TR224693 |
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'''Reculver''' is a hamlet and coastal resort situated about {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} east of [[Herne Bay, Kent|Herne Bay]] in southeast England. It is a ward of the [[City of Canterbury]] district in the county of [[Kent]]. Reculver once occupied a strategic location at the western end of the [[Wantsum Channel]], between the [[Isle of Thanet]] and the Kent mainland. This led the Romans to build a |
'''Reculver''' is a hamlet and coastal resort situated about {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} east of [[Herne Bay, Kent|Herne Bay]] in southeast England. It is a ward of the [[City of Canterbury]] district in the county of [[Kent]]. Reculver once occupied a strategic location at the western end of the [[Wantsum Channel]], between the [[Isle of Thanet]] and the Kent mainland. This led the Romans to build a port, lighthouse, and early in the 3rd century a "[[Castra|''castrum'']]", called ''[[Regulbium]]'', part of the chain of [[Saxon Shore]] forts. The military connection continued in World War II, when Barnes Wallis' "bouncing bombs" were tested in the sea off Reculver. |
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Reculver retained its importance after the Romans left, |
Reculver retained its importance after the Romans left, an Anglo-Saxon palace may have been built in the ruins of the Roman fort before a Celtic cross and monastery were built there. During the Middle Ages Reculver was a place of pilgrimage and the twin spires of the church became a landmark for mariners known as the "Twin Sisters", supposedly after daughters of Geoffrey St Clare. The facade of St John's Cathedral in Parramatta, Australia, is a copy of the Reculver spires. |
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Reculver declined in importance as the Wantsum Channel silted up |
Reculver declined in importance as the Wantsum Channel silted up and coastal erosion claimed many buildings constructed on the soft sandy cliffs. The village was largely abandoned in the late 18th century, and most of the church was demolished. Protecting the ruins and the rest of Reculver from erosion is an ongoing challenge. |
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The 1930s saw a revival as a tourism industry developed and there are now three caravan parks. The |
The 1930s saw a revival as a tourism industry developed and there are now three caravan parks. The country park is a Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest; it has rare clifftop meadows and is important for migrating birds. |
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==Geography== |
==Geography== |
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[[Image:OldMapKent.jpg|thumb|left|Regulbium is marked as "Reculbium" on this map of late Roman Kent.]] |
[[Image:OldMapKent.jpg|thumb|left|Regulbium is marked as "Reculbium" on this map of late Roman Kent.]] |
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Reculver once occupied a strategic location on routes between continental Europe and the east coast of England, but sedimentation and coastal erosion have obscured its importance. In ancient times it lay on a promontory at the western entrance to the [[Wantsum Channel]], a sea lane between the [[Isle of Thanet]] and the Kent mainland, that silted up during the Middle Ages. The Roman fort and medieval church stand on the remains of the promontory, now "a small knoll which, rising to a maximum height of 50 feet, is the last seaward extension of the [[Blean]] Hills."<ref>Jessup, R.F., "Reculver", in ''Antiquity'' '''10'''(38), 1936, pp. 179(note), |
Reculver once occupied a strategic location on routes between continental Europe and the east coast of England, but sedimentation and coastal erosion have obscured its importance. In ancient times it lay on a promontory at the western entrance to the [[Wantsum Channel]], a sea lane between the [[Isle of Thanet]] and the Kent mainland, that silted up during the Middle Ages. The Roman fort and medieval church stand on the remains of the promontory, now "a small knoll which, rising to a maximum height of 50 feet, is the last seaward extension of the [[Blean]] Hills."<ref>Jessup, R.F., "Reculver", in ''Antiquity'' '''10'''(38), 1936, pp. 179 (note), 188.</ref> Place-name authorities state that the name "Regulbium" was [[British language (Celtic)|Celtic]] in origin, meaning "at the [[promontory]]", or "great [[headland]]", and that, in [[Old English]], this became corrupted to "Raculf", sometimes given as "Raculfceastre", giving rise to the modern "Reculver".<ref>[[Eilert Ekwall|Ekwall, E.]], ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names'' (4th edition), [[Oxford University Press|OUP]], 1960, p. 383 (Reculver) and Hill, A.D., ''A Dictionary of English Place-Names'' (2nd edition), OUP, 1998, p. 285 (Reculver). See also Glover, J., ''The Place Names of Kent'', Batsford, 1976, "Reculver" and Jessup, ''[[op. cit.]]'', p. 190. Ekwall, ''op. cit.'', says that "Many more <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Old English]]] forms are on record."</ref> |
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Sediments laid down around 55 million years ago are particularly well displayed in the cliffs at Reculver.<ref>{{cite web | format=PDF | url= |
Sediments laid down around 55 million years ago are particularly well displayed in the cliffs at Reculver.<ref>{{cite web | format=PDF | url=www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/pdfs/generalFactsheets/geologyOfKent.pdf | title=The Geology of Kent | publisher= Kent Wildlife Trust | accessdate=2010-09-17}}</ref> Nearby Herne Bay is the type location for the Thanet Sand Formation, a fine-grained sand that can be clayey and glauconitic and is of [[Thanetian]] (late [[Paleocene]]) age.<ref name=BGS>{{cite web | url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=TAB | title=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Thanet Sand Formation | author=British Geological Survey | publisher=NERC | year=2010 | accessdate=2010-09-17}}</ref> It rests uncomformably on the [[Chalk Group]],<ref name=BGS /> and forms the base of the cliffs in the Reculver and Herne Bay area.<ref name=Ward>{{citation | title=The lower London Tertiary (Palaeocene) succession of Herne Bay, Kent | first=D.J. | last=Ward | publisher=H.M.S.O | year=1978 | isbn=9780118840521}}</ref> Above the Thanet Sand are the Upnor Formation, a medium sandstone,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=UPR | title=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Upnor Formation | author=British Geological Survey | publisher=NERC | year=2010 | accessdate=2010-09-17}}</ref> and the sandy clays of the Harwich Formation at the Paleocene/[[Eocene]] boundary.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=HWH | title=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Harwich Formation | author=British Geological Survey | publisher=NERC | year=2010 | accessdate=2010-09-17}}</ref> The highest cliffs, rising to a maximum height of about {{convert|115|ft|m|0}} to the west of Reculver,<ref>Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 4.1 "Topography, Landscape and Sea". (2008).</ref> have a cap<ref name=Ward /> of London Clay, a fine silty clay of Eocene age.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=LC | title=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details London Clay Formation | author=British Geological Survey | publisher=NERC | year=2010 | accessdate=2010-09-17}}</ref> |
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These rocks are easily washed away by the sea,<ref>[http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/assets/countryside/reculver-geology.pdf Reculver Country Park Geology Resource Pack] (not dated). [http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/ Kent Wildlife Trust]. Retrieved 12 September 2010.</ref> and the cliffs are eroding at a rate of approximately {{convert|5|ft|m|0}} a year. It has been estimated that the Romans built their fort about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the sea.<ref>Jessup (1936), pp. 186-8.</ref> A plan is in place to manage this erosion whereby some parts of the coastline like the country park will be allowed to continue eroding, and others – including the site of the Roman fort and St Mary's Church – will be protected from further erosion.<ref>Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 3.8 "Coastal Protection" (2008).</ref> |
These rocks are easily washed away by the sea,<ref>[http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/assets/countryside/reculver-geology.pdf Reculver Country Park Geology Resource Pack]. (not dated). [http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/ Kent Wildlife Trust]. Retrieved 12 September 2010.</ref> and the cliffs are eroding at a rate of approximately {{convert|5|ft|m|0}} a year. It has been estimated that the Romans built their fort about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the sea.<ref>Jessup (1936), pp. 186-8.</ref> A plan is in place to manage this erosion whereby some parts of the coastline like the country park will be allowed to continue eroding, and others – including the site of the Roman fort and St Mary's Church – will be protected from further erosion.<ref>Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 3.8 "Coastal Protection". (2008).</ref> |
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==History== |
==History== |
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===Pre-historic and Roman=== |
===Pre-historic and Roman=== |
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{{main|Regulbium}} |
{{main|Regulbium}} |
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[[Stone Age]] flint tools have been washed out from the cliffs to the west of Reculver, but the earliest evidence for human settlement at Reculver itself is an [[British Iron Age|early Iron Age]] farmstead slightly to the west of the church ruins, followed by a "fortlet" dating to the [[Roman conquest of Britain]] in 43 AD, on the site of a well known Roman fort, or "[[Castra|''castrum'']]", which was built early in the 3rd century. This date is derived from a re-construction of a uniquely detailed plaque, fragments of which were found by archaeologists in the 1960s.<ref>[http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk/hob.aspx?a=0&hob_id=467087&type=&class1=None&period=None&county=None&place=reculver&yearfrom=ALL&yearto=ALL&recordsperpage=5&source=text&sort=1 Regulbium] (2007). [http://www.pastscape.org.uk/ English Heritage PastScape]. Retrieved 11 September 2010. See also Philp, Brian, [http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR015/KAR015_Reculver.htm "The Roman Fort at Reculver Excavations 1968 – Interim Report"], ''Kent Archaeological Review'' '''15''', 1969, and [http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR017/KAR017_Reculver.htm "The Reculver Inscription"], ''Kent Archaeological Review'' '''17''', 1969. [http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/ Council for Kentish Archaeology]. Retrieved 12 July 2010.</ref> The plaque effectively records the establishment of the fort, since it records the construction of two of its principal buildings, the "''[[basilica]]''" and the "''[[sacellum]]''". |
[[Stone Age]] flint tools have been washed out from the cliffs to the west of Reculver, but the earliest evidence for human settlement at Reculver itself is an [[British Iron Age|early Iron Age]] farmstead slightly to the west of the church ruins, followed by a "fortlet" dating to the [[Roman conquest of Britain]] in 43 AD, on the site of a well known Roman fort, or "[[Castra|''castrum'']]", which was built early in the 3rd century. This date is derived from a re-construction of a uniquely detailed plaque, fragments of which were found by archaeologists in the 1960s.<ref>[http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk/hob.aspx?a=0&hob_id=467087&type=&class1=None&period=None&county=None&place=reculver&yearfrom=ALL&yearto=ALL&recordsperpage=5&source=text&sort=1 Regulbium]. (2007). [http://www.pastscape.org.uk/ English Heritage PastScape]. Retrieved 11 September 2010. See also Philp, Brian, [http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR015/KAR015_Reculver.htm "The Roman Fort at Reculver Excavations 1968 – Interim Report"], ''Kent Archaeological Review'' '''15''', 1969, and [http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR017/KAR017_Reculver.htm "The Reculver Inscription"], ''Kent Archaeological Review'' '''17''', 1969. [http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/ Council for Kentish Archaeology]. Retrieved 12 July 2010.</ref> The plaque effectively records the establishment of the fort, since it records the construction of two of its principal buildings, the "''[[basilica]]''" and the "''[[sacellum]]''". These were also found by archaeologists, together with the commandant's house, probable [[barracks]], a [[Thermae|bath house]] and a corn drying [[kiln]]. Reculver was also the location for a lighthouse and watch tower, presumably because of its strategic position at the northern entrance to the [[Wantsum Channel]], and covering the mouths of both the [[River Thames]] and the [[River Medway]].<ref>Philp, B.J., ''The Excavation of the Roman Fort at Reculver'', Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, 2005.</ref> While it was normal for a Roman fort to be accompanied by a civilian settlement, or "[[Vicus (Rome)|''vicus'']]", it is also reported that "a Roman building with a [[hypocaust]] and [[Mosaic|tesselated pavement]] stood considerably to the northward of the fort,"<ref>Jessup, ''op. cit.'', p. 188, citing Battely, J., ''Antiquitates Rutupinae'', Oxford, 1774, p. 54.</ref> in an area now lost to the sea. |
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[[File:Part of the south wall of the ruined church at Reculver.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The south wall of the church incorporates Roman tiles.]] |
[[File:Part of the south wall of the ruined church at Reculver.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The south wall of the church incorporates Roman tiles.]] |
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Towards the end of the 3rd century, a Roman naval commander named [[Carausius]] was given the task of clearing pirates from the sea between [[Roman Britain|Britannia]] and the European mainland. In so doing he established a new chain of command, the British part of which was later to pass under the control of a "[[Count of the Saxon Shore]]". The "[[Notitia Dignitatum]]" shows that the fort at Reculver, then known as "Regulbium", became part of this arrangement. Rutupiae ([[Richborough]]), |
Towards the end of the 3rd century, a Roman naval commander named [[Carausius]] was given the task of clearing pirates from the sea between [[Roman Britain|Britannia]] and the European mainland. In so doing he established a new chain of command, the British part of which was later to pass under the control of a "[[Count of the Saxon Shore]]". The "[[Notitia Dignitatum]]" shows that the fort at Reculver, then known as "Regulbium", became part of this arrangement. Rutupiae ([[Richborough]]), Portus Dubrae (for "Dubris"; [[Dover]]), Portus Lemanis ([[Lympne]]) and Anderida ([[Pevensey]]) were other "[[Saxon Shore Forts]]". Archaeological evidence indicates that the fort was abandoned in the 360s.<ref>Cotterill, John, "Saxon Raiding and the Role of the Late Roman Coastal Forts of Britain", ''Britannia'' '''24''', pp. 227-39 (esp. 235).</ref> |
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===Monastery and church=== |
===Monastery and church=== |
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After the Roman occupation of Britain ended in about 410, Reculver became a seat of the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] kings of Kent. King [[Æthelberht of Kent]] is said to have moved his royal court there from Canterbury in about 597, and to have built a palace on the site of the Roman ruins.<ref>[[Edward Hasted|Hasted, Edward]], [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63544&strquery=reculver ''The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent''] Vol. 9, 1800, pp. 109-25. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/Default.aspx British History Online]. Retrieved 28 July 2010. Hasted gives no source concerning Æthelberht's involvement with Reculver.</ref> While excavation has shown no evidence of this, and the story has been described as "probably no more than a pious legend",<ref>Gough, Harold, "[http://web.archive.org/web/20010308153934/http://www.waterways-caravan-park.co.uk/reculver_inn.htm The Two Names of a Reculver Inn]" (2001). [http://www.archive.org/web/web.php Internet Archive Wayback Machine]. Retrieved 11 September 2010.</ref> Anglo-Saxon kings were [[wikt:peripatetic|peripatetic]],<ref>[http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/abc_a.html A-Z of Archaeology], "Anglo-Saxon palaces" (2010). [http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/ Channel 4 Time Team]. Retrieved 12 September 2010.</ref> and the Roman remains at Reculver would have been "the only substantial building for miles around".<ref name=GoughInn>Gough, "Two Names of a Reculver Inn" (2001).</ref> A church was built on the same site in about 669, when King [[Ecgberht of Kent]] granted land for the foundation of a [[monastery]] there.<ref>See e.g. Garmonsway, G.N., ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Dent, Dutton, 1972 & 1975, pp. 34-5 |
After the Roman occupation of Britain ended in about 410, Reculver became a seat of the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] kings of Kent. King [[Æthelberht of Kent]] is said to have moved his royal court there from Canterbury in about 597, and to have built a palace on the site of the Roman ruins.<ref>[[Edward Hasted|Hasted, Edward]], [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63544&strquery=reculver ''The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent''], Vol. 9, 1800, pp. 109-25. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/Default.aspx British History Online]. Retrieved 28 July 2010. Hasted gives no source concerning Æthelberht's involvement with Reculver.</ref> While excavation has shown no evidence of this, and the story has been described as "probably no more than a pious legend",<ref>Gough, Harold, "[http://web.archive.org/web/20010308153934/http://www.waterways-caravan-park.co.uk/reculver_inn.htm The Two Names of a Reculver Inn]". (2001). [http://www.archive.org/web/web.php Internet Archive Wayback Machine]. Retrieved 11 September 2010.</ref> Anglo-Saxon kings were [[wikt:peripatetic|peripatetic]],<ref>[http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/abc_a.html A-Z of Archaeology], "Anglo-Saxon palaces". (2010). [http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/T/timeteam/ Channel 4 Time Team]. Retrieved 12 September 2010.</ref> and the Roman remains at Reculver would have been "the only substantial building for miles around".<ref name=GoughInn>Gough, "Two Names of a Reculver Inn". (2001).</ref> A church was built on the same site in about 669, when King [[Ecgberht of Kent]] granted land for the foundation of a [[monastery]] there.<ref>See e.g. Garmonsway, G.N., ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', Dent, Dutton, 1972 & 1975, pp. 34-5. Also Fletcher, Eric, [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-769-1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/vol09/9_016_031.pdf "Early Kentish Churches"], ''Medieval archaeology'' '''9''', pp. 16-31.</ref> This foundation "illustrates the widespread practice [in Anglo-Saxon England] of re-using Roman walled places for major churches".<ref>Blair, John, "Reculver", in Lapidge, Michael, Blair, J., Keynes, S. & Scraggs, D. (eds.), ''The Blackwell Encyclopædia of Anglo-Saxon England'', Blackwell, 1999, p. 386.</ref> Ten years later, in 679, King [[Hlothhere of Kent]] presided over a council at Reculver, attended by Archbishop [[Theodore of Tarsus|Theodore of Canterbury]], at which he granted the monastery lands at [[Sturry]], about {{convert|6.2|mi|km|0}} south-west of Reculver, and in the western part of the [[Isle of Thanet]], across the Wantsum to the east. In the original, 7th century [[Anglo-Saxon Charters|charter]] recording this grant, Reculver is referred to as a "''civitas''", or "city".<ref>[http://www.aschart.kcl.ac.uk/content/charters/text/s0008.html Anglo-Saxon Charter S 8 Archive Christ Church, Canterbury] (where "S 8" refers to the charter's number in Sawyer, ''Anglo-Saxon Charters: An Annotated List and Bibliography'', [[Royal Historical Society]], 1968). (2007). [http://www.aschart.kcl.ac.uk/ British Academy ASChart project]. Retrieved 8 June 2008. This charter is the earliest genuine Anglo-Saxon charter known to have survived in its original form.</ref> In 692 Reculver's [[abbot]], [[Berhtwald]], a former abbot of [[Glastonbury Abbey|Glastonbury]] in [[Somerset]], was elected [[Archbishop of Canterbury]]. [[Bede]], writing no more than 40 years later, described him as having been "learned in the Scriptures and well versed in ecclesiastical and monastic affairs."<ref>[[Bede]], ''[[Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum|Ecclesiastical History]]'', v, 8. Charters of the 8th century name three more abbots as Heaberht, Deneheah and Wihtred (S 31, 38, 1612). See also Page, W. (ed.), "[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=38194 The Abbey of Reculver]", in ''A History of the County of Kent'' Vol. 2, 1926, pp. 141-2. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/Default.aspx British History Online]. Retrieved 7 June 2008.</ref> |
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[[Image:Reculver1800.jpg|thumb|This view from 1800 shows the church towers topped by spires.]] |
[[Image:Reculver1800.jpg|thumb|This view from 1800 shows the church towers topped by spires.]] |
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[[File:Fred C Palmer 002.jpg|thumb|Reculver towers in the early 20th century. The Trinity House wind vanes have long since been removed, but otherwise the ruins remain in a similar state today.]] |
[[File:Fred C Palmer 002.jpg|thumb|Reculver towers in the early 20th century. The Trinity House wind vanes have long since been removed, but otherwise the ruins remain in a similar state today.]] |
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Monastic life had ceased at Reculver by the early 10th century, though whether or not this was due to the attentions of [[Viking]]s is unclear.<ref>Cf. Kerr, Nigel & Mary, ''A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites'', Granada, 1982, pp. 192-94, Brooks, N.P., "England in the Ninth Century: The Crucible of Defeat", ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' 5th series '''29''', pp. 1-20 (esp. 12), and ''The Early History of the Church of Canterbury'', Leicester University Press, 1984, pp. 203-4.</ref> The [[Minster (church)|minster]] subsequently became St. Mary's parish church of Reculver: a charter of the mid |
Monastic life had ceased at Reculver by the early 10th century, though whether or not this was due to the attentions of [[Viking]]s is unclear.<ref>Cf. Kerr, Nigel & Mary, ''A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites'', Granada, 1982, pp. 192-94, Brooks, N.P., "England in the Ninth Century: The Crucible of Defeat", ''Transactions of the Royal Historical Society'' 5th series '''29''', pp. 1-20 (esp. 12), and ''The Early History of the Church of Canterbury'', Leicester University Press, 1984, pp. 203-4.</ref> The [[Minster (church)|minster]] subsequently became St. Mary's parish church of Reculver: a charter of the mid 10th century records its gift by King [[Eadred of England]] into the possession of [[Canterbury Cathedral]], at which time the estate included the later parishes of [[Hoath]] and [[Herne, Kent|Herne]], land in Thanet, and land "at [[Chilmington Green |Chilmington]] for the repair of the church".<ref>[http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/kemble/pelteret/Ccc/Ccc%20120.htm Anglo-Saxon Charter S 546 Archive Christ Church, Canterbury]. (not dated). [http://www.trin.cam.ac.uk/kemble/ Kemble Anglo-Saxon Charters]. Retrieved 11 September 2010. See also Brooks, N., "The creation and early structure of the kingdom of Kent", in Bassett, S. (ed.), ''The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms'', Leicester University Press, 1989, p. 72, and Gough, Harold, "Eadred's Charter of AD 949 and the Extent of the Monastic Estate at Reculver, Kent", in Ramsay, Nigel, Sparks, M. & Tatton-Brown, T. (eds.), ''St Dunstan: His Life, Times and Cult'', Boydell, 1992.</ref> |
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According to [[Domesday Book]], in 1086 the Archbishop of Canterbury had an annual income from Reculver of £42.7s. (£42.35): this value can be compared with, for example, the £20 due to the archbishop from the [[Manorialism|manor]] of [[Maidstone]], and the £50 due to him from the [[Ancient borough|borough]] of [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]], both of which he also held.<ref>''Domesday Book'', Kent, II ("The Land of the Archbishop of Canterbury"). Of the £42.7s. from Reculver, £7.7s. (£7.35) was from an unspecified source. See also Flight, Colin, "[http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/digiarchive/ColinFlight/survey1086/05-commentary.pdf Chapter 5 Commentary]", in |
According to [[Domesday Book]], in 1086 the Archbishop of Canterbury had an annual income from Reculver of £42.7s. (£42.35): this value can be compared with, for example, the £20 due to the archbishop from the [[Manorialism|manor]] of [[Maidstone]], and the £50 due to him from the [[Ancient borough|borough]] of [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]], both of which he also held.<ref>''Domesday Book'', Kent, II ("The Land of the Archbishop of Canterbury"). Of the £42.7s. from Reculver, £7.7s. (£7.35) was from an unspecified source. See also Flight, Colin, "[http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/digiarchive/ColinFlight/survey1086/05-commentary.pdf Chapter 5 Commentary]", in ''idem'', [http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/digiarchive/ColinFlight/survey1086/Survey1086.html ''The Survey of Kent: Documents Relating to the Survey of the County Conducted in 1086''], [http://www.archaeopress.com/defaultBar.asp BAR], British Series 506, 2010, p. 162. [http://www.kentarchaeology.ac Kent Archaeological Society]. Retrieved 11 September 2010. While Hoath, Herne and western parts of the Isle of Thanet were Reculver possessions in the Anglo-Saxon period, and remained attached to Reculver long after 1086, of these only Reculver is mentioned by name in Domesday Book.</ref> Included in the Domesday account for Reculver, as well as the church, farmland, a [[Windmill|mill]], [[Salt evaporation pond|salt pans]] and a [[History of fishing|fishery]], are 90 [[Serfdom#Villeins|villeins]] and 25 [[Serfdom#Bordars|bordars]]: these numbers can be multiplied four or five times to account for dependents, as they only "relate to adult male heads of households".<ref>Eales, Richard, "An Introduction to the Kent Domesday", in ''The Kent Domesday'', Alecto, London, 1992, p. 21. The multiplication indicated by Eales would give a [[peasant]] population for the whole of the estate centred on Reculver in 1086 of between 460 and 575 people.</ref> |
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Reculver remained an unusually large and valuable parish in the late 13th century, when it included [[Chapel of ease|chapels of ease]] at [[St. Nicholas-at-Wade]] and All Saints,<ref>All Saints Church no longer exists, but its site is marked on the 1877 [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] 1:10,560 scale (6 inch/mile) map of Kent, about {{convert|330|yd|m|0}} east of Shuart (land between Shuart and the church site is marked there as "[[Glebe]]"); OS grid reference TR271678. See also Jenkins, Frank, "The church of All Saints, Shuart in the Isle of Thanet", in Detsicas, Alec (ed.), ''Collectanea Historica: Essays in Memory of Stuart Rigold'', Maidstone, 1981, pp. 147-54.</ref> on the Isle of Thanet, as well as at Hoath and Herne: in 1291, the [[Pope Nicholas IV#Taxatio|"Taxatio"]] of [[Pope Nicholas IV]] put the total income due to the rector and vicar at about £130, and this wealth led to disputes between lay and Church interests, over control of its [[benefice]].<ref name=Graham>Graham, R., "[http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.057%20-%201944/01/01.htm Sidelights on the Rectors and Parishioners of Reculver from the Register of Archbishop Winchelsey]", ''Archaeologia Cantiana'' '''57'''. [[Kent Archaeological Society]]. Retrieved 7 June 2008.</ref> |
Reculver remained an unusually large and valuable parish in the late 13th century, when it included [[Chapel of ease|chapels of ease]] at [[St. Nicholas-at-Wade]] and All Saints,<ref>All Saints Church no longer exists, but its site is marked on the 1877 [[Ordnance Survey|OS]] 1:10,560 scale (6 inch/mile) map of Kent, about {{convert|330|yd|m|0}} east of Shuart (land between Shuart and the church site is marked there as "[[Glebe]]"); OS grid reference TR271678. See also Jenkins, Frank, "The church of All Saints, Shuart in the Isle of Thanet", in Detsicas, Alec (ed.), ''Collectanea Historica: Essays in Memory of Stuart Rigold'', Maidstone, 1981, pp. 147-54.</ref> on the Isle of Thanet, as well as at Hoath and Herne: in 1291, the [[Pope Nicholas IV#Taxatio|"Taxatio"]] of [[Pope Nicholas IV]] put the total income due to the rector and vicar at about £130, and this wealth led to disputes between lay and Church interests, over control of its [[benefice]].<ref name=Graham>Graham, R., "[http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.057%20-%201944/01/01.htm Sidelights on the Rectors and Parishioners of Reculver from the Register of Archbishop Winchelsey]", ''Archaeologia Cantiana'' '''57'''. [[Kent Archaeological Society]]. Retrieved 7 June 2008.</ref> |
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Over time, the church gained structural additions: principally, the towers were added in the 12th century, and, according to local legend, they were topped with spires "in the early years of the 16th century",<ref>Jessup |
Over time, the church gained structural additions: principally, the towers were added in the 12th century, and, according to local legend, they were topped with spires "in the early years of the 16th century",<ref>Jessup, ''op. cit.'', pp. 179-80.</ref> since when they have been known locally as the "Twin Sisters".<ref>Hasted, ''op. cit.''</ref> The addition of the towers, and the extent to which the church was enlarged in the Middle Ages, suggest that "a thriving township must have developed nearby."<ref>Gough, "Two Names of a Reculver Inn". (2001). A ground plan of the church, showing how it was enlarged in stages from the 7th century to the 15th, is at Jessup, ''op. cit.'', p. 181.</ref> However, the church retained many prominent Anglo-Saxon features, and, on a visit to Reculver in 1540, one of these raised [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] to "an enthusiasm which he seldom displayed": |
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{{Quotation|Yn the enteryng of the quyer ys one of the fayrest and the most auncyent crosse that ever I saw, a ix footes, as I ges, yn highte. It standeth lyke a fayr columne. The base greate stone ys not wrought. The second stone being rownd hath curiously wrought and paynted the images of Christ, Peter, Paule, John and James, as I remember. Christ sayeth [I am the Alpha and the Omega]. Peter sayeth, [You are Christ, son of the living God]. The saing of the other iij when painted [was in Roman capitals] but now obliterated. The second stone is of the Passion. The third conteineth the xii Apostles. The iiii hath the image of Christ hanging and fastened with iiii nayles and [a support beneath the feet]. the hiest part of the pyller hath the figure of a crosse.<ref name=Graham/>}} |
{{Quotation|Yn the enteryng of the quyer ys one of the fayrest and the most auncyent crosse that ever I saw, a ix footes, as I ges, yn highte. It standeth lyke a fayr columne. The base greate stone ys not wrought. The second stone being rownd hath curiously wrought and paynted the images of Christ, Peter, Paule, John and James, as I remember. Christ sayeth [I am the Alpha and the Omega]. Peter sayeth, [You are Christ, son of the living God]. The saing of the other iij when painted [was in Roman capitals] but now obliterated. The second stone is of the Passion. The third conteineth the xii Apostles. The iiii hath the image of Christ hanging and fastened with iiii nayles and [a support beneath the feet]. the hiest part of the pyller hath the figure of a crosse.<ref name=Graham/>}} |
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In 1927 archaeologists discovered the base of the cross, which has been dated to the early 7th century and thus predated the monastery. This may originally have been an open-air [[preaching cross]] |
In 1927 archaeologists discovered the base of the cross, which has been dated to the early 7th century and thus predated the monastery. This may originally have been an open-air [[preaching cross]] like the [[Ruthwell Cross]], around which the monastery was later built.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=467090 | title=Church of St Mary More Information and Sources | year=2007 | publisher=English Heritage PastScape | accessdate=12 September 2010}}</ref> In 2000 the surviving fragments of the cross, now at Canterbury Cathedral along with the base, were used to design a Millennium Cross to commemorate two thousand years of [[Christianity]]. This stands at the entrance to the car park and was commissioned by [[Canterbury City Council]].<ref>Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 2.1 "Bronze Age to Late Norman". (2008)</ref> |
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===Loss to the sea=== |
===Loss to the sea=== |
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Recording his visit to Reculver in 1540, Leland wrote that it was then "withyn a Quarter of a Myle or litle more of the Se Syde [and that] The Towne at this tyme is but Village lyke."<ref>Jessup |
Recording his visit to Reculver in 1540, Leland wrote that it was then "withyn a Quarter of a Myle or litle more of the Se Syde [and that] The Towne at this tyme is but Village lyke."<ref>Jessup, ''op. cit.'', p. 187.</ref> A map of about 1630 shows that the church itself then stood only about {{convert|500|ft|m|0}} from the shore,<ref>Jessup, ''op. cit.'', p. 189.</ref> and the village's failure to support two "beer shops" in the 1660s has been taken as "a clear indication of the dwindling population at the time."<ref name=GoughInn/> The village was mostly abandoned around the end of the 18th century, and a new church was planned a little to the west and further inland, at [[Hillborough]]. Consequently, the old church was no longer required: |
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{{Quotation|[In] 1805 ... the young clergyman of the parish, urged on by his Philistine mother, rashly besought his parishioners to demolish this shrine of early Christendom. This they duly did and all save the western towers, which still act as a landmark for shipping, was razed to the ground.<ref>Kerr, Nigel & Mary, ''A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites'', Granada, 1982, p. 194.</ref>}} |
{{Quotation|[In] 1805 ... the young clergyman of the parish, urged on by his Philistine mother, rashly besought his parishioners to demolish this shrine of early Christendom. This they duly did and all save the western towers, which still act as a landmark for shipping, was razed to the ground.<ref>Kerr, Nigel & Mary, ''A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites'', Granada, 1982, p. 194.</ref>}} |
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[[Trinity House]] intervened to ensure that the towers were preserved as a navigational aid. In 1810 it bought what was left of the structure, and built the first [[groyne]]s, designed to protect the cliff on which it stands. A storm destroyed the spires at a date prior to 1819, and Trinity House replaced them with similarly shaped, open structures, topped by [[Weather vane|wind vanes]].<ref>A stone tablet incorporated into the church ruins reads: "These TOWERS the Remains of the once venerable Church of RECULVERS were purchased of the Parish by the [[Trinity House|Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond]] in the Year 1810 and Groins laid down at their Expence 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. Captn. Joseph Cotton deputy Master in the year 1819."</ref> These structures remained until they were removed at a date after 1928.<ref>The structures are present, but partly derelict, in Jessup |
[[Trinity House]] intervened to ensure that the towers were preserved as a navigational aid. In 1810 it bought what was left of the structure, and built the first [[groyne]]s, designed to protect the cliff on which it stands. A storm destroyed the spires at a date prior to 1819, and Trinity House replaced them with similarly shaped, open structures, topped by [[Weather vane|wind vanes]].<ref>A stone tablet incorporated into the church ruins reads: "These TOWERS the Remains of the once venerable Church of RECULVERS were purchased of the Parish by the [[Trinity House|Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond]] in the Year 1810 and Groins laid down at their Expence 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. Captn. Joseph Cotton deputy Master in the year 1819."</ref> These structures remained until they were removed at a date after 1928.<ref>The structures are present, but partly derelict, in Jessup, ''op. cit.'', Plate I, which is dated 1928.</ref> |
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The demolition of this "shrine of early Christendom", and exemplar of Anglo-Saxon church architecture and sculpture,<ref>Blair, "Reculver" (1999). A letter from Mot, T., in ''Gentleman's Magazine'', September 1809, pp. 801-2, describes the church in some detail, and says that it was then somewhat delapidated, |
The demolition of this "shrine of early Christendom", and exemplar of Anglo-Saxon church architecture and sculpture,<ref>Blair, "Reculver" (1999). A letter from Mot, T., in ''Gentleman's Magazine'', September 1809, pp. 801-2, describes the church in some detail, and says that it was then somewhat delapidated, with "trifling … repairs such as have only tended to obliterate its once-harmonizing beauties."</ref> was otherwise thorough, and it is now represented only by the minimal ruins on the site, some fragments of the cross which had enthused Leland, and the parts of two massive stone columns. The cross fragments and column parts may be viewed in the crypt at [[Canterbury Cathedral]].<ref>See Jessup, ''op. cit.'', and [http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/assets/countryside/reculvermasterplanvol1sep09forweb.pdf Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1], Section 2.0 "Historical Context". (2008). [http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm Canterbury City Council Online]. Retrieved 17 July 2010. For the early church at Reculver, see also Kelly, S., "Reculver Minster and its early Charters", in Barrow, J. & Wareham, A. (eds.), ''Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks'', Ashgate, 2008. A contemporary image of the church's destruction is at Witney, K.P., ''The Kingdom of Kent'', Phillimore, 1982, Plate 7. An aerial view of the ruins is at Witney, ''op. cit.'', Plate 8. The replacement church at Hillborough incorporates material from Reculver in its fabric.</ref> The [[Rectory|vicarage]] was abandoned at the same time as the church.<ref>According to Mot, T., ''Gentleman's Magazine'' (1809), the vicarage was "one of the most mean structures ever appropriated to such a purpose": Gough, "Two Names of a Reculver Inn" (2001) reports another letter to the same magazine, saying that the vicarage had "the appearance of some antiquity; it consists of two miserable rooms on the ground floor and a like number above, with no other conveniences or appurtenances of any kind. In fact was it not for the stone porch with which the entrance is decorated, it would pass only for the cottage of a labourer."</ref> When the [[wikt:hoy#Noun|Hoy]] and Anchor [[Inn]] fell into the sea, the redundant vicarage was used as a temporary replacement under the same name,<ref>Lewis, Arthur D., [http://books.google.co.uk/books?ei=z4-DTNnSN8a6OOfO9fIP&id=EmhKAAAAIAAJ&q=Anchor ''The Kent Coast''], Unwin, 1911, p. 62.</ref> until a new Hoy and Anchor Inn was built. The vicarage soon followed the original inn into the sea, and the new inn was re-named as the "King Ethelbert Inn" in the 1830s. It was later extended, probably in the 1880s, into the form in which it stands today.<ref>Gough, "Two Names of a Reculver Inn". (2001). According to Gough, "[on] the entrance door are the words 'Hoy and Anchor Bar'".</ref> |
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===Tourist resort=== |
===Tourist resort=== |
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[[Image:Fred C Palmer Reculver 1913 002.jpg|thumb|left|Tourist cafe in 1913]] |
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In the [[Census in the United Kingdom|census]] of 1801, the number of people present in the parish of Reculver was given as 252, and this figure remained roughly stable until the 20th century, when it increased dramatically: in the census of 1931, the number was given as 829.<ref>[http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Maps/REC/01.htm Reculver Population 1801 to 1921] (2009), [http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Kent Archaeological Society], and [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TOT_POP&u_id=10224330&c_id=10001043&add=N Reculver AP/CP] (2009) (where "AP/CP" means "[[Civil parishes in England|Ancient Parish and Civil Parish]]"), [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp A Vision of Britain Through Time]. For the 19th and early 20th century parish boundary, see [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/boundary_map_page.jsp?u_id=10224330&c_id=10001043# Boundary Map of Reculver AP/CP] (2009). A Vision of Britain Through Time. For the current ecclesiastical parish boundary, see [http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parish/560149/ Reculver] (2008). [http://www.cofe.anglican.org/ The Church of England]. Retrieved 7 September 2010. The increase in numbers may be partly due to holidaymakers, who were included in census returns: for example, the census of 2001, undertaken on 29 April, albeit covering a smaller area than the earliest censuses, records almost a quarter (32) of the 135 people in the Reculver area as being in a "Caravan or other mobile or temporary structure". [http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do;jsessionid=ac1f930b30d8d90452de21b04c31a6f1b6b88801837d?a=7&b=457352&c=CT6+6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1284032438218&enc=1&dsFamilyId=129&nsjs=true&nsck=true&nssvg=false&nswid=1232 Accommodation Type - People (UV42)] (includes a map of the area covered) (2004). Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 September 2010.</ref> In the most recent census of 2001, however, only 135 people were found.<ref name=census2001/> Today the site of the church is managed by [[English Heritage]], and the village has all but disappeared. New sea defences were built in the 1990s, including covering the beaches around the church with [[Riprap|boulders]], but the struggle to protect the towers from the sea continues.<ref>[http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/authority/assets/countryside/reculvermasterplanvol2.pdf Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 2], "Project Plans" (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 7 September 2010.</ref> A visitor centre in Reculver Country Park, just west of Reculver church, highlights the archaeological, historical, geological and wildlife conservation value of the area. |
In the [[Census in the United Kingdom|census]] of 1801, the number of people present in the parish of Reculver was given as 252, and this figure remained roughly stable until the 20th century, when it increased dramatically: in the census of 1931, the number was given as 829.<ref>[http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Maps/REC/01.htm Reculver Population 1801 to 1921] (2009), [http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Kent Archaeological Society], and [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TOT_POP&u_id=10224330&c_id=10001043&add=N Reculver AP/CP] (2009) (where "AP/CP" means "[[Civil parishes in England|Ancient Parish and Civil Parish]]"), [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/index.jsp A Vision of Britain Through Time]. For the 19th and early 20th century parish boundary, see [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/boundary_map_page.jsp?u_id=10224330&c_id=10001043# Boundary Map of Reculver AP/CP]. (2009). A Vision of Britain Through Time. For the current ecclesiastical parish boundary, see [http://www.achurchnearyou.com/parish/560149/ Reculver]. (2008). [http://www.cofe.anglican.org/ The Church of England]. Retrieved 7 September 2010. The increase in numbers may be partly due to holidaymakers, who were included in census returns: for example, the census of 2001, undertaken on 29 April, albeit covering a smaller area than the earliest censuses, records almost a quarter (32) of the 135 people in the Reculver area as being in a "Caravan or other mobile or temporary structure". [http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do;jsessionid=ac1f930b30d8d90452de21b04c31a6f1b6b88801837d?a=7&b=457352&c=CT6+6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1284032438218&enc=1&dsFamilyId=129&nsjs=true&nsck=true&nssvg=false&nswid=1232 Accommodation Type - People (UV42)] (includes a map of the area covered). (2004). Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 September 2010.</ref> In the most recent census of 2001, however, only 135 people were found.<ref name=census2001/> Today the site of the church is managed by [[English Heritage]], and the village has all but disappeared. New sea defences were built in the 1990s, including covering the beaches around the church with [[Riprap|boulders]], but the struggle to protect the towers from the sea continues.<ref>[http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/authority/assets/countryside/reculvermasterplanvol2.pdf Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 2], "Project Plans". (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 7 September 2010.</ref> A visitor centre in Reculver Country Park, just west of Reculver church, highlights the archaeological, historical, geological and wildlife conservation value of the area. |
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===Bouncing bombs=== |
===Bouncing bombs=== |
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⚫ | During the [[World War II|Second World War]], the Reculver coastline was one location used to test [[Barnes Wallis]]'s "[[bouncing bomb]]" prototypes. Different, [[wikt:inert|inert]] versions of the bomb were tested at Reculver, leading to the development of the operational version known as "Upkeep".<ref>[http://www.thedambusters.org.uk/media.html Archive footage of the Reculver tests]. (2007). [http://www.thedambusters.org.uk/ The Dambusters (617 Squadron)]. Retrieved 16 July 2010. See especially "Upkeep test drop 1" & "Upkeep test drop 2".</ref> It was this bomb which was used by the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]]'s [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|617 Squadron]] in [[Operation Chastise]], otherwise known as the "Dambuster raids", in which dams in the [[Ruhr]] district of [[Germany]] were attacked on the night of 16-17 May 1943 by [[Tactical_formation|formations]] of [[Avro Lancaster|Lancaster]] [[bomber]]s, led by Wing Commander [[Guy Gibson]], for which he was awarded the [[Victoria Cross]]. On 17 May 2003, a Lancaster bomber overflew the Reculver testing site to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the exploit.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3036315.stm "Anniversary tribute to Dambusters"]. (2003). [[BBC News Online]]. Retrieved 16 July 2010.</ref> |
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⚫ | During the [[World War II|Second World War]], the Reculver coastline was one location used to test [[Barnes Wallis]]'s "[[bouncing bomb]]" prototypes. Different, [[wikt:inert|inert]] versions of the bomb were tested at Reculver, leading to the development of the operational version known as "Upkeep".<ref>[http://www.thedambusters.org.uk/media.html Archive footage of the Reculver tests]. (2007). [http://www.thedambusters.org.uk/ The Dambusters (617 Squadron)]. Retrieved 16 July 2010. See especially "Upkeep test drop 1" & "Upkeep test drop 2".</ref> It was this bomb which was used by the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]]'s [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|617 Squadron]] in [[Operation Chastise]], otherwise known as the "Dambuster raids", in which dams in the [[Ruhr]] district of [[Germany]] were attacked on the night of |
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On 6 June 1997 it was announced on the [[BBC World News]] that four of the prototype bouncing bombs had been discovered at Reculver. Each weighing approximately 4 [[Long ton|tons]] (4.1 tonnes), attempts were made to salvage them, as a result of which, one prototype is displayed in [[Herne Bay Museum and Gallery]], a little over {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} to the west of Reculver.<ref>[http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=2194 "Bouncing bomb back"]. (1999). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 16 July 2010.</ref> Others are on display in [[Dover Castle]] and in the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum at the former [[RAF Manston]], on the [[Isle of Thanet]]. |
On 6 June 1997 it was announced on the [[BBC World News]] that four of the prototype bouncing bombs had been discovered at Reculver. Each weighing approximately 4 [[Long ton|tons]] (4.1 tonnes), attempts were made to salvage them, as a result of which, one prototype is displayed in [[Herne Bay Museum and Gallery]], a little over {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} to the west of Reculver.<ref>[http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=2194 "Bouncing bomb back"]. (1999). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 16 July 2010.</ref> Others are on display in [[Dover Castle]] and in the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum at the former [[RAF Manston]], on the [[Isle of Thanet]]. |
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==Economy== |
==Economy== |
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Apart from the Roman and church ruins, Reculver today consists of the country park, a public house, The King Ethelbert [[Public house#Tied houses and free houses in Britain|free house]], and a nearby shop and cafe, surrounded by three [[RV park|caravan parks]].<ref>Reculver Master Plan Report Volume 1, Section 2.0 "Historical Context" (2008).</ref> To the east, however, is an [[oyster]] [[hatchery]] belonging to the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company, from which young oysters are transplanted to the sea bed at [[Whitstable]].<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1164379/The-Return-Natives-Whitstables-oysters-fashion.html The Return of the Natives: Whitstable's oysters back in fashion] (2009). [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html Mail Online]. Retrieved 7 September 2010.</ref> |
Apart from the Roman and church ruins, Reculver today consists of the country park, a public house, The King Ethelbert [[Public house#Tied houses and free houses in Britain|free house]], and a nearby shop and cafe, surrounded by three [[RV park|caravan parks]].<ref>Reculver Master Plan Report Volume 1, Section 2.0 "Historical Context". (2008).</ref> To the east, however, is an [[oyster]] [[hatchery]] belonging to the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company, from which young oysters are transplanted to the sea bed at [[Whitstable]].<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1164379/The-Return-Natives-Whitstables-oysters-fashion.html The Return of the Natives: Whitstable's oysters back in fashion]. (2009). [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html Mail Online]. Retrieved 7 September 2010.</ref> |
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===Country park=== |
===Country park=== |
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==Legends== |
==Legends== |
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[[Image:Reculver -Kent-16Sept2005.jpg|thumb|right|Remains of St Mary's Church viewed from the west, September 2005]] |
[[Image:Reculver -Kent-16Sept2005.jpg|thumb|right|Remains of St Mary's Church viewed from the west, September 2005]] |
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===Crying Baby=== |
===Crying Baby=== |
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According to legend there is often heard the sound of a crying baby, in the grounds of the fort and among the ruins of the church.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/oct/30/haunted-halloween-spooky-uk Ten spooky places to scare yourself]. (2009). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/ The Guardian]. Retrieved 29 July 2010.</ref> Archaeological excavations conducted in the 1960s within the fort revealed numerous infant skeletons buried under the walls of Roman structures, probably barrack blocks, from which coins were recovered from between c. |
According to legend there is often heard the sound of a crying baby, in the grounds of the fort and among the ruins of the church.<ref>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/oct/30/haunted-halloween-spooky-uk Ten spooky places to scare yourself]. (2009). [http://www.guardian.co.uk/ The Guardian]. Retrieved 29 July 2010.</ref> Archaeological excavations conducted in the 1960s within the fort revealed numerous infant skeletons buried under the walls of Roman structures, probably barrack blocks, from which coins were recovered from between c. 270 and 300 AD.<ref>For the burials, see Philp, Brian, "[http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR006/KAR006_Reculver.htm Ritual Burials at Reculver]", ''Kent Archaeological Review'' '''6''', 1966. Council for Kentish Archaeology. Retrieved 28 July 2010. For the structures, see Philp, Brian, "[http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR015/KAR015_Reculver.htm The Roman Fort at Reculver Excavations 1968 - Interim Report]", ''Kent Archaeological Review'' '''15''', 1969. Council for Kentish Archaeology. Retrieved 28 July 2010. See also Merrifield, Ralph, ''The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic'', Batsford, 1987, pp. 50-7 (esp. 51).</ref> |
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===Twin Sisters=== |
===Twin Sisters=== |
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A story which has been told many times, incorporating varying details, but following essentially the same course, concerns the origin of a [[Epithet|byname]] for the Reculver towers, as the "Twin Sisters".<ref>This byname is also found as "The Sisters" and the "Two Sisters", but the towers are also sometimes known as simply "The Reculvers": see Jessup |
A story which has been told many times, incorporating varying details, but following essentially the same course, concerns the origin of a [[Epithet|byname]] for the Reculver towers, as the "Twin Sisters".<ref>This byname is also found as "The Sisters" and the "Two Sisters", but the towers are also sometimes known as simply "The Reculvers": see Jessup, ''op. cit.'' and Hasted, ''op. cit.''</ref> According to this, late in the 15th century there were two orphaned daughters of Sir Geoffrey St Clare, twin sisters named Frances and Isabella. Frances became prioress of the [[Benedictine]] [[priory]] of [[Davington]], near [[Faversham]], while Isabella remained a [[Ward (law)|ward]] of Abbot John of [[St Augustine's Abbey]], in [[Canterbury]], who was the sisters' uncle. Isabella was then betrothed to Henry de Belville, but unfortunately he was fatally wounded when fighting for [[Richard III of England|Richard III]] at the [[Battle of Bosworth Field]], in 1485. Isabella then joined her sister, "took the veil", and became a [[nun]]. Fourteen years later, Frances was taken ill. The sisters made a vow that, if Frances recovered, they would go on pilgrimage to give thanks at the [[Shrine of Our Lady, Bradstowe|Shrine of Our Ladye Star of the Sea]] in [[Broadstairs]]. |
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Frances recovered, so they set off on their promised pilgrimage. They sailed from Faversham, but their ship was caught in a storm and ran aground on a [[Shoal|sandbank]] near Reculver called "The Horse". Frances was soon rescued, but Isabella was left on the wreck until daylight. Though she too was then rescued, she died of exposure in her sister's arms. Frances completed the vow to make offerings to the shrine at Broadstairs, and then restored Reculver church, also dedicated to St. Mary, adding spires to the towers, which were known thereafter as the "Twin Sisters".<ref>See e.g. Anon., "The SISTERS, an affecting History: With a Perspective View of RECULVER CHURCH, in the County of Kent", ''Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure'' '''89''', August 1791, pp. 97-104, where reference is made to a source in a manuscript in "the [[Old University of Leuven|university of Louvain]]". Cf. Jessup |
Frances recovered, so they set off on their promised pilgrimage. They sailed from Faversham, but their ship was caught in a storm and ran aground on a [[Shoal|sandbank]] near Reculver called "The Horse". Frances was soon rescued, but Isabella was left on the wreck until daylight. Though she too was then rescued, she died of exposure in her sister's arms. Frances completed the vow to make offerings to the shrine at Broadstairs, and then restored Reculver church, also dedicated to St. Mary, adding spires to the towers, which were known thereafter as the "Twin Sisters".<ref>See e.g. Anon., "The SISTERS, an affecting History: With a Perspective View of RECULVER CHURCH, in the County of Kent", ''Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure'' '''89''', August 1791, pp. 97-104, where reference is made to a source in a manuscript in "the [[Old University of Leuven|university of Louvain]]". Cf. Jessup, ''op. cit.'', pp. 179-80. No sandbank named "The Horse" is marked in this location on modern [[Nautical chart|charts]], and it is in their nature to move over time; but it is shown on a [http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/chartzoom.cfm/ImageID/F0204/x/5090/y/3401/zoomlevel/1/#content chart published in 1790], now held by the [[National Maritime Museum]]. Retrieved 30 July 2010. A "Horse ''Channel''" is marked on modern charts in about the same location, approximately {{convert|0.31|mi|km|1}} NW of Reculver towers.</ref> |
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A re-invention of the story is in the ''[[Ingoldsby Legends]]'', where two brothers, named Robert and Richard de Birchington, are substituted for the two sisters.<ref>[http://www.exclassics.com/ingold/ingold.pdf ''The Ingoldsby Legends'' online]. (2009). [http://www.exclassics.com/ exclassics.com]. Retrieved 11 July 2010. See "The Brothers of Birchington: A Lay of St. Thomas a'Becket" (pp. 455-465).</ref> |
A re-invention of the story is in the ''[[Ingoldsby Legends]]'', where two brothers, named Robert and Richard de Birchington, are substituted for the two sisters.<ref>[http://www.exclassics.com/ingold/ingold.pdf ''The Ingoldsby Legends'' online]. (2009). [http://www.exclassics.com/ exclassics.com]. Retrieved 11 July 2010. See "The Brothers of Birchington: A Lay of St. Thomas a'Becket" (pp. 455-465).</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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[[File:Reculver-plaque.jpg|thumb|upright|Stone from Reculver and commemorative plaque in St Johns, Parramatta, NSW]] |
[[File:Reculver-plaque.jpg|thumb|upright|Stone from Reculver and commemorative plaque in St Johns, Parramatta, NSW]] |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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[[Category:Villages in Kent]] |
[[Category:Villages in Kent]] |
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[[Category:Monasteries in Kent]] |
[[Category:Monasteries in Kent]] |
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[[simple:Reculver]] |
[[simple:Reculver]] |
Revision as of 22:17, 29 October 2010
Reculver | |
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![]() The twin towers of St. Mary's Church | |
Population | 135 [1] |
OS grid reference | TR224693 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | CANTERBURY |
Postcode district | CT6 |
Dialling code | 01227 |
Police | Kent |
Fire | Kent |
Ambulance | South East Coast |
UK Parliament | |
Reculver is a hamlet and coastal resort situated about 3 miles (5 km) east of Herne Bay in southeast England. It is a ward of the City of Canterbury district in the county of Kent. Reculver once occupied a strategic location at the western end of the Wantsum Channel, between the Isle of Thanet and the Kent mainland. This led the Romans to build a port, lighthouse, and early in the 3rd century a "castrum", called Regulbium, part of the chain of Saxon Shore forts. The military connection continued in World War II, when Barnes Wallis' "bouncing bombs" were tested in the sea off Reculver.
Reculver retained its importance after the Romans left, an Anglo-Saxon palace may have been built in the ruins of the Roman fort before a Celtic cross and monastery were built there. During the Middle Ages Reculver was a place of pilgrimage and the twin spires of the church became a landmark for mariners known as the "Twin Sisters", supposedly after daughters of Geoffrey St Clare. The facade of St John's Cathedral in Parramatta, Australia, is a copy of the Reculver spires.
Reculver declined in importance as the Wantsum Channel silted up and coastal erosion claimed many buildings constructed on the soft sandy cliffs. The village was largely abandoned in the late 18th century, and most of the church was demolished. Protecting the ruins and the rest of Reculver from erosion is an ongoing challenge.
The 1930s saw a revival as a tourism industry developed and there are now three caravan parks. The country park is a Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest; it has rare clifftop meadows and is important for migrating birds.
Geography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/OldMapKent.jpg/220px-OldMapKent.jpg)
Reculver once occupied a strategic location on routes between continental Europe and the east coast of England, but sedimentation and coastal erosion have obscured its importance. In ancient times it lay on a promontory at the western entrance to the Wantsum Channel, a sea lane between the Isle of Thanet and the Kent mainland, that silted up during the Middle Ages. The Roman fort and medieval church stand on the remains of the promontory, now "a small knoll which, rising to a maximum height of 50 feet, is the last seaward extension of the Blean Hills."[2] Place-name authorities state that the name "Regulbium" was Celtic in origin, meaning "at the promontory", or "great headland", and that, in Old English, this became corrupted to "Raculf", sometimes given as "Raculfceastre", giving rise to the modern "Reculver".[3]
Sediments laid down around 55 million years ago are particularly well displayed in the cliffs at Reculver.[4] Nearby Herne Bay is the type location for the Thanet Sand Formation, a fine-grained sand that can be clayey and glauconitic and is of Thanetian (late Paleocene) age.[5] It rests uncomformably on the Chalk Group,[5] and forms the base of the cliffs in the Reculver and Herne Bay area.[6] Above the Thanet Sand are the Upnor Formation, a medium sandstone,[7] and the sandy clays of the Harwich Formation at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary.[8] The highest cliffs, rising to a maximum height of about 115 feet (35 m) to the west of Reculver,[9] have a cap[6] of London Clay, a fine silty clay of Eocene age.[10]
These rocks are easily washed away by the sea,[11] and the cliffs are eroding at a rate of approximately 5 feet (2 m) a year. It has been estimated that the Romans built their fort about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the sea.[12] A plan is in place to manage this erosion whereby some parts of the coastline like the country park will be allowed to continue eroding, and others – including the site of the Roman fort and St Mary's Church – will be protected from further erosion.[13]
History
Pre-historic and Roman
Stone Age flint tools have been washed out from the cliffs to the west of Reculver, but the earliest evidence for human settlement at Reculver itself is an early Iron Age farmstead slightly to the west of the church ruins, followed by a "fortlet" dating to the Roman conquest of Britain in 43 AD, on the site of a well known Roman fort, or "castrum", which was built early in the 3rd century. This date is derived from a re-construction of a uniquely detailed plaque, fragments of which were found by archaeologists in the 1960s.[14] The plaque effectively records the establishment of the fort, since it records the construction of two of its principal buildings, the "basilica" and the "sacellum". These were also found by archaeologists, together with the commandant's house, probable barracks, a bath house and a corn drying kiln. Reculver was also the location for a lighthouse and watch tower, presumably because of its strategic position at the northern entrance to the Wantsum Channel, and covering the mouths of both the River Thames and the River Medway.[15] While it was normal for a Roman fort to be accompanied by a civilian settlement, or "vicus", it is also reported that "a Roman building with a hypocaust and tesselated pavement stood considerably to the northward of the fort,"[16] in an area now lost to the sea.
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/eb/Part_of_the_south_wall_of_the_ruined_church_at_Reculver.jpg/170px-Part_of_the_south_wall_of_the_ruined_church_at_Reculver.jpg)
Towards the end of the 3rd century, a Roman naval commander named Carausius was given the task of clearing pirates from the sea between Britannia and the European mainland. In so doing he established a new chain of command, the British part of which was later to pass under the control of a "Count of the Saxon Shore". The "Notitia Dignitatum" shows that the fort at Reculver, then known as "Regulbium", became part of this arrangement. Rutupiae (Richborough), Portus Dubrae (for "Dubris"; Dover), Portus Lemanis (Lympne) and Anderida (Pevensey) were other "Saxon Shore Forts". Archaeological evidence indicates that the fort was abandoned in the 360s.[17]
Monastery and church
After the Roman occupation of Britain ended in about 410, Reculver became a seat of the Anglo-Saxon kings of Kent. King Æthelberht of Kent is said to have moved his royal court there from Canterbury in about 597, and to have built a palace on the site of the Roman ruins.[18] While excavation has shown no evidence of this, and the story has been described as "probably no more than a pious legend",[19] Anglo-Saxon kings were peripatetic,[20] and the Roman remains at Reculver would have been "the only substantial building for miles around".[21] A church was built on the same site in about 669, when King Ecgberht of Kent granted land for the foundation of a monastery there.[22] This foundation "illustrates the widespread practice [in Anglo-Saxon England] of re-using Roman walled places for major churches".[23] Ten years later, in 679, King Hlothhere of Kent presided over a council at Reculver, attended by Archbishop Theodore of Canterbury, at which he granted the monastery lands at Sturry, about 6.2 miles (10 km) south-west of Reculver, and in the western part of the Isle of Thanet, across the Wantsum to the east. In the original, 7th century charter recording this grant, Reculver is referred to as a "civitas", or "city".[24] In 692 Reculver's abbot, Berhtwald, a former abbot of Glastonbury in Somerset, was elected Archbishop of Canterbury. Bede, writing no more than 40 years later, described him as having been "learned in the Scriptures and well versed in ecclesiastical and monastic affairs."[25]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/89/Reculver1800.jpg/220px-Reculver1800.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c2/Fred_C_Palmer_002.jpg/220px-Fred_C_Palmer_002.jpg)
Monastic life had ceased at Reculver by the early 10th century, though whether or not this was due to the attentions of Vikings is unclear.[26] The minster subsequently became St. Mary's parish church of Reculver: a charter of the mid 10th century records its gift by King Eadred of England into the possession of Canterbury Cathedral, at which time the estate included the later parishes of Hoath and Herne, land in Thanet, and land "at Chilmington for the repair of the church".[27]
According to Domesday Book, in 1086 the Archbishop of Canterbury had an annual income from Reculver of £42.7s. (£42.35): this value can be compared with, for example, the £20 due to the archbishop from the manor of Maidstone, and the £50 due to him from the borough of Sandwich, both of which he also held.[28] Included in the Domesday account for Reculver, as well as the church, farmland, a mill, salt pans and a fishery, are 90 villeins and 25 bordars: these numbers can be multiplied four or five times to account for dependents, as they only "relate to adult male heads of households".[29]
Reculver remained an unusually large and valuable parish in the late 13th century, when it included chapels of ease at St. Nicholas-at-Wade and All Saints,[30] on the Isle of Thanet, as well as at Hoath and Herne: in 1291, the "Taxatio" of Pope Nicholas IV put the total income due to the rector and vicar at about £130, and this wealth led to disputes between lay and Church interests, over control of its benefice.[31]
Over time, the church gained structural additions: principally, the towers were added in the 12th century, and, according to local legend, they were topped with spires "in the early years of the 16th century",[32] since when they have been known locally as the "Twin Sisters".[33] The addition of the towers, and the extent to which the church was enlarged in the Middle Ages, suggest that "a thriving township must have developed nearby."[34] However, the church retained many prominent Anglo-Saxon features, and, on a visit to Reculver in 1540, one of these raised John Leland to "an enthusiasm which he seldom displayed":
Yn the enteryng of the quyer ys one of the fayrest and the most auncyent crosse that ever I saw, a ix footes, as I ges, yn highte. It standeth lyke a fayr columne. The base greate stone ys not wrought. The second stone being rownd hath curiously wrought and paynted the images of Christ, Peter, Paule, John and James, as I remember. Christ sayeth [I am the Alpha and the Omega]. Peter sayeth, [You are Christ, son of the living God]. The saing of the other iij when painted [was in Roman capitals] but now obliterated. The second stone is of the Passion. The third conteineth the xii Apostles. The iiii hath the image of Christ hanging and fastened with iiii nayles and [a support beneath the feet]. the hiest part of the pyller hath the figure of a crosse.[31]
In 1927 archaeologists discovered the base of the cross, which has been dated to the early 7th century and thus predated the monastery. This may originally have been an open-air preaching cross like the Ruthwell Cross, around which the monastery was later built.[35] In 2000 the surviving fragments of the cross, now at Canterbury Cathedral along with the base, were used to design a Millennium Cross to commemorate two thousand years of Christianity. This stands at the entrance to the car park and was commissioned by Canterbury City Council.[36]
Loss to the sea
Recording his visit to Reculver in 1540, Leland wrote that it was then "withyn a Quarter of a Myle or litle more of the Se Syde [and that] The Towne at this tyme is but Village lyke."[37] A map of about 1630 shows that the church itself then stood only about 500 feet (152 m) from the shore,[38] and the village's failure to support two "beer shops" in the 1660s has been taken as "a clear indication of the dwindling population at the time."[21] The village was mostly abandoned around the end of the 18th century, and a new church was planned a little to the west and further inland, at Hillborough. Consequently, the old church was no longer required:
[In] 1805 ... the young clergyman of the parish, urged on by his Philistine mother, rashly besought his parishioners to demolish this shrine of early Christendom. This they duly did and all save the western towers, which still act as a landmark for shipping, was razed to the ground.[39]
Trinity House intervened to ensure that the towers were preserved as a navigational aid. In 1810 it bought what was left of the structure, and built the first groynes, designed to protect the cliff on which it stands. A storm destroyed the spires at a date prior to 1819, and Trinity House replaced them with similarly shaped, open structures, topped by wind vanes.[40] These structures remained until they were removed at a date after 1928.[41]
The demolition of this "shrine of early Christendom", and exemplar of Anglo-Saxon church architecture and sculpture,[42] was otherwise thorough, and it is now represented only by the minimal ruins on the site, some fragments of the cross which had enthused Leland, and the parts of two massive stone columns. The cross fragments and column parts may be viewed in the crypt at Canterbury Cathedral.[43] The vicarage was abandoned at the same time as the church.[44] When the Hoy and Anchor Inn fell into the sea, the redundant vicarage was used as a temporary replacement under the same name,[45] until a new Hoy and Anchor Inn was built. The vicarage soon followed the original inn into the sea, and the new inn was re-named as the "King Ethelbert Inn" in the 1830s. It was later extended, probably in the 1880s, into the form in which it stands today.[46]
Tourist resort
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b2/Bouncing_bomb_006.jpg/170px-Bouncing_bomb_006.jpg)
In the census of 1801, the number of people present in the parish of Reculver was given as 252, and this figure remained roughly stable until the 20th century, when it increased dramatically: in the census of 1931, the number was given as 829.[47] In the most recent census of 2001, however, only 135 people were found.[1] Today the site of the church is managed by English Heritage, and the village has all but disappeared. New sea defences were built in the 1990s, including covering the beaches around the church with boulders, but the struggle to protect the towers from the sea continues.[48] A visitor centre in Reculver Country Park, just west of Reculver church, highlights the archaeological, historical, geological and wildlife conservation value of the area.
Bouncing bombs
During the Second World War, the Reculver coastline was one location used to test Barnes Wallis's "bouncing bomb" prototypes. Different, inert versions of the bomb were tested at Reculver, leading to the development of the operational version known as "Upkeep".[49] It was this bomb which was used by the RAF's 617 Squadron in Operation Chastise, otherwise known as the "Dambuster raids", in which dams in the Ruhr district of Germany were attacked on the night of 16-17 May 1943 by formations of Lancaster bombers, led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson, for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. On 17 May 2003, a Lancaster bomber overflew the Reculver testing site to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the exploit.[50]
On 6 June 1997 it was announced on the BBC World News that four of the prototype bouncing bombs had been discovered at Reculver. Each weighing approximately 4 tons (4.1 tonnes), attempts were made to salvage them, as a result of which, one prototype is displayed in Herne Bay Museum and Gallery, a little over 3 miles (5 km) to the west of Reculver.[51] Others are on display in Dover Castle and in the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum at the former RAF Manston, on the Isle of Thanet.
Economy
Apart from the Roman and church ruins, Reculver today consists of the country park, a public house, The King Ethelbert free house, and a nearby shop and cafe, surrounded by three caravan parks.[52] To the east, however, is an oyster hatchery belonging to the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company, from which young oysters are transplanted to the sea bed at Whitstable.[53]
Country park
Reculver Country Park comprises a narrow strip of protected, cliff-top land about 1.5 miles (2 km) long, running from the remaining enclosure of the Roman fort and Reculver Towers west to Bishopstone Glen. The park is managed by Canterbury City Council in partnership with Kent Wildlife Trust and English Heritage. The park first won a Green Flag Award in 2005, and it is estimated that over 10,000 people visit the park each year, including up to 3,500 students for educational trips.[54]
The new Reculver Centre for Renewable Energy and Interpretation opened in July 2009, marking 200 years of the moving of Reculver village. The centre features a log burner fuelled by logs from the Blean woodland and solar and photo voltaic panels to convert sunlight to energy. Displays and information describing the history, geography and wildlife of the area are available inside the centre.[55]
Wildlife
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ec/Numenius_arquata_Reculver.jpg/220px-Numenius_arquata_Reculver.jpg)
Reculver Country Park is a Special Protection Area (SPA) and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), due partly to the thousands of birds that visit Reculver each year during their migrations from the Arctic.[56] In winter Brent Geese and wading birds such as Turnstones may be seen, during the summer months Sand Martins nest in the soft cliffs,[57] and wading Curlews may be seen at any time. The grasslands on the cliff top are amongst the few remaining cliff top wildflower meadows left in Kent, and are home to butterflies and Skylarks. Also present is the nationally scarce species of digger wasp Alysson lunicornis.[58]
Legends
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/60/Reculver_-Kent-16Sept2005.jpg/220px-Reculver_-Kent-16Sept2005.jpg)
Crying Baby
According to legend there is often heard the sound of a crying baby, in the grounds of the fort and among the ruins of the church.[59] Archaeological excavations conducted in the 1960s within the fort revealed numerous infant skeletons buried under the walls of Roman structures, probably barrack blocks, from which coins were recovered from between c. 270 and 300 AD.[60]
Twin Sisters
A story which has been told many times, incorporating varying details, but following essentially the same course, concerns the origin of a byname for the Reculver towers, as the "Twin Sisters".[61] According to this, late in the 15th century there were two orphaned daughters of Sir Geoffrey St Clare, twin sisters named Frances and Isabella. Frances became prioress of the Benedictine priory of Davington, near Faversham, while Isabella remained a ward of Abbot John of St Augustine's Abbey, in Canterbury, who was the sisters' uncle. Isabella was then betrothed to Henry de Belville, but unfortunately he was fatally wounded when fighting for Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, in 1485. Isabella then joined her sister, "took the veil", and became a nun. Fourteen years later, Frances was taken ill. The sisters made a vow that, if Frances recovered, they would go on pilgrimage to give thanks at the Shrine of Our Ladye Star of the Sea in Broadstairs.
Frances recovered, so they set off on their promised pilgrimage. They sailed from Faversham, but their ship was caught in a storm and ran aground on a sandbank near Reculver called "The Horse". Frances was soon rescued, but Isabella was left on the wreck until daylight. Though she too was then rescued, she died of exposure in her sister's arms. Frances completed the vow to make offerings to the shrine at Broadstairs, and then restored Reculver church, also dedicated to St. Mary, adding spires to the towers, which were known thereafter as the "Twin Sisters".[62]
A re-invention of the story is in the Ingoldsby Legends, where two brothers, named Robert and Richard de Birchington, are substituted for the two sisters.[63]
Parramatta cathedral
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/01/St-johns-parramatta.jpg/220px-St-johns-parramatta.jpg)
The twin towers and west front of St John's Cathedral, Parramatta, in Sydney, Australia, which were added in 1817-1819, are based on the Reculver towers. A campaign to save Reculver church was under way when Governor Lachlan Macquarie and his wife Elizabeth left England in 1809. Mrs Macquarie showed Lieutenant John Watts, ADC of the 46th Regiment of Foot, a watercolour of Reculver church and asked him to design some towers for St John's in Parramatta. A watercolour of Reculver Church in the Mitchell Library section of the State Library of New South Wales has a note in Governor Macquarie's hand that he laid the foundation stone on 23 December 1818, and that Mrs Macquarie chose the plan and Lt Watts was responsible for implementing the design.[64] A stone from Reculver was presented to St John's Cathedral by the Historic Building and Monuments Commission for England – now English Heritage – in 1990.
See also
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e6/Reculver-plaque.jpg/170px-Reculver-plaque.jpg)
- ^ a b Census 2001. (2001). Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ Jessup, R.F., "Reculver", in Antiquity 10(38), 1936, pp. 179 (note), 188.
- ^ Ekwall, E., The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (4th edition), OUP, 1960, p. 383 (Reculver) and Hill, A.D., A Dictionary of English Place-Names (2nd edition), OUP, 1998, p. 285 (Reculver). See also Glover, J., The Place Names of Kent, Batsford, 1976, "Reculver" and Jessup, op. cit., p. 190. Ekwall, op. cit., says that "Many more [Old English] forms are on record."
- ^ [www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/pdfs/generalFactsheets/geologyOfKent.pdf "The Geology of Kent"] (PDF). Kent Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
{{cite web}}
: Check|url=
value (help) - ^ a b British Geological Survey (2010). "The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Thanet Sand Formation". NERC. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ^ a b Ward, D.J. (1978), The lower London Tertiary (Palaeocene) succession of Herne Bay, Kent, H.M.S.O, ISBN 9780118840521
- ^ British Geological Survey (2010). "The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Upnor Formation". NERC. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ^ British Geological Survey (2010). "The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Harwich Formation". NERC. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ^ Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 4.1 "Topography, Landscape and Sea". (2008).
- ^ British Geological Survey (2010). "The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details London Clay Formation". NERC. Retrieved 2010-09-17.
- ^ Reculver Country Park Geology Resource Pack. (not dated). Kent Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ Jessup (1936), pp. 186-8.
- ^ Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 3.8 "Coastal Protection". (2008).
- ^ Regulbium. (2007). English Heritage PastScape. Retrieved 11 September 2010. See also Philp, Brian, "The Roman Fort at Reculver Excavations 1968 – Interim Report", Kent Archaeological Review 15, 1969, and "The Reculver Inscription", Kent Archaeological Review 17, 1969. Council for Kentish Archaeology. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
- ^ Philp, B.J., The Excavation of the Roman Fort at Reculver, Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, 2005.
- ^ Jessup, op. cit., p. 188, citing Battely, J., Antiquitates Rutupinae, Oxford, 1774, p. 54.
- ^ Cotterill, John, "Saxon Raiding and the Role of the Late Roman Coastal Forts of Britain", Britannia 24, pp. 227-39 (esp. 235).
- ^ Hasted, Edward, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, Vol. 9, 1800, pp. 109-25. British History Online. Retrieved 28 July 2010. Hasted gives no source concerning Æthelberht's involvement with Reculver.
- ^ Gough, Harold, "The Two Names of a Reculver Inn". (2001). Internet Archive Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 September 2010.
- ^ A-Z of Archaeology, "Anglo-Saxon palaces". (2010). Channel 4 Time Team. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ a b Gough, "Two Names of a Reculver Inn". (2001).
- ^ See e.g. Garmonsway, G.N., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Dent, Dutton, 1972 & 1975, pp. 34-5. Also Fletcher, Eric, "Early Kentish Churches", Medieval archaeology 9, pp. 16-31.
- ^ Blair, John, "Reculver", in Lapidge, Michael, Blair, J., Keynes, S. & Scraggs, D. (eds.), The Blackwell Encyclopædia of Anglo-Saxon England, Blackwell, 1999, p. 386.
- ^ Anglo-Saxon Charter S 8 Archive Christ Church, Canterbury (where "S 8" refers to the charter's number in Sawyer, Anglo-Saxon Charters: An Annotated List and Bibliography, Royal Historical Society, 1968). (2007). British Academy ASChart project. Retrieved 8 June 2008. This charter is the earliest genuine Anglo-Saxon charter known to have survived in its original form.
- ^ Bede, Ecclesiastical History, v, 8. Charters of the 8th century name three more abbots as Heaberht, Deneheah and Wihtred (S 31, 38, 1612). See also Page, W. (ed.), "The Abbey of Reculver", in A History of the County of Kent Vol. 2, 1926, pp. 141-2. British History Online. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
- ^ Cf. Kerr, Nigel & Mary, A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites, Granada, 1982, pp. 192-94, Brooks, N.P., "England in the Ninth Century: The Crucible of Defeat", Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 5th series 29, pp. 1-20 (esp. 12), and The Early History of the Church of Canterbury, Leicester University Press, 1984, pp. 203-4.
- ^ Anglo-Saxon Charter S 546 Archive Christ Church, Canterbury. (not dated). Kemble Anglo-Saxon Charters. Retrieved 11 September 2010. See also Brooks, N., "The creation and early structure of the kingdom of Kent", in Bassett, S. (ed.), The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, Leicester University Press, 1989, p. 72, and Gough, Harold, "Eadred's Charter of AD 949 and the Extent of the Monastic Estate at Reculver, Kent", in Ramsay, Nigel, Sparks, M. & Tatton-Brown, T. (eds.), St Dunstan: His Life, Times and Cult, Boydell, 1992.
- ^ Domesday Book, Kent, II ("The Land of the Archbishop of Canterbury"). Of the £42.7s. from Reculver, £7.7s. (£7.35) was from an unspecified source. See also Flight, Colin, "Chapter 5 Commentary", in idem, The Survey of Kent: Documents Relating to the Survey of the County Conducted in 1086, BAR, British Series 506, 2010, p. 162. Kent Archaeological Society. Retrieved 11 September 2010. While Hoath, Herne and western parts of the Isle of Thanet were Reculver possessions in the Anglo-Saxon period, and remained attached to Reculver long after 1086, of these only Reculver is mentioned by name in Domesday Book.
- ^ Eales, Richard, "An Introduction to the Kent Domesday", in The Kent Domesday, Alecto, London, 1992, p. 21. The multiplication indicated by Eales would give a peasant population for the whole of the estate centred on Reculver in 1086 of between 460 and 575 people.
- ^ All Saints Church no longer exists, but its site is marked on the 1877 OS 1:10,560 scale (6 inch/mile) map of Kent, about 330 yards (302 m) east of Shuart (land between Shuart and the church site is marked there as "Glebe"); OS grid reference TR271678. See also Jenkins, Frank, "The church of All Saints, Shuart in the Isle of Thanet", in Detsicas, Alec (ed.), Collectanea Historica: Essays in Memory of Stuart Rigold, Maidstone, 1981, pp. 147-54.
- ^ a b Graham, R., "Sidelights on the Rectors and Parishioners of Reculver from the Register of Archbishop Winchelsey", Archaeologia Cantiana 57. Kent Archaeological Society. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
- ^ Jessup, op. cit., pp. 179-80.
- ^ Hasted, op. cit.
- ^ Gough, "Two Names of a Reculver Inn". (2001). A ground plan of the church, showing how it was enlarged in stages from the 7th century to the 15th, is at Jessup, op. cit., p. 181.
- ^ "Church of St Mary More Information and Sources". English Heritage PastScape. 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
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(help) - ^ Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 2.1 "Bronze Age to Late Norman". (2008)
- ^ Jessup, op. cit., p. 187.
- ^ Jessup, op. cit., p. 189.
- ^ Kerr, Nigel & Mary, A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites, Granada, 1982, p. 194.
- ^ A stone tablet incorporated into the church ruins reads: "These TOWERS the Remains of the once venerable Church of RECULVERS were purchased of the Parish by the Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond in the Year 1810 and Groins laid down at their Expence 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. Captn. Joseph Cotton deputy Master in the year 1819."
- ^ The structures are present, but partly derelict, in Jessup, op. cit., Plate I, which is dated 1928.
- ^ Blair, "Reculver" (1999). A letter from Mot, T., in Gentleman's Magazine, September 1809, pp. 801-2, describes the church in some detail, and says that it was then somewhat delapidated, with "trifling … repairs such as have only tended to obliterate its once-harmonizing beauties."
- ^ See Jessup, op. cit., and Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 2.0 "Historical Context". (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 17 July 2010. For the early church at Reculver, see also Kelly, S., "Reculver Minster and its early Charters", in Barrow, J. & Wareham, A. (eds.), Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks, Ashgate, 2008. A contemporary image of the church's destruction is at Witney, K.P., The Kingdom of Kent, Phillimore, 1982, Plate 7. An aerial view of the ruins is at Witney, op. cit., Plate 8. The replacement church at Hillborough incorporates material from Reculver in its fabric.
- ^ According to Mot, T., Gentleman's Magazine (1809), the vicarage was "one of the most mean structures ever appropriated to such a purpose": Gough, "Two Names of a Reculver Inn" (2001) reports another letter to the same magazine, saying that the vicarage had "the appearance of some antiquity; it consists of two miserable rooms on the ground floor and a like number above, with no other conveniences or appurtenances of any kind. In fact was it not for the stone porch with which the entrance is decorated, it would pass only for the cottage of a labourer."
- ^ Lewis, Arthur D., The Kent Coast, Unwin, 1911, p. 62.
- ^ Gough, "Two Names of a Reculver Inn". (2001). According to Gough, "[on] the entrance door are the words 'Hoy and Anchor Bar'".
- ^ Reculver Population 1801 to 1921 (2009), Kent Archaeological Society, and Reculver AP/CP (2009) (where "AP/CP" means "Ancient Parish and Civil Parish"), A Vision of Britain Through Time. For the 19th and early 20th century parish boundary, see Boundary Map of Reculver AP/CP. (2009). A Vision of Britain Through Time. For the current ecclesiastical parish boundary, see Reculver. (2008). The Church of England. Retrieved 7 September 2010. The increase in numbers may be partly due to holidaymakers, who were included in census returns: for example, the census of 2001, undertaken on 29 April, albeit covering a smaller area than the earliest censuses, records almost a quarter (32) of the 135 people in the Reculver area as being in a "Caravan or other mobile or temporary structure". Accommodation Type - People (UV42) (includes a map of the area covered). (2004). Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 September 2010.
- ^ Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 2, "Project Plans". (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ Archive footage of the Reculver tests. (2007). The Dambusters (617 Squadron). Retrieved 16 July 2010. See especially "Upkeep test drop 1" & "Upkeep test drop 2".
- ^ "Anniversary tribute to Dambusters". (2003). BBC News Online. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ^ "Bouncing bomb back". (1999). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
- ^ Reculver Master Plan Report Volume 1, Section 2.0 "Historical Context". (2008).
- ^ The Return of the Natives: Whitstable's oysters back in fashion. (2009). Mail Online. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
- ^ Places to visit and things to do (2009), and Green Flag to fly at Reculver (2005). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
- ^ Reculver Centre: for renewable energy and interpretation. (2009). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
- ^ Places to visit and things to do. (2009).
- ^ Explorers nest in the cliffs of Reculver. (not dated). Kent Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ North Kent Coast Maritime Natural Area. (1997). Natural England. Retrieved 6 September 2010. For more on the wildlife, see Reculver Country Park Wildlife Resource Pack. (not dated). Kent Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ Ten spooky places to scare yourself. (2009). The Guardian. Retrieved 29 July 2010.
- ^ For the burials, see Philp, Brian, "Ritual Burials at Reculver", Kent Archaeological Review 6, 1966. Council for Kentish Archaeology. Retrieved 28 July 2010. For the structures, see Philp, Brian, "The Roman Fort at Reculver Excavations 1968 - Interim Report", Kent Archaeological Review 15, 1969. Council for Kentish Archaeology. Retrieved 28 July 2010. See also Merrifield, Ralph, The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, Batsford, 1987, pp. 50-7 (esp. 51).
- ^ This byname is also found as "The Sisters" and the "Two Sisters", but the towers are also sometimes known as simply "The Reculvers": see Jessup, op. cit. and Hasted, op. cit.
- ^ See e.g. Anon., "The SISTERS, an affecting History: With a Perspective View of RECULVER CHURCH, in the County of Kent", Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure 89, August 1791, pp. 97-104, where reference is made to a source in a manuscript in "the university of Louvain". Cf. Jessup, op. cit., pp. 179-80. No sandbank named "The Horse" is marked in this location on modern charts, and it is in their nature to move over time; but it is shown on a chart published in 1790, now held by the National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 30 July 2010. A "Horse Channel" is marked on modern charts in about the same location, approximately 0.31 miles (0.5 km) NW of Reculver towers.
- ^ The Ingoldsby Legends online. (2009). exclassics.com. Retrieved 11 July 2010. See "The Brothers of Birchington: A Lay of St. Thomas a'Becket" (pp. 455-465).
- ^ St John's Anglican Cathedral. (not dated). NSW Department of Planning, Heritage Branch. Retrieved 15 July 2010. For Lt. John Watts, see "The Military at Parramatta". (2010). Royal New South Wales Lancers. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
External links
- Church of St Mary at PastScape.org, English Heritage
- Regulbium at PastScape.org, English Heritage
- Reculver Visitor Centre and Country Park, Kent Wildlife Trust