Editing Reculver (section)

===Decline and loss to the sea===
[[File:1685mapRoachS.jpg|thumb|upright=1.8|left|alt=refer to caption|Estate map of Reculver, 1685:<ref>{{harvnb|Roach Smith|1850|loc=map: between pp.&nbsp;192–3; description: p.&nbsp;193}}.</ref> the church, the "chapel-house", the Roman fort and the former town of Reculver, described as "Village-lyke" in 1540{{sfn|Hearne|1711|p=137}}]]
The thriving medieval township depended partly on its position on a maritime trade route through the Wantsum Channel, already present in Anglo-Saxon times and exemplified by Reculver's membership of the [[Cinque Ports|Cinque Port]] of [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]] later in the Middle Ages.<ref>{{harvnb|Kelly|2008|pp=73–5}}; {{harvnb|Clarke|2010|p=61}}.</ref> The importance of the Wantsum Channel was such that, when the [[River Thames]] froze in 1269, trade between Sandwich and London had to be carried out overland.{{sfn|Perkins|2007|p=254}} Historical records for the channel are sparse after 1269, perhaps "because the route was so well known as to be taken for granted [in the Middle Ages], the whole waterway from London to Sandwich being occasionally spoken of as the 'Thames'".<ref>{{harvnb|Perkins|2007|p=254}}, citing {{citation|last=Scott-Robertson|first=W.|title=Thanet's Insulation|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=XII|year=1878|page=338|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.012%20-%201878/012-21.pdf}}.</ref> But silting and [[Land reclamation|inning]] had closed the channel to trading vessels sailing along it by about 1460 or soon after, and the first bridge was built over it at [[Sarre, Kent|Sarre]] in 1485, since ferries could no longer operate reliably across it.{{sfn|Perkins|2007|pp=254, 258}}{{refn|The [[Gough Map]] of about 1360 and a map by [[Thomas Elmham]] of about 1414 both show the Wantsum Channel as fully open.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goughmap.org |title=Linguistic Geographies: The Gough Map of Great Britain |publisher=King's College London |year=2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517150954/http://goughmap.org/ |archive-date=17 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=19 June 2014 }}; {{harvnb|Rollason|1982|p=10}}.</ref> When the bridge was built "it was stipulated that the arches had to be big enough for boats and lighters to pass, in the hope that 'the water shall happen to increase'".<ref>{{harvnb|Perkins|2007|p=258}}, quoting {{citation|last=Scott-Robertson|first=W.|title=Thanet's Insulation|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=XII|year=1878|page=340|url=https://archive.org/stream/archaeologiacant12kent/archaeologiacant12kent_djvu.txt}}.</ref> A late-15th century note in the archives of Canterbury Cathedral describes the motivations for, and the provisions of, an act of Parliament{{which|date=December 2024}} that gave permission for the building of the bridge: it states that {{nowrap|"[r]ecently}} the channel has become so silted up that the ferry can no longer cross it, except for an hour during the high spring tides."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=054-cadchant_8&cid=-1#-1|title=Dean and Chapter Archive|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=The National Archives|year=2014|at=CCA-DCc-ChAnt/T/31|access-date=23 April 2014}}</ref>|group=Fn}}

Reculver was also diminished by [[coastal erosion]]. By 1540, when [[John Leland (antiquary)|John Leland]] recorded a visit there, the coastline to the north had receded to within little more than a quarter of a mile (400&nbsp;m) of the "Towne [which] at this tyme [was] but Village lyke".<ref>{{harvnb|Hearne|1711|page=137}}; {{harvnb|Jessup|1936|page=187}}.</ref> Soon afterwards, in 1576, [[William Lambarde]] described Reculver as "poore and simple".{{sfn|Lambarde|1596|p=207}} In 1588 there were 165&nbsp;communicants&nbsp;– people taking part in services of [[Eucharist|holy communion]] at the church&nbsp;– and in 1640 there were 169,{{sfn|Hasted|1800|pp=109–25}} but a map of about 1630 shows that the church then stood only about {{convert|500|ft|m|0}} from the shore.{{sfn|Jessup|1936|p=189}}{{refn|Part of this map is illustrated in {{harvnb|Dowker|1878b|p=}}, facing page&nbsp;8. Its essential features are shown superimposed on an [[Ordnance Survey]] map at {{harvnb|Jessup|1936|p=189}}.|group=Fn}} In January 1658 the local [[Justice of the Peace#History|justices of the peace]] were petitioned concerning "encroachments of the sea&nbsp;... [which had] since Michaelmas last [29&nbsp;September 1657] encroached on the land near six rods {{nowrap|[{{convert|99|ft|m|0}}}}], and will doubtless do more harm".{{sfn|Gough|2002|p=204}} The village's failure to support two "beer shops" in the 1660s points clearly to a declining population,{{sfn|Gough|2014|p=188}} and the village was mostly abandoned around the end of the 18th century, its residents moving to [[Hillborough]], about {{convert|1.25|mi|km|0}} south-west of Reculver but within the same parish.<ref>{{harvnb|Kelly|2008|page=67}}; {{harvnb|Harris|2001|page=36}}.</ref>{{refn|Writing in 1787, [[John Pridden]] described the only fare available at Reculver as "dry biscuit, bad ale, sour cheese, or weak moonshine".{{sfn|Pridden|1787|p=164}}|group=Fn}}

[[File:Reculver vicarage as inn.jpg|thumb|alt=The vicarage used as an inn|The redundant vicarage at Reculver in use as a temporary replacement for the Hoy and Anchor Inn, in 1809:{{sfn|Mot|1809a}} the original inn stood a short distance north of the church and west of the Roman fort.]]
Concern about erosion of the cliff on which the church stood, and the possible inundation of the village, had led the commissioners of sewers to install costly sea defences consisting of planking and piling before 1783, when it was reported that the commissioners had adopted a scheme proposed by [[Thomas Hyde Page|Sir Thomas Page]] to protect the church: the sea defences had proven counter-productive, since sea water collected behind them and continued to undermine the cliff.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Saturday and Sunday's posts |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000317/17830721/007/0003 |newspaper=Northampton Mercury |date=21 July 1783 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|pp=77, 90(note)}}.</ref> Before this, according to John Duncombe, "the commissioners of sewers, and the occupiers who pay scots, [had] no view nor interest but to secure the level [ground], which must be overflowed when the hill is washed away."{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|p=90(note)}} By 1787 Reculver had "dwindled into an insignificant village, thinly decked with the cottages of fishermen and smugglers."<ref>{{harvnb|Pridden|1787|p=163}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pp=109–25}}.</ref>{{refn|In 1821 Reculver was described as a principal station for the "Smuggling Preventive Service".<ref>{{harvnb|Nepos|1821|p=319}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/coastguard.htm |title=Coastguard |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]] |year=2009 |at=1.1 Before the Coastguard |access-date=19 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111212175449/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/coastguard.htm |archive-date=12 December 2011 }}</ref> Records of the coast's erosion between about 1540 and 1800 are represented graphically at {{harvnb|Gough|2002|p=205}}.|group=Fn}}

{{Quote|[At about this time,] from the present shore as far as a place called the Black Rock, seen at lowwater mark, where tradition says, a parish church once stood, there [were] found quantities of tiles, bricks, fragments of walls, tesselated pavements, and other marks of a ruinated town, and the household furniture, dress, and equipment of the horses belonging to the inhabitants of it, [were] continually found among the sands&nbsp;...|author=[[Edward Hasted]]|title=''The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 9'', 1800{{sfn|Hasted|1800|pp=109–25}}{{refn|After a very low tide in 1784, a writer to ''[[The Gentleman's Magazine]]'' reported that, "the Black Rock (as it is called) being left dry, the foundations of the ancient parish church were discovered, which had not been seen for 40&nbsp;years before."{{sfn|Cantianus|1784|p=87}}|group=Fn}}}}

[[File:The Church The Cross and The Pub Reculver.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|alt=The Reculver Millennium Cross monument of 2000|Reculver towers, framed by the Millennium Cross of 2000 and the King Ethelbert Inn]]
In September 1804 a high tide and strong winds led to the destruction of five houses, one of which was "an ancient building, immediately opposite the public house, and had the appearance of having been part of some monastic erection".<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Canterbury, September 28 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18040928/009/0004 |newspaper=Kentish Gazette |date=28 September 1804 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The following year, according to a set of notes written by the [[Parish (Church of England)#Parish clerk|parish clerk]] John Brett, "Reculver Church and willage stood in safety",{{sfn|Gough|1983|p=135}} but in 1806 the sea began to encroach on the village, and in 1807 the local farmers dismantled the sea defences, after which "the village became a total [wreck] to the mercy of the sea."{{sfn|Gough|1983|p=135}}{{refn|The farmers sold the "sea side stone work&nbsp;... to the Margate pieor Compney for a foundation for the new pier and the timber by [auction] as It was good oak fit for their [own] use".{{sfn|Gough|1983|p=135}} An advertisement in the ''Kentish Gazette'', Tuesday 7 July 1807, announced that "about 300&nbsp;sound oak posts" were to be auctioned at Reculver on 16 July by order of the Commissioners for Sewers.<ref>{{cite news|last=Staines|first=W.|date=7 July 1807|title=Sewers. Rushborne Sea-Wall|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18070707/011/0001|newspaper=Kentish Gazette|access-date=5 May 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A similar advertisement of 12 July 1808 announced an auction of "oak post, and&nbsp;... a quantity of large stone".<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=To be sold by auction, by White and Sons |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18080712/023/0004 |newspaper=Kentish Gazette |date=12 July 1808 |access-date=5 May 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref>|group=Fn}}

A further scheme to protect the cliff and church was proposed by [[John Rennie the Elder|John Rennie]], but a decision was taken on 12 January 1808 to demolish the church.<ref>{{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|pp=77, 90(note)}}; {{harvnb|Anon.|1808|loc=col. 1310}}; {{harvnb|Anon.|2011|p=56}}.</ref> By March 1809, erosion of the cliff had brought it to within {{convert|12|ft|m|0}} of the church, and demolition was begun in September that year.<ref>{{harvnb|Mot|1809b|p=802}}; {{harvnb|Cozens|1809|p=906}}; {{harvnb|Anon.|1856|p=315}}; {{cite web|url=http://archives.canterbury-cathedral.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=CCA-U3-99|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Reculver, St Mary Parish Records|publisher=Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral|year=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519102622/http://archives.canterbury-cathedral.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=CCA-U3-99 |archive-date=19 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=19 May 2014|postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Harris|2001|p=36}}.</ref>{{refn|Some sources date the church's demolition to 1805,<ref>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|p=182}}; {{harvnb|Kerr|1982|p=194}}; {{harvnb|Kelly|2008|p=67}}.</ref> but a meeting to discuss the building's future was held there on 12 January 1808;{{sfn|Anon.|1808|loc=col. 1310}} a detailed description of the standing church, including pleas for its preservation, was submitted to ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' on 3 March 1809;{{sfn|Mot|1809b|pp=801–2}} ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' reported in 1809 and 1856 that the church's demolition began in September 1809;<ref>{{harvnb|Cozens|1809|p=906}}; {{harvnb|Anon.|1856|p=315}}.</ref> and the year of the church's demolition is given as 1809 in the archive of Canterbury Cathedral.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archives.canterbury-cathedral.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=CCA-U3-99|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|title=Reculver, St Mary Parish Records|publisher=Dean and Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral|year=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519102622/http://archives.canterbury-cathedral.org/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=CCA-U3-99 |archive-date=19 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=19 May 2014}}</ref>|group=Fn|name=demolitiondate}} [[Trinity House]] intervened to ensure that the towers were preserved as a [[Landmark|navigational aid]], and in 1810 it bought what was left of the structure for £100 and built the first [[groyne]]s, designed to protect the cliff on which the ruined church stands.<ref name=TrinityHouse1810>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|p=187}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/Modern-church-proud-links-Roman-times/story-20824377-detail/story.html|author=Crudgington, L.|title=Modern church proud of links to Roman times|website=Canterbury Times|date=18 March 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407102210/http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/Modern-church-proud-links-Roman-times/story-20824377-detail/story.html | archive-date=7 April 2014 | url-status=dead |access-date=19 May 2014 |postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Hunt|2011|pp=23–4}}.</ref> The [[Rectory|vicarage]] was abandoned at the same time as the church, or a little later,{{sfn|Gough|2014|p=189}}{{refn|In a letter written in March 1809 to ''The Gentleman's Magazine'', but published in September, T. Mot wrote that the vicarage was "one of the most mean structures ever appropriated to such a purpose".{{sfn|Mot|1809b|p=802}} Another letter to the same magazine described the vicarage as follows: "[It has] 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."{{sfn|Gough|2014|p=189}}|group=Fn}} and a replacement parish church was built at Hillborough, opening in 1813.<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.|1856|p=317 & note}}; {{cite web | url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE25051 | title=Parish church of St Mary the Virgin, Hillborough | author=Exploring Kent's Past | publisher=Kent County Council | date=n.d. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150520110854/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE25051 | archive-date=20 May 2015 | url-status=live | access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Reculver from Country Park.jpg|thumb|upright=1.7|alt=refer to caption|Reculver viewed from the cliff-top in the country park in 2009: until the late 18th century the centre of Reculver village was slightly left of centre in the area shown.]]
After the sea undermined the foundations of the Hoy and Anchor Inn at Reculver in January 1808, the building was taken down and the redundant vicarage was used as a temporary replacement under the same name.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Canterbury, January 19 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18080119/023/0004 |newspaper=Kentish Gazette |date=19 January 1808 |access-date=8 May 2014|url-access=subscription |postscript=; }} {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Canterbury, January 26 |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18080126/016/0004 |newspaper=Kentish Gazette |date=26 January 1808 |access-date=8 May 2014|url-access=subscription |postscript=; }} {{harvnb|Lewis|1911|p=62}}.</ref>{{refn|T.&nbsp;Mot's letter in ''The Gentleman's Magazine'', written in March 1809, ends with the observation that the "jolly landlord revelled with his noisy guests, where late the venerable Vicar smoked his lonely pipe."{{sfn|Mot|1809b|p=802}} Another correspondent writing to the same magazine in 1856 reported that this "desecration did not prosper. According to the testimony of some of the present inhabitants of Reculver, nothing went well with the publican: his family was perpetually disturbed by strange noises and pranks&nbsp;... and he was eventually obliged to retire, a ruined man."{{sfn|Anon.|1856|p=316 & note}}|group=Fn}} Although it was reported in 1800 that there were then only five or six houses left in the village,{{sfn|Hasted|1800|pp=109–25}} a new Hoy and Anchor Inn was built by 1809,{{sfn|Cozens|1809|p=907}} and this was renamed as the King Ethelbert Inn by 1838.<ref>{{harvnb|Gough|2014|p=190}}; {{cite news |author=Collard, J. & R. |title=We, the undersigned, ... |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18381211/025/0001 |newspaper=Kentish Gazette |date=11 December 1838 |access-date=5 May 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{refn|According to Harold Gough, writing in 2001 or earlier, "on the entrance door [of the King Ethelbert Inn were] the words 'Hoy and Anchor Bar'".{{sfn|Gough|2014|p=186}} The sign for the Hoy and Anchor Inn was reported as hanging in the King Ethelbert Inn in 1871,<ref>{{cite news|last=Buckland|first=F.|date=20 May 1871 |title=Human thigh-bone cast up by the sea |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18710520/027/0004 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |access-date=7 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and as being in the Herne Bay Club in 1911.{{sfn|Lewis|1911|p=62}} The proprietor of the King Ethelbert Inn in about 1870 was John Holman, who published a short guide to Reculver, in which the inn was commended for its "eggs and ham, and Margate ale", and was advertised as providing accommodation for tourists.{{sfn|Holman|1870|p=}} Letters addressed to a Mr Holman and a Mrs Holman in 1862 and 1869 respectively were found in the inn in 1999.{{sfn|Anon.|1999|pp=189–90}} A John Holman was a farmer at Reculver in 1877 and 1878.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Charge of stealing barley at Reculver |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18780323/021/0003 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=23 March 1878 |access-date=13 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |via=[[British Newspaper Archive]]}}</ref> The existence of two other public houses at Reculver was reported at different times in the 19th century, namely the Cliff Cottage in 1869,<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Prosecution under the new Beerhouse Act |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000330/18690813/018/0004 |newspaper=Dover Express |date=13 August 1869 |access-date=6 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> and the Pig and Whistle in 1883.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Reculver. Suicide of a youth |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18830915/025/0004 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald|date=15 September 1883 |access-date=7 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>|group=Fn}} Further construction work is indicated by a stone over the doorway to the inn bearing a date of 1843,<ref name=Inn1843>{{cite web|url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE18651|title=Reculver Lane Herne {{nowrap begin}}Bay /{{nowrap end}} The King Ethelbert Public House|author=Exploring Kent's Past|publisher=Kent County Council|date=n.d.| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605154847/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE18651 | archive-date=5 June 2015 | url-status=live |access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> and it was later extended into the form in which it stands today, "probably&nbsp;... in 1883".{{sfn|Gough|2014|p=190}}{{refn|A travel guide of 1865 described "the Ethelbert's Arms" as "a quaint little hostelry, where the visitor will meet with perhaps rude fare, but with certainly the most civil attention."{{sfn|Anon.|1865|p=100}} The King Ethelbert public house has protected status as a locally listed building.<ref name=Inn1843 />|group=Fn}}

Today the site of the church, including the upper part of the sea defences there, is managed by [[English Heritage]], and the village has all but disappeared.{{sfn|Hunt|2011|pp=23–4}}{{refn|Reculver is listed as a "possible [[deserted medieval village]]" (DMV) in the Kent Historic Environment Record.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6543|title=Possible Deserted Medieval Village at Reculver|author=Exploring Kent's Past|publisher=Kent County Council|date=n.d. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605155123/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6543 | archive-date=5 June 2015 | url-status=live |access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> The main sea defences around Reculver are maintained by the [[Environment Agency]].{{sfn|Hunt|2011|pp=23–4}}|group=Fn}} The present appearance of the cliff below the church, a grassy slope above a large stone apron, was the work of central government and was in place by April 1867.<ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Reculver Towers |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18670430/033/0006 |newspaper=Kentish Gazette |date=30 April 1867 |access-date=6 May 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 2000 the surviving fragments of an early medieval cross that once stood inside the old church 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 [[City of Canterbury|Canterbury City Council]].{{sfn|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=5}}