Dover Harbour
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Port of Dover is a cross-channel ferry, cruise terminal, maritime cargo and marina facility situated in
Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...
,
Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...
, south-east
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It is the nearest English port to France, at just away, and is one of the world's busiest maritime passenger ports, with 11.7 million passengers, 2.6 million lorries, 2.2 million cars and motorcycles and 80,000 coaches passing through it in 2017, and with an annual turnover of £58.5 million a year. This compares with the nearby
Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...
, the only fixed link between the island of
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
and the European mainland, which now handles an estimated 20 million passengers and 1.6 million trucks per year. The modern port facility features a large artificial harbour constructed behind stone piers and a defensive concrete breakwater. The port is divided into two main sections: the Eastern Docks serve as the main cross-channel ferry terminal, while the Western Docks contain a cruise ship terminal and a yacht marina along with cargo facilities. The Port of Dover has a long history and possesses several
listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
and structures. The port is owned and operated by the Dover Harbour Board, a
statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a corporation, government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government ...
formed by
royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
in 1606 by King James I. Most of the board members of the Dover Harbour Board are appointees of the
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport ...
. The port has its own private police force, the Port of Dover Police. The current port traffic volumes and urban population categorize Dover as a Large-Port Town.


History

Recent archaeology indicates that Dover's history as a port and trading gateway dates back at least as far as the
Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
and
Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
ages. Known as
Dubris Dubris, also known as Portus Dubris and Dubrae, was a port in Roman Britain on the site of present-day Dover, Kent, England. As the closest point to continental Europe and the site of the estuary of the River Dour, Kent, Dour, the site chosen ...
during the
Roman occupation of Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caesa ...
, the port has always enjoyed a significant strategic position due to its proximity to
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...
and as the location of the sheltered
River Dour The River Dour is a chalk stream in the county of Kent, England. It flows from the villages of Temple Ewell and River between which is a neighbourhood served by a railway station, Kearsney. It is roughly long. It originally had a wide est ...
estuary between two imposing chalk cliffs. The development of the port led directly to the growth of Dover as a settlement and, over many centuries, to the building of extensive defensive fortifications including
Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some writers say it is the ...
and the Dover Western Heights. In the Roman era a walled town was built on the West Bank of the River Dour and the port grew into an important military, mercantile and cross-channel harbour. Dubris was one of the principal starting points of the
Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...
later known as
Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England, running from Dover and London in the southeast, via St Albans to Wroxeter. The road crosses the River Thames at London and was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the M ...
. Dover grew further after the Norman invasion of 1066 as a member of the Confederation of Cinque Ports. After the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket at
Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...
in 1170, Dover flourished as the only designated port of entry for foreign pilgrims and as a point of departure for the
third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...
and subsequent
crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...
. Following Edward III's success at the
Battle of Sluys The Battle of Sluys ( , ), also called the Battle of l'Écluse, was a naval battle fought on 24 June 1340 between Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France. It took place in the roadstead of the port of Sluis, Sluys (French ''É ...
in 1340, a large defensive wall was built around the town. Although few concerted attempts to manage the shingle deposits blocking the harbour entrance were made during the late Middle Ages, a short pier and two defensive towers were constructed at the port in years immediately prior to
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
's departure to the royal summit known as the
Field of the Cloth of Gold The Field of the Cloth of Gold (, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English Pale of Calais, it was a ...
in 1520. In the 1580s, under the direction of
Thomas Digges Thomas Digges (; c. 1546 – 24 August 1595) was an English mathematician and astronomer. He was the first to expound the Copernican system in English but discarded the notion of a fixed shell of immoveable stars to postulate infinitely many s ...
and championed by
Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellio ...
, early port infrastructure work commenced to address
siltation Siltation is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary o ...
through the use of sluices and the development of an enclosed pool of water known as the Great Pent, by means of which the harbour could be periodically scoured. The Great Pent was formed by the construction of a cross wall across the existing natural shingle lagoon at the mouth of the River Dour: the work was largely undertaken by labourers from
Romney Marsh Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until the ...
, using skills honed in the construction of
seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation, ...
s. The project has been described as "one of the most successful engineering enterprises of ueenElizabeth's reign". The later construction of Wellington Dock, designed by James Walker in the early 1830s, occupies the approximate footprint of the Great Pent. After the threats of the
Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...
at the beginning of the 19th century, the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...
selected Dover as the most suitable location of a harbour of refuge for the fleet between the dockyards of Chatham and
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
. In 1847 construction began on the Admiralty Pier. Envisaged as the Western Arm of the proposed haven, completion of the massive first stage in 1871 effectively stopped the silting of the harbour mouth as it cut off the drift of shingle from the direction of
Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...
. The Admiralty Pier was constructed using a foundation of
Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...
blocks surmounted by granite and durable
Bramley Fall stone Bramley Fall Stone belongs to the Millstone Grit series, of the Namurian stage of the Carboniferous Period. It is one of the cheapest and best-adapted English stones for extensive engineering works, docks, locks and railways, and for large mill ...
on the seaward facing exterior. Further construction from 1897 onwards established the Eastern Arm of the current harbour, the Southern Breakwater and a further extension of the Admiralty Pier. During the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, a former cargo ship, the ''Spanish Prince'', was deliberately sunk by the Admiralty close to the entrance to Dover Harbour to prevent German
U-Boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...
s from firing torpedoes into the harbour. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the remains of another ship, the ''War Sepoy'', were sunk alongside the Spanish Prince.


Eastern Docks

Dover's Eastern Docks were used for
ship breaking Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...
beginning during the First World War, when the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...
began dismantling ships there. The Stanlee Shipbreaking and Salvage Co. Ltd. took over the ship breaking operation commercially in 1920. Many of the ships broken up were naval vessels from the First World War. The company also handled machinery and general scrap, including the dismantling of the Dover Promenade Pier. The yard began to shrink after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and was closed in 1964 to make way for port redevelopment and a car ferry terminal. From 1930 until 1950 an aerial ropeway carried coal from
Tilmanstone Tilmanstone is a small village and civil parish in Kent, in the South East of England, near Eastry, a much bigger and more developed area. Tilmanstone no longer has a village school; however, the independent Northbourne Park School is close to t ...
colliery, 7½ miles to the north. It emerged halfway up the Langdon cliffs directly above the Eastern harbour arm, through two portals which have been bricked up but can still be seen from the ferry port. Coal was deposited in bunkers at the outer end of the Eastern harbour arm. The ropeway had 600 1-ton buckets that departed at intervals of 21 seconds and travelled at 4½ miles per hour. The system could thus transport 120 tons of coal per hour. The first two
roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...
ferry berths in the Eastern Docks were opened on 30 June 1953. The first ro-ro ferry, the appropriately modified British Railways' SS ''Dinard'', departed for Boulogne on 3 July 1953. Today, there are seven active docks for Ro-Ro vessels to utilise at Dover, one deconstructed dock and one unused dock for high-speed Ro-Ro watercraft. In 1966 well over 600,000 accompanied vehicles travelled through Dover's Eastern Docks en route to France or Belgium.


Western Docks

After rail services were extended to Dover in 1844, the Western Docks were used as a terminal for the Golden Arrow and other cross-channel train services with its own railway station, Dover Marine, later renamed Dover Western Docks. At Dover Marine station an estimated 5 million troops departed for the trenches of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and nearly 1.5 million wounded soldiers returned. In 1920 the remains of the Unknown Warrior were landed prior to transportation to London and a ceremonial interment at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
. Dover Marine railway station closed in 1994, later to be redeveloped into Cruise Terminal One. The Western Docks area was also used from 1968 to the early 2000s for a cross-channel
hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...
service run by
Hoverspeed Hoverspeed was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd. Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed Se ...
. Hoverspeed also ran catamaran services until being declared bankrupt in 2005. Another catamaran service was run from 2004 until November 2008 by the single ship of
SpeedFerries SpeedFerries was a low cost ferry operator which started in May 2004 and continued in business until November 2008. It operated one route between Dover in England and Boulogne-sur-Mer, Boulogne in France. It had one high-speed ferry, called ...
, ''SpeedOne'', with up to five services daily to
Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; ; ; or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Hauts-de-France, Northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Pas-de-Calais. Boul ...
. The hoverport has now been demolished and redeveloped as a cargo handling facility.


Infrastructure

The harbour is divided into two main sections, the Eastern Docks and the Western Docks, about apart.


Eastern Docks

Cross channel ferry services to France operate from the seven twin-level ferry berths and associated departure buildings of the Eastern Docks.


Ferry services

The Eastern Docks also used to be served by the following, all now defunct: *
MyFerryLink MyFerryLink was an English Channel passenger and freight ferry company which began operating between Dover and Calais in August 2012. The MyFerryLink fleet consisted of two modern ferries – sister ships the and the – that carried passeng ...
* LD Lines *
SeaFrance SeaFrance was a ferry company based in France, wholly owned by the French railways, SNCF, which operated ferry services between Calais, France, and Dover, England. The company employed a total of 1,850 staff, including 1,300 seagoing personnel, ...
*
Norfolkline Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English Channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English Channel and Irish Sea; and ...
*
Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...
* P&O Stena Line * Townsend Thoresen * Normandy Ferries *
Sealink Sealink was a ferry company based in Great Britain from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, F ...
(later ''Sealink Stena Line'') and four companies under the tag: **
Regie voor Maritiem Transport Regie voor Maritiem Transport (RMT) was the Belgian state-owned ferry service and operated ferries on the Ostend-Dover route under the name Oostende Lines. For the last few years until its demise in February 1997, the ferries from Ostend went ...
** Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland **
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
**
British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...
An adjacent freight terminal (with three loading cranes) is scheduled to be repurposed under port redevelopment plans but can currently be used by ships of up to .


Western Docks

This part of the port is formed by the western arm of the harbour, Admiralty Pier, and its associated port facilities. Recently the focus of a £250 million port redevelopment project co-financed by the European Union.


Cruise ship terminal

Conversion and restoration of the historic former Dover Marine rail terminus, and the opening of a second, larger, cruise terminal building in 1996, have supported a significant expansion in cruise ship traffic. Cruise Terminal 2 is able to accommodate ships as large as the '' Celebrity Silhouette'' at in
length overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also ...
, a beam of and 122,400 gross tons. The cruise ship terminal can accommodate up to three ships at any one time. In 2019 the Port of Dover accommodated 130 cruise ship port calls and over 200,000 passengers, making it the second busiest cruise ship port in the United Kingdom after the
Port of Southampton The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. After the Port of Felixstowe, ...
.


Cargo handling

Dover Cargo Terminal West opened in December 2019, replacing berthing and handling facilities at the Eastern Docks. Two new berths can accommodate ships of and simultaneously with a minimum quay depth of . The new purpose-built
cold chain A cold chain is a supply chain that uses refrigeration to maintain perishable goods, such as pharmaceuticals, produce or other goods that are temperature-sensitive. Common goods, sometimes called cool cargo, distributed in cold chains include fr ...
and warehousing complex is capable of handling fresh produce, containers,
project cargo Project cargo is a term used to broadly describe the national or international transportation of large, heavy, high value or critical (to the project they are intended for) pieces of equipment. Also commonly referred to as ''Heavy lift''. Descrip ...
, general cargo, breakbulk, grain and
roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...
.


Marina

Marina facilities, primarily targeted at recreational sailing and power boating, are provided in both the historic Wellington Dock and adjacent to the cruise terminal and cargo wharves.


Access

The port is accessible by road from the M20/ A20 (leading to
Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...
) and the M2/ A2 (to
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...
), and by train from Dover Priory station with Southeastern services to London St Pancras via Folkestone Central, , , as well as trains to
London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a London station group, central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, London, Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named afte ...
or
London Charing Cross Charing Cross railway station (also known as London Charing Cross) is a London station group, central London railway terminus between the Strand, London, Strand and Hungerford Bridge in the City of Westminster. It is the terminus of the South ...
via and the Medway towns such as Gillingham, and or via then either via and or . There are trains to and .


In media

A boat train at Dover Western Docks station is seen in the third episode of ''Inspector Morse'', " Deceived by Flight", which was filmed in 1989, prior to the station's closure in November 1994. The
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's automotive TV programme ''
Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the ori ...
'' filmed an episode at the former
hoverport A hoverport is a terminal for hovercraft, having passenger facilities where needed and infrastructure to allow the hovercraft to come on land. Today, only a small number of civilian hoverports remain, due to the relatively high fuel consumption ...
, in which the presenters used amphibious cars to cross the
English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...
.


See also

* France–UK border *
Channel Ports The Channel Ports are seaports in southern England and northern France, which allow for short crossings of the English Channel. There is no formal definition, but there is a general understanding of the term. Some ferry companies divide their rout ...
*
Port of Calais The Port of Calais in northern France is the country's fourth largest port and the largest for passenger traffic. It accounts for more than a third of economic activity in the town of Calais. Background The Port of Calais was the first cable ...


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*
Dover Ferries Forum

Dover Ferry Photos Website & Forum

Dover Cruise Ships: Photos and Info
{{DEFAULTSORT:Port of Dover Buildings and structures in Dover, Kent Port cities and towns of the North Sea Juxtaposed border controls