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Reculver
The twin towers of St Mary's Church
Population	135
OS grid reference	TR224693
District	City of Canterbury
Shire county	Kent
Region	South East
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	Canterbury
List of places UK England Kent

Reculver is a village and coastal resort 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 small fort, probably at the time of their conquest of Britain in 43 AD, and, starting late in the 2nd century, they built a castrum called Regulbium, which later was part of the chain of Saxon Shore forts. The military connection resumed in the Second World War, when Barnes Wallis's bouncing bombs were tested in the sea off Reculver.

After the Romans left, Reculver became a landed estate of the Anglo-Saxon kings of Kent, before being given over for the establishment of a monastery in 669 AD. During the Middle Ages 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 that at Reculver.

Reculver declined 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 20th century saw a revival as a tourism industry developed and there are now three caravan parks. Reculver Country Park is a Special Protection Area and Site of Special Scientific Interest, which has rare clifftop meadows and is important for migrating birds. The census of 2001 recorded 135 people in the Reculver area, nearly a quarter of whom were in caravans.

Geography

Reculver is located on the north-eastern coast of Kent, about 3 miles (5 km) east of the town of Herne Bay, and 8 miles (13 km) west of the town of Margate. It once occupied a strategic location on routes between continental Europe and the east coast of England, but this has been obscured by sedimentation and coastal erosion. 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, which silted up during the Middle Ages. The ruins of a Roman fort and a 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." Place-name authorities state that the earliest recorded form of the name, Regulbium, was Celtic in origin, meaning "at the promontory", or "great headland", and that, in Old English, it became corrupted to Raculf, sometimes given as Raculfceastre, giving rise to the modern "Reculver".

Geology

Sediments laid down around 55 million years ago are particularly well displayed in the cliffs at Reculver. 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. It rests unconformably on the Chalk Group, and forms the base of the cliffs in the Reculver and Herne Bay area. Above the Thanet Sand are the Upnor Formation, a medium sandstone, and the sandy clays of the Harwich Formation at the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. The highest cliffs, rising to a maximum height of about 115 feet (35 m) to the west of Reculver, have a cap of London Clay, a fine silty clay of Eocene age.

These rocks are easily washed away by the sea. It has been estimated that the Roman fort was originally about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the sea, but the cliffs are eroding at a rate of approximately 5 feet (2 m) a year. A plan is in place to manage this erosion whereby some parts of the coastline such as 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.

Climate

The warmest time of year in Kent is in July and August, with average maximum temperatures of around 21 °C (70 °F), and the coolest is in January and February, with average minimum temperatures of around 1 °C (34 °F). Average maximum and minimum temperatures are about 0.5 °C higher than they are nationally. Locations on the north coast of Kent, like Reculver, are sometimes warmer than areas further inland, owing to the influence of the North Downs to the south. Average annual rainfall in Kent is about 728 millimetres (29 in), with the highest rainfall from October to January. This is lower than the national average annual rainfall of 838 millimetres (33 in), and occasional drought conditions can lead to the imposition of hosepipe bans.

Demography

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. In the most recent census of 2001, however, only 135 people were found. All were born in the United Kingdom except for three individuals from the Republic of Ireland, and three from South Africa. Christianity was the only religion represented, by 99 individuals, with 22 recorded as having no religion, and 14 whose religion was not stated. Gender was given as 69 female and 66 male, and the age distribution was 12 individuals aged 0–5 years (8.8%), 16 aged 6–16 years (14%), 30 aged 17–35 years (22.2%), 14 aged 36–45 years (10.3%), 44 aged 46–64 years (32.5%), and 21 aged 65 years and over (15.5%). Half (67) of all the individuals recorded were described as economically active, with 58 of these having employers and nine being self-employed, while none were recorded as full time students or unemployed. Twenty-four people were described as retired (17.7%). Of those aged 16–74 years, 14 (12.8%) were placed at the highest level for education or qualification. From April 2001 to March 2002, the average gross weekly income of households in the Reculver area, including Beltinge, was estimated by the Office for National Statistics as £560, or £29,120 per year.

Wildlife

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. In winter Brent Geese and wading birds such as Turnstones may be seen, during the summer months Sand Martins nest in the soft cliffs, and wading Curlews may be seen at any time. The grasslands on the cliff top are among 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.

History

Pre-historic and Roman

Stone Age flint tools have been washed out from the cliffs to the west of Reculver, and a Mesolithic tranchet axe was found at Reculver in 1960, but is "likely to have been a casual loss". Evidence for human settlement at Reculver begins with late Bronze Age ditches, followed by an early Iron Age farmstead slightly to the west of the church ruins, a Roman "fortlet" probably dating to their conquest of Britain, which began in 43 AD, and a well known Roman fort, or "castrum", which was probably started late in the 2nd century. This date is derived in part from a re-construction of a uniquely detailed plaque, fragments of which were found by archaeologists in the 1960s. 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. Presumably the fort was built at Reculver 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. While it was normal for a Roman fort to be accompanied by a civilian settlement, or "vicus", it is believed from "significant Roman structures and features" that the vicus at Reculver was extensive, and lay to the north and west of the fort, mostly in an area now lost to the sea. 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", dating from the early 5th century, shows that the fort at Reculver, then known as "Regulbium", became part of this arrangement. Archaeological evidence indicates that the fort was abandoned in the 360s.

Monastery and church

After the Roman occupation of Britain ended in about 410, Reculver became a landed estate of the Anglo-Saxon kings of Kent, possibly with a "royal toll-station significant coastal trading settlement." 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; but archaeological excavation has shown no evidence of this, and the story has been described as "probably no more than a pious legend". A church was built on the site of the Roman fort in about 669, when King Ecgberht of Kent granted land for the foundation of a monastery there, which was dedicated to St Mary. This foundation "illustrates the widespread practice of re-using Roman walled places for major churches".

Ten years later, in 679, King Hlothhere of Kent granted the monastery lands at Sturry, about 6.2 miles (10 km) south-west of Reculver, and at Sarre, in the western part of the Isle of Thanet, across the Wantsum to the east. The grant was made at Reculver, the charter was probably written by a Reculver scribe, and the grant of Sarre in particular "must be regarded as a sign of enormous royal favour to the minster". In the original, 7th century charter recording this grant, Reculver is referred to as a "civitas", or "city", but this is probably a reference to its Roman origins, rather than a large population centre. 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." Further charters show that the monastery at Reculver continued to benefit from Kentish kings in the 8th century, under abbots Heahberht, Deneheah and Hwitred, but, from the early 9th century, "the minster is referred to in the sources as essentially a piece of property". In 811, control of Reculver was in the hands of Archbishop Wulfred of Canterbury, who is recorded as having deprived Reculver of some of its land; and, at about this time, Reculver featured in a "monumental showdown", between Archbishop Wulfred and King Coenwulf of Mercia, over the control of monasteries. By the 10th century, the kings of Wessex were in control of Reculver, and monastic life there had ceased, possibly due to the attentions of Vikings. 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 at Sarre, in Thanet, and land "at Chilmington for the repair of the church".

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. 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".

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, 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.

The church was significantly enlarged over time, and had towers added in the 12th century. According to local legend they were topped with spires "in the early years of the 16th century", since when they have been known locally as the "Twin Sisters". 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." 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 . Peter sayeth, . The saing of the other iij when painted 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 . the hiest part of the pyller hath the figure of a crosse.

In 1927 archaeologists discovered what was believed to be the base of the cross, which was dated to the 7th century, predating the monastery, and was perhaps originally an open-air preaching cross, like the Ruthwell Cross, around which the monastery was later built. Later, stylistic assessments indicate that the cross, carved from a re-used Roman column, probably dates from the 8th century or the 9th, and that the stone believed to have been the base may have been the original, 7th century altar. In 2000 the surviving fragments of the cross, now at Canterbury Cathedral, 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.

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 The Towne at this tyme is but Village lyke." A map of about 1630 shows that the church then stood only about 500 feet (152 m) from the shore, 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." The village was mostly abandoned around the end of the 18th century, and, early in the 19th century, a new church was planned a little to the west and further inland, at Hillborough. Consequently the old church was no longer required:

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.

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. These structures remained until they were removed some time after 1928.

The demolition of this "shrine of early Christendom", and exemplar of Anglo-Saxon church architecture and sculpture, 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. The vicarage was abandoned at the same time as the church, or a little earlier. When the Hoy and Anchor Inn fell into the sea, the redundant vicarage was used as a temporary replacement under the same name, 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.

Tourist resort

Today Reculver is dominated by caravan parks, the first of which appeared after the Second World War. 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. Reculver has been defined as a "key heritage area", and a visitor centre in Reculver Country Park, just west of Reculver church, highlights the archaeological, historical, geological and wildlife conservation value of the area. There are also plans for the development of Reculver as a destination for green tourism.

Bouncing bombs

During World War II, 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". 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.

On 6 June 1997 it was announced on 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. 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. To the east is a hatchery for oysters, belonging to the Whitstable Oyster Fishery Company, from which young oysters are transplanted to the sea bed at Whitstable.

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 the church ruins 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.

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.

Education

Reculver Church of England Primary School, adjacent to the church at Hillborough, caters for children aged between 4 and 11. It was rated as "satisfactory" (Grade 3) in most aspects by an Ofsted report in July 2010, when it had 489 pupils. According to a "Section 8" report of November 2011, the school had made "satisfactory progress in making improvements, and good progress in demonstrating a better capacity for sustained improvement. school's provisional results in the 2011 national tests show an upward swing, bringing attainment broadly in line with national averages." The school's site also hosts Beltinge Day Nursery, and Reculver Breakfast and Afterschool Club. The nearest schools for older children are in Herne Bay, such as Herne Bay High School.

Transport

The nearest railway stations to Reculver are at Herne Bay, about 3 miles (5 km) to the west, and Birchington-on-Sea, about 4.5 miles (7 km) to the east. Both stations are on the Chatham Main Line, running between London's Victoria station and Ramsgate. A Stagecoach bus service, route 7/7A, which is operated on behalf of Kent County Council, connects Reculver with Herne Bay and Canterbury, daily except Sundays and bank holidays. Other destinations on this route include Reculver Church of England Primary School, at Hillborough, Chislet, Hoath, and the railway station at Sturry, on the Ashford to Ramsgate line.

Legends

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. 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 and dated between c. 270 and 300 AD. A baby's feeding bottle was also found, on its side in an excavated floor, and within 10 feet (3 m) of one of the infant skeletons, "but it cannot with certainty be associated with the burials."

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". 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 while 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".

The Ingoldsby Legends includes a re-invention of the story in which two brothers, Robert and Richard de Birchington, are substituted for the two sisters.

Parramatta cathedral

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, to the effect 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. 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

• Regulbium
• Wantsum Channel

References

Footnotes

1. "Many more forms are on record."
2. For the 19th and early 20th century parish boundary, see Boundary Map of Reculver AP/CP. 2009. A Vision of Britain Through Time. Retrieved 7 September 2010. For the current ecclesiastical parish boundary, see Reculver. 2008. The Church of England. Retrieved 7 September 2010. The increase in numbers in the early 20th century may be partly due to holidaymakers, who were included in census returns: while the postcard image from 1913 shows that there was sufficient tourism by then to support a cafe, 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). 2004. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 September 2010. Includes a map of the area covered.
3. For more on the wildlife, see Reculver Country Park Wildlife Resource Pack. (not dated). Kent Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
4. The reconstructed plaque mentions the basilica and an "aedes principiorum", for which "sacellum", or "headquarters shrine", is understood.
5. " Roman building with a hypocaust and tesselated pavement stood considerably to the northward of the fort".
6. "The quantity of seventh- and eighth-century coins picked up from Reculver and its vicinity is paralleled only at Hamwic: finds include gold thrymsas and some 50 sceattas, with contemporary Merovingian coins and a small group of Northumbrian issues. … Almost certainly there is some connection with Reculver's position on a major trading route…"
7. The Roman remains at Reculver would have been "the only substantial building for miles around", but "Anglo-Saxon kings seem to have shown little interest in establishing themselves in old Roman forts."
8. See also Page, W. (1926), "The Abbey of Reculver", in A History of the County of Kent 2 (VCH), pp. 141–2. British History Online. Retrieved 7 June 2008.
9. References such as "S 8" indicate the number given to an Anglo-Saxon charter in Sawyer 1968. S 8 is the earliest genuine Anglo-Saxon charter known to have survived in its original form. The Latin texts of most of the Sawyer references in this article can be found through the list at ASChart Anglo-Saxon Charters. (2011). King's College London Digital Humanities. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
10. "Sarre was a highly strategic place, overlooking the confluence of the Wantsum and the Great Stour, directly linked to Canterbury… In the early 760s it was the site of a toll-station, where the agents of the Kentish kings collected dues on trading ships using the Wantsum route … but its importance goes back much earlier … and it may be that the minster received a share of the royal tolls levied at Sarre."
11. "The brethren may have been given a refuge within Canterbury, as were the abbess and community at Lyminge as early as 804 (S 160). All our evidence suggests that by the tenth century Reculver was no longer an important church in Kent, and that control over the minster-site and its territory had devolved to the West Saxon kings."
12. The text of this charter, with an English translation, is online at Anglo-Saxon Charter S 546 Archive Christ Church, Canterbury. Kemble Anglo-Saxon Charters. Retrieved 11 September 2010. See also Gough 1992; Brooks, N. (1989), "The creation and early structure of the kingdom of Kent", in Bassett, S. (ed.), The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms, Leicester University Press, p. 72.
13. Of the £42.7s. from Reculver, £7.7s. (£7.35) was from an unspecified source. See also Flight, C. (2010), "Chapter 5 Commentary", in idem, The Survey of Kent: Documents Relating to the Survey of the County Conducted in 1086, BAR, British Series 506, 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.
14. 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.
15. 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, and land between Shuart and the church site is marked there as "Glebe". The current OS grid reference is TR271678. See also Jenkins, F. (1981), "The church of All Saints, Shuart in the Isle of Thanet", in Detsicas, Alec (ed.), Collectanea Historica: Essays in Memory of Stuart Rigold, Maidstone, pp. 147–54.
16. A ground plan of the church, showing how it was enlarged in stages from the 7th century to the 15th, is at Reculver Towers and Roman Fort History and Research. (not dated). English Heritage. Retrieved 14 December 2011 (includes an 18th century engraving of the church); also Jessup 1936, p. 181.
17. 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."
18. The structures are present, but partly derelict, in Jessup 1936, Plate I, which is dated 1928.
19. A letter from T. Mot, 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 also Gough 2001.
20. A contemporary image of the church's destruction is at Witney 1978, Plate 7 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFWitney1978 (help), and an aerial view of the ruins is at Plate 8. The replacement church at Hillborough incorporates material from Reculver in its fabric.
21. According to the letter by T. Mot, in Gentleman's Magazine, September 1809, the vicarage was "one of the most mean structures ever appropriated to such a purpose": in another letter to the October edition of the same magazine, in the same year, Zachary Cozens wrote 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." See also Gough 2001.
22. T. Mot's letter in Gentleman's Magazine, September 1809, ends with the observation that " jolly landlord revelled with his noisy guests, where late the venerable Vicar smoked his lonely pipe."
23. "On the entrance door are the words 'Hoy and Anchor Bar'".
24. "Shortly after World War II a caravan site was established below the church which has since grown so large that much imagination is now required to conjure up the majesty of its former setting."
25. "Reculver’s role in the region wide development of East Kent as a green tourism destination is central to ’s work. The objective is to create access to good connections across the region for walkers and cyclists, to provide good interpretation of natural and heritage assets and to support the private sector to provide good quality accommodation."
26. "The Romans officially condemned human sacrifice… Human life was cheap on the frontier, however, and Roman auxiliaries could be as barbarous as those they fought. … Even in the most civilised parts of Britain, the authorities seem on occasion to have turned a blind eye to infant sacrifice, which may of course have been surreptitious."
27. This byname is also found as "The Sisters" and the "Two Sisters", but the towers are also sometimes known as simply "The Reculvers".
28. 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 in a chart from 1790. A "Horse Channel" is marked on modern charts in about the same location, approximately 0.31 miles (0.5 km) north-west of Reculver towers.
29. For Lt. John Watts, see "The Military at Parramatta". (2010). Royal New South Wales Lancers. Retrieved 17 July 2010.

Notes

1. ^ Census 2001. (2001). Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
2. Jessup 1936, p. 179(note).
3. Jessup 1936, p. 188.
4. Ekwall 1960, p. 383; Mills 1998, p. 285; Glover 1982, p. 155 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFGlover1982 (help); Jessup 1936, p. 190.
5. Ekwall 1960, p. 383.
6. "The Geology of Kent" (PDF). Kent Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 17 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
7. ^ British Geological Survey (2010). "The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Thanet Sand Formation". NERC. Retrieved 17 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
8. ^ Ward 1978.
9. British Geological Survey (2010). "The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Upnor Formation". NERC. Retrieved 17 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
10. British Geological Survey (2010). "The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Harwich Formation". NERC. Retrieved 17 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
11. Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 4.1 "Topography, Landscape and Sea" (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
12. British Geological Survey (2010). "The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details London Clay Formation". NERC. Retrieved 17 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
13. Reculver Country Park Geology Resource Pack. (not dated). Kent Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
14. Jessup 1936, pp. 186–8.
15. Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 3.8 "Coastal Protection" (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
16. ^ "Wye 1971–2000 averages". Met Office. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
17. ^ "England 1971–2000 averages". Met Office. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
18. "Kent weather exposed". BBC Kent. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
19. "7.2 Historic Droughts". Mid Kent Water Drought Plan. South East Water. November 2007. pp. 67–8. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
20. Reculver Population 1801 to 1921. 2009. Kent Archaeological Society. Retrieved 7 September 2010; Reculver AP/CP (where "AP/CP" means "Ancient Parish and Civil Parish"). 2009. A Vision of Britain Through Time. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
21. "Neighbourhood Statistics Area: Reculver (ward)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
22. Places to visit and things to do (2009). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
23. Explorers nest in the cliffs of Reculver. (not dated). Kent Wildlife Trust. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
24. North Kent Coast Maritime Natural Area. (1997). Natural England. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
25. Philp 2005, p. 192.
26. Philp 2005, pp. 206–18; Philp 1969a; Philp 1969b; Regulbium. ( 2007). English Heritage PastScape. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
27. ^ Philp 1969b.
28. Philp 2005, pp. 225–9.
29. Philp 2005, pp. 95–7.
30. Jessup 1936, p. 188, citing Battely, J. (1774), Antiquitates Rutupinae, Oxford, p. 54.
31. Cotterill, J. (1993), "Saxon Raiding and the Role of the Late Roman Coastal Forts of Britain", Britannia 24, pp. 227–39 (esp. 235).
32. ^ Kelly 2008, p. 73.
33. ^ Hasted 1800, pp. 109–125.
34. ^ Gough 2001.
35. Kelly 2008, p. 73.
36. Garmonsway, G.N. (1972, 1975), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Dent, Dutton, pp. 34–5; Fletcher, E. (1965), "Early Kentish Churches", Medieval archaeology 9, pp. 16–31.
37. ^ Blair 1999, p. 386.
38. Sawyer 1968, S 8; Kelly 2008, p. 74.
39. ^ Kelly 2008, pp. 74–5.
40. Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, v, 8.
41. Sawyer 1968, S 31, 1612, 38.
42. Kelly 2008, p. 80.
43. Sawyer 1968, S 1264.
44. Kelly 2008, p. 80; Sawyer 1968, S 1436.
45. Kelly 2008, p. 81; Brooks, N.P. (1979), "England in the Ninth Century: The Crucible of Defeat", in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 5th series 29, pp. 1–20 (esp. 12); Brooks, N.P. (1984), The Early History of the Church of Canterbury, Leicester University Press, pp. 203–4; Kerr 1982, pp. 192–94.
46. Kelly 2008, p. 81.
47. Sawyer 1968, S 546; Kelly 2008, p. 82.
48. Domesday Book, Kent, II ("The Land of the Archbishop of Canterbury").
49. Eales, R. (1992), "An Introduction to the Kent Domesday", in The Kent Domesday, Alecto, London, p. 21.
50. ^ Graham 1944.
51. Jessup 1936, pp. 179–80.
52. Peers, C.R., "Reculver, its Saxon church and Cross", in Archaeologia 77, 1927; "Church of St Mary (More Information and Sources)". English Heritage PastScape. 2007. Retrieved 12 September 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
53. Kelly 2008, pp. 69, 80–1.
54. Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 2.1 "Bronze Age to Late Norman". (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
55. Jessup 1936, p. 187.
56. Jessup 1936, p. 189.
57. ^ Kerr 1982, p. 194.
58. Reculver towers plaque. (2011). Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
59. Jessup 1936; Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 2.0 "Historical Context" (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
60. Jessup 1936, p. 184.
61. Lewis, A.D. (1911), The Kent Coast, Unwin, p. 62.
62. Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 2, "Project Plans". (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
63. ^ Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 3.4 "Natural East Kent (NEK)" (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
64. Archive footage of the Reculver tests. (2007). The Dambusters (617 Squadron). Retrieved 16 July 2010. "Upkeep test drop 1" & "Upkeep test drop 2".
65. "Anniversary tribute to Dambusters". (2003). BBC News Online. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
66. "Bouncing bomb back". (1999). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
67. Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1, Section 2.0 "Historical Context" (2008). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
68. The Return of the Natives: Whitstable's oysters back in fashion. (2009). Mail Online. Retrieved 7 September 2010.
69. Green Flag to fly at Reculver. (2005); Places to visit and things to do (2009). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 6 September 2010.
70. Reculver Centre: for renewable energy and interpretation. (2009). Canterbury City Council Online. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
71. Reculver C.E. Primary School. (not dated). reculver.kent.sch.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
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81. Philp 1966.
82. Merrifield, R. (1987), The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, London: Batsford, p. 51.
83. Jessup 1936, p. 179; Hasted 1800, pp. 109–125.
84. Anon. (1791), "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, pp. 97–104; Jessup 1936, pp. 179–80.
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Bibliography

• Blair, J. (1999), "Reculver", in Lapidge, M.; Blair, J.; Keynes, S.; Scraggs, D. (eds.), The Blackwell Encyclopædia of Anglo-Saxon England, Oxford: Blackwell, ISBN 978-0-6312-2492-1
• Ekwall, E. (1960), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (4th ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-1986-9103-7
• Glover, J. (1976), The Place Names of Kent, London: Batsford, ISBN 978-0-7134-3069-1
• Gough, H. (1992), "Eadred's Charter of AD 949 and the Extent of the Monastic Estate at Reculver, Kent", in Ramsay, N.; Sparks, M.; Tatton-Brown, T. (eds.), St Dunstan: His Life, Times and Cult, Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell, ISBN 978-0-8511-5301-8
• Gough, H. (2001), "The Two Names of a Reculver Inn", Reculver, Kent: Waterways Caravan Park http://web.archive.org/web/20010308153934/http://www.waterways-caravan-park.co.uk/reculver_inn.htm {{citation}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
• Graham, R. (1944), "Sidelights on the Rectors and Parishioners of Reculver from the Register of Archbishop Winchelsey", Archaeologia Cantiana, 57, Kent Archaeological Society
• Hasted, E. (1800), The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent, vol. 9, Canterbury, Kent: Bristow, pp. 109–125
• Jessup, R.F. (1936), "Reculver", Antiquity, 10 (38): 179–94
• Kelly, S. (2008), "Reculver Minster and its early Charters", in Barrow, J.; Wareham, A. (eds.), Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks, Aldershot, Surrey: Ashgate, ISBN 978-0-7546-5120-8
• Kerr, N. & M. (1982), A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites, London: Granada, ISBN 978-0-2461-1775-5
• Mills, A.D. (1998), A Dictionary of English Place-Names (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-1928-0074-9
• Philp, B. (1966), "Ritual Burials at Reculver", Kent Archaeological Review, 6
• Philp, B. (1969a), "The Roman Fort at Reculver Excavations 1968 – Interim Report", Kent Archaeological Review, 15
• Philp, B. (1969b), "The Reculver Inscription", Kent Archaeological Review, 17
• Philp, B. (2005), The Excavation of the Roman Fort at Reculver, Kent, Dover, Kent: Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, ISBN 0947831-24-X
• Sawyer, P.H. (1968), Anglo-Saxon Charters: An Annotated List and Bibliography, London: Royal Historical Society
• Ward, D.J. (1978), The lower London Tertiary (Palaeocene) succession of Herne Bay, Kent, H.M.S.O, ISBN 9780118840521
• Witney, K.P. (1982), The Kingdom of Kent, London: Phillimore, ISBN 978-0-8503-3443-2

External links

• Church of St Mary PastScape.org
• Reculver Towers and Roman Fort page at English Heritage
• Regulbium at PastScape.org
• Reculver Country Park, Canterbury City Council
• Reculver Visitor Centre and Country Park, Kent Wildlife Trust

v t e Towns and villages in the Canterbury district of Kent, England
	Adisham Barham Bekesbourne Beltinge Bishopsbourne Blean Boyden Gate Bramling Bridge Broad Oak Broomfield Chartham Chestfield Chislet Eddington Fordwich Grays Hackington Harbledown Hawthorn Corner Herne Herne Bay Hersden Hillborough Hoath Ickham Kingston Littlebourne Lower Hardres Marshside Nackington Patrixbourne Petham Pett Bottom Reculver Rough Common Stodmarsh Stuppington Sturry Swalecliffe Tankerton Thanington Tyler Hill Upper Harbledown Upper Hardres Upstreet Waltham Westbere Whitstable Wickhambreaux Wincheap Womenswold Woolage Green Woolage Village Yorkletts
The city of Canterbury List of places in Kent

• Archaeological sites in Kent
• Canterbury
• Roman forts in England
• Villages in Kent
• Monasteries in Kent
• Country parks in Kent