Dover is a town and major ferry port in the
home county of
Kent, in
South East England. It faces
France across the narrowest part of the
English Channel, and lies south-east of
Canterbury; west of Kent's administrative capital
Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from
Dungeness and
Hastings. The town is the administrative centre of the
Dover District, home of the
Dover Calais ferry through the
Port of Dover, and the point where the
Channel tunnel makes landfall. The surrounding
chalk cliffs have become known as the
White cliffs of Dover, and the narrow sea passage nearby - the
Strait of Dover.
Its strategic position has always been evident throughout its history: archaeological finds have revealed that the area has always been a focus for peoples entering and leaving Britain. The
River Dour originated the name of the town, which has been inhabited since the
Stone Age according to archeological finds, and Dover is one of only a few places in Britain –
London,
Cornwall and
Canterbury being other examples – to have a corresponding name in the
French language,
Douvres.
Services related to the
Port of Dover provide a great deal of the town’s employment, as does
tourism, although many of the former ferry services have declined. There was a military barracks in Dover, which was closed in 2007.
History
thumb|left|Dover Castle seen from Castle Street.
Dover’s name originated with its river - the River Dour, deriving from the
Brythonic Dubrās ("the waters"), via its Latinized form of
Dubris. The cliffs also gave Britain its ancient
name of
Albion ("white"). The
Romans called it ’’
Porte Dubris’’; the modern name was in use at least by the time Shakespeare wrote 'King Lear' (between 1603 and 1606), in which the town and its cliffs play a prominent role.
Dover’s history, because of its proximity to
France, has always been of great strategic importance to
Britain.
Archaeological finds have shown that there were
Stone Age people in the area; and that by the
Bronze Age the maritime influence was already strong. Some
Iron Age finds exist also, but the coming of the
Romans made Dover part of their communications network. Like
Lemanis (
Lympne) and
Rutupiae (
Richborough) Dover was connected by road to
Canterbury and
Watling Street; and it became
Portus Dubris, a fortified port. Forts were built above the port; lighthouses were constructed to guide ships; and one of the best-preserved Roman villas in Britain is here.
Dover figured largely in the
Domesday Book as an important borough. It also served as a bastion against various attackers: notably the French during the Napoleonic Wars; and against
Germany during
World War II.
Geography
thumb|280px|right|1945 Ordnance Survey map of Dover, showing the harbourDover is near the extreme south-east corner of Britain. At South Foreland, the nearest point to
the continent, Cap Gris Nez near Calais is away, across the Strait of Dover.
The site of its original settlement lies in the valley of the
River Dour, making it an ideal place for a port, sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly winds. This led to the silting up of the river mouth by the action of
longshore drift; the town was then forced into making artificial breakwaters to keep the port in being. These breakwaters have been extended and adapted so that the port lies almost entirely on reclaimed land.
thumb|500px|left|The Port of Dover and the white cliffs of DoverThe higher land on either side of the valley - the
Western Heights and the eastern high point on which
Dover Castle stands - has been adapted to perform the function of protection against invaders. The town has gradually extended up the river valley, encompassing several villages in doing so. Little growth is possible along the coast, since the cliffs are on the sea’s edge. The railway, being tunnelled and embanked, skirts the foot of the cliffs.
Climate
Dover has an
oceanic climate (Koppen classification
Cfb) similar to the rest of
England and the
United Kingdom with moderate temperatures year-round and light precipitation each month.
Demography
In 1800
Edward Hasted (1732-1812) reported that the town had a population of almost 10,000 people.
At the 2001 census, the town of Dover had 28,156 inhabitants, while the population of the whole
urban area of Dover, as calculated by the
Office for National Statistics, was 39,078 inhabitants.
With the expansion of Dover, many of the outlying ancient villages have been incorporated into the town. Originally the parishes of Dover St. Mary's and Dover St. James, since 1836 Buckland and Charlton have become part Dover, and Maxton (a hamlet to the west),
River,
Kearsney,
Temple Ewell, and
Whitfield, all to the north of the town centre, are within its conurbation.
Economy
Shipping
The Dover Harbour Board is the responsible authority for the running of the Port of Dover.
The English Channel, here at its narrowest point in the Straits of Dover, is the busiest shipping lane in the world. Ferries crossing between here and the Continent have to negotiate their way through the constant stream of shipping crossing their path. The
Dover Strait Traffic Separation Scheme allots ships separate lanes when passing through the Strait. The Scheme is controlled by the
Maritime and Coastguard Agency of HM Customs, whose headquarters is at Langdon Battery in Dover.
The
Port of Dover is also used by cruise ship passengers, and the old
Dover Marine railway station building, together with a newly built one, cater for those passengers.
The ferry lines using the port are (number of daily sailings in parentheses):
These services have been fairly drastically cut in recent years.
- P&O Ferries sailings to Boulogne (5 daily) were withdrawn in 1993 and Zeebrugge (4 daily) in 2002.
- R.M.T. moved their Oostende service of three sailings daily to Ramsgate in 1994; the route now operates as TransEuropa Ferries
- Stena Line merged their 20 Calais sailings into the current P&O operation in 1998.
- Hoverspeed ceased operations in 2005 and withdrew their 8 daily sailings.
- SpeedFerries ceased operations in 2008 and withdrew their 5 daily sailings.
- LD Lines Ceased the Dover-Dieppe service on 29th June 2009.
The Dover lifeboat is a
Severn class lifeboat based in the Western Docks.
Transport
Dover’s main communications artery, the
A2 road replicates two former routes, connecting the town with Canterbury. The Roman road was followed for centuries until, in the late 18th century, it became a
turnpike.
Stagecoaches were operating: one description stated that the journey took all day to reach London, from 4am to being “in time for supper”.
The other main roads, travelling west and east, are the
A20 to
Folkestone and thence to London and the
A258 through Deal to Sandwich.
The
railway reached Dover from two directions: the
South Eastern Railway's main line connected with Folkestone in 1844, and the
London, Chatham and Dover Railway opened its line from Canterbury in 1861. A
tram system operated in the town from 1897 to 1936.
Dover has two
long distance footpaths: the
Saxon Shore Way and the
North Downs Way. Two
National Cycle Network routes begin their journey at the town.
Education
There are nine secondary level schools, 16 primary schools and two schools for special education.
Several of the state secondary schools now specialise: Astor College for the Arts; Dover Grammar School for Girls is a specialist Humanities College; Dover Grammar School for Boys, a Business and Enterprise College; St Edmund's Catholic College for the Performing Arts; and Archers Court, Maths and Computing College.
The Duke of Yorks Royal Military School, England's only military boarding school for children of service personnel (co-ed ages 11–18), is also located in Dover, next to the military base.
Dover College, a
public school was founded in 1871 by a group of local business men.
Public services
Dover has one hospital, Buckland Hospital located in a former Victorian
workhouse on Coombe Valley Road. The town once had four hospitals, Buckland, Royal Victoria, Isolation and the Eye Hospitals located at various points across the town. Buckland Hospital is currently (2008) threatened with closure and various local organisations are trying to stop the cuts facing the hospital.
Local media
Newspapers
Dover has two paid for newspapers, the
Dover Express (published by Kent Regional News and Media) and the
Dover Mercury (published by the
KM Group. Free newspapers for the town include the
Dover and Deal Extra, part of the KM Group; and
yourdover, part of
KOS Media.
Radio
Dover has one local commercial radio station,
KMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country, broadcasting to Dover on 106.8FM. The station was founded in Dover as Neptune Radio in September 1997 but moved to Folkestone in 2003 and was consequently rebranded after a takeover by the KM Group. Dover is also served by the county-wide stations
Heart,
Gold and
BBC Radio Kent.
The Gateway Hospital Broadcasting Service, in Buckland Hospital radio, closed at the end of 2006. It was the oldest station in East Kent.
Culture
There are two
museums: the main Dover Museum and the Dover Transport Museum.
Dover has three
twin towns:
Sports
The Vista Leisure Centre, catering for a wide range of sports and activities, is on Townwall Street.
There are sports clubs catering for the usual range of sports, among them football (
Dover Athletic F.C.); rugby ; rowing ; swimming ; and netball (Dover and District Netball League).
One event which gets media attention is that of swimming the English Channel.
Sea fishing, from the beach, pier or out at sea, is carried out here. The so-called
Dover sole (
solea solea) is found all over European waters.
Places of interest
- Blériot memorial: the outline of Blériot's aircraft marked with granite setts at the exact spot where Blériot landed after the first cross-Channel flight, 1909
Notable people
Gallery
600px Dover Harbour, from the cliffs above.
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