View source for Reculver

{{Short description|Seaside village in Kent, England}}
{{bots|deny=InternetArchiveBot}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}

{{Infobox UK place
| static_image_name = File:Western Face of St Mary's Church, Reculver (I).jpg
| static_image_caption = The twin towers of [[St Mary's Church, Reculver|St Mary's Church]]
| static_image_alt = Looking up at Reculver towers from close by on a sunny day
| area_total_sq_mi = 2.79
| area_total_km2 = 
| area_footnotes = <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=457352&c=CT6+6SU&d=15&e=8&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1324575452150&enc=1 |title=Key Figures for Physical Environment |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |year=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420022331/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=457352&c=CT6%2B6SU&d=15&e=8&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1324575452150&enc=1 |archive-date=20 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=18 May 2014 }}</ref>
| country = England
| official_name = Reculver
| coordinates = {{coord|51.3786|1.1979|display=inline,title}}
| label_position = top
| population = 4,400
| population_ref = (2021 census)
| civil_parish = 
| shire_district = [[City of Canterbury]]
| shire_county = [[Kent]]
| region = South East England
| constituency_westminster = [[Herne Bay and Sandwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Herne Bay and Sandwich]]<ref>{{cite web|title=Location of Herne Bay and Sandwich |url=https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4097/location |website=parliament.uk|access-date=4 February 2025}}</ref>
| post_town = HERNE BAY
| postcode_district = CT6
| postcode_area = CT
| dial_code = 01227
| os_grid_reference = TR2269
| map_type = Kent UK
| map_alt = A map showing Reculver on the north-eastern coast of Kent, in south-east England
}}
'''Reculver''' is a village and coastal resort about {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} east of [[Herne Bay]] on the north coast of [[Kent]] in south-east England.
It is in the [[Wards of the United Kingdom|ward]] of the same name, in the [[City of Canterbury]] district of [[Kent]]. 

Reculver once occupied a strategic location at the north-western end of the [[Wantsum Channel]], a sea lane that separated the [[Isle of Thanet]] and the Kent mainland until the late [[Middle Ages]]. This led the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] to build a small fort there at the time of their [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquest of Britain]] in 43&nbsp;AD, and, starting late in the 2nd century, they built a larger fort, or [[Castra|''castrum'']], called ''[[Regulbium]]'', which later became one of the chain of [[Saxon Shore]] forts. Following the withdrawal of the Western Roman Empire in ca. early C4th, the Brythons again took control of the lands until Anglo-Saxon invasions shortly afterward.

By the 7th century Reculver had become a landed estate of the [[Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Kingdom of Kent|kings of Kent]]. The site of the Roman fort was given over for the establishment of a monastery dedicated to the [[Virgin Mary]] in 669&nbsp;AD, and King [[Eadberht II]] of Kent was buried there in the 760s. During the Middle Ages Reculver was a thriving township with a weekly market and a yearly [[fair]], and was part of the [[Cinque Ports|Cinque Port]] of [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]]. The settlement declined, however, 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 [[St Mary's Church, Reculver|St Mary's Church]] was demolished in the early 19th century. Protecting the ruins and the rest of Reculver from erosion is an ongoing challenge.

The 20th century saw a revival as local tourism developed and there are now two [[RV park|caravan parks]]. The [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]] recorded about 4,400 people in the Reculver area. The Reculver coastline is within a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]], a [[Special Protection Area]] and a [[Ramsar convention|Ramsar]] site, including most of Reculver Country Park, which itself includes much of [[Bishopstone Cliffs]] [[local nature reserve]]. While nationally scarce plants and insects are found there, the location is also important for migrating birds and is of significant geological interest.

==History==
===Toponymy===
The earliest recorded form of the name, ''Regulbium'', is in [[Latin]] and dates from the early 5th century or before, but it had its origin in a [[Common Brittonic]] word meaning "at the promontory" or "great headland". In [[Old English]] this became corrupted to ''Raculf'', sometimes given as ''Raculfceastre'', giving rise to the modern "Reculver".<ref>{{harvnb|Ekwall|1960|page=383}}; {{harvnb|Mills|1998|page=285}}; {{harvnb|Glover|1976|page=155}}; {{harvnb|Jessup|1936|page=190}}.</ref>{{refn|"Many more [Old English] forms are on record."{{sfn|Ekwall|1960|p=383}}|group=Fn}} The form "Raculfceastre" includes the Old English place-name element "[[Chester (placename element)|ceaster]]", which frequently relates to "a [Roman] city or walled town".{{sfn|Ekwall|1960|pp=xxvii, 92}}

===Prehistoric and Roman===
{{main|Regulbium}}
[[File:OldMapKent.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|alt=Map of late Roman Kent|Map of Kent early in the 5th century, showing how Reculver (marked here as "Reculbium" at top right) was then at the north-eastern corner of mainland Kent, with the [[Wantsum Channel]] between it and the [[Isle of Thanet]]: Gardiner, S.R., ''A School Atlas Of English History'', 1892]]
[[Stone Age]] [[flint]] tools have been washed out from the cliffs to the west of Reculver,<ref>{{cite news|last=Dingle|first=J.|date=17 February 1862|title=The flint implements|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000242/18620217/013/0002|newspaper=Newcastle Daily Journal|access-date=6 May 2014|url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=5}}.</ref> and a [[Mesolithic]] [[tranchet axe]] was found near the centre of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] fort in 1960.{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=192}} This was probably an accidental loss, rather than suggesting a human settlement, evidence for which begins with late [[Bronze Age Britain|Bronze Age]] and [[British Iron Age|Iron Age]] ditches.{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=192}} These indicate an extensive settlement,<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|page=192}}; {{cite web | url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1906717&resourceID=304 | title=West of Fort on Cliff | author=Heritage Gateway | publisher=[[English Heritage]] | year=2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408234029/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1906717&resourceID=304 |archive-date=8 April 2014 | access-date=18 May 2014 | postscript=;}} {{cite web | url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1864064&resourceID=304 | title=Reculver | author=Heritage Gateway | publisher=English Heritage | year=2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408233738/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1864064&resourceID=304 | archive-date=8 April 2014 | url-status=live | access-date=19 April 2014}}</ref> where a Bronze Age [[palstave]] and Iron Age gold coins have been found.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6498 | title=Palstave, found at Reculver | author=Exploring Kent's Past | publisher=Kent County Council | date=n.d. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605153809/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6498 | archive-date=5 June 2015 | url-status=live | access-date=5 June 2015| postscript=;}} {{cite web | url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6487 | title=Iron Age gold coins (5), found at Reculver | author=Exploring Kent's Past | publisher=Kent County Council | date=n.d. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605153950/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6487 | archive-date=5 June 2015 | url-status=live | access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> This was followed by a "fortlet" built by the Romans during their [[Roman conquest of Britain|conquest of Britain]], which began in 43&nbsp;AD,<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|pages=98–102, 192–3}}.</ref> and the existence of a [[Roman roads in Britain|Roman road]] leading to Canterbury, about {{convert|8.5|mi|km|1}} to the south-west, indicates a Roman presence at Reculver from then onwards.<ref>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|pp=190–1}}; {{harvnb|Philp|2005|p=3}}.</ref> A full-size fort, or [[Castra|''castrum'']], was started late in the 2nd century. This date is derived in part from a reconstruction of a uniquely detailed plaque, fragments of which were found by archaeologists in the 1960s.<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|pages=206–18 (esp. 210–3)}}; {{harvnb|Philp|1969b|page=}}; {{harvnb|Philp|1969a|page=}}; {{PastScape|mnumber=467087 | mname=Regulbium | year=2007 | access-date=18 May 2014}}</ref> The plaque effectively records the establishment of the fort, since it commemorates the construction of two of its principal features, the ''[[basilica]]'' and the ''[[sacellum]]'', or [[shrine]], both being parts of the headquarters building, or ''principia'':

{{Quote|text=this [was] the first time the inscribed phrase ''aedes principiorum'' [could] be&nbsp;... identified with the official shrine of [a Roman military] headquarters building, hitherto unmentioned in any inscription&nbsp;... [It was] also the first certain&nbsp;... application of the name ''basilica'' to [this element of the building].|author=[[Ian Richmond]]|title=''The Antiquaries Journal'', 1961<ref>Richmond, I. A. (1961), "A New Building-Inscription from the Saxon-Shore Fort at Reculver, Kent", ''The Antiquaries Journal'' '''41'''(3–4), pp.&nbsp;224–8, quoted in {{harvnb|Philp|2005|p=212}}; {{harvnb|Philp|1969a|page=}}.</ref>}}

These structures were found by archaeologists, together with probable officers' quarters, barracks and a [[Thermae|bath house]].{{sfn|Philp|2005|pp=54–9, 60–3, 73–80}}{{refn|A reconstruction of the fort is illustrated at {{harvnb|Wilmott|2012|p=23}}.|group=Fn}} A Roman oven found {{convert|200|ft|m|0}} south-east of the fort was probably used for drying food such as [[Wheat|corn]] and fish; its main chamber measured about 16&nbsp;feet (4.9&nbsp;m) by 15&nbsp;feet (4.8&nbsp;m) overall.{{sfn|Philp|2005|pp=92–5}}

[[File:Skizze bi regulbium.jpg|thumb|alt=refer to caption|Reconstruction of the plaque recording the establishment of the fort{{sfn|Philp|1969a|p=}}]]
The fort was located on a low hill, beyond which a long promontory then projected north-eastwards into the sea and formed the north-eastern extremity of mainland Kent: thus it offered observation on all sides, including both the [[Thames Estuary]] and the [[sea lane]] later known as the [[Wantsum Channel]], which lay between it and the [[Isle of Thanet]].<ref>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|p=188}}; {{harvnb|Bagshaw|1847|p=224}}.</ref>{{refn|{{harvnb|Philp|2005|loc=Fig.&nbsp;4}}, shows a conjectured Roman coastline around Reculver, where the fort is located near the root of a promontory projecting about {{convert|1.25|mi|km|0}} north-eastwards into the sea. This promontory is defined on its north-western side by a long inlet of the sea, and on its south-eastern side by the Wantsum Channel, and is made a peninsula by an inlet of the Wantsum Channel immediately south of the Roman fort.|group=Fn}} It was probably built by soldiers of the ''Cohors I Baetasiorum'', originally from [[Germania Inferior|Lower Germany]], who had previously served at the Roman fort of ''[[Alauna (Maryport)|Alauna]]'' at [[Maryport]] in [[Cumbria]] at least until the early 180s, since tiles recovered from the fort are stamped "CIB".{{sfn|Philp|2005|pp=224–5}} The ''[[Notitia Dignitatum]]'', a Roman administrative document from the early 5th century, also records the presence of the ''Cohors I Baetasiorum'' at Reculver, then known as ''Regulbium''.<ref name=Notitia>{{harvnb|Cotterill|1993|pp=227–39 (esp.&nbsp;235)}}; {{harvnb|Philp|2005|pp=227–8}}.</ref> There must also have been a harbour nearby in Roman times,{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=3}} and, though this has not yet been found, it was probably near to the fort's southern or eastern side.<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|page=3}}; {{harvnb|Harris|2001|page=32}}.</ref>{{refn|"The evidence suggests that [most of the Saxon Shore forts] were constructed c. 225–290, and this means that the system was conceived about sixty years before the historical records refer to Germanic raiding. The discrepancy cannot be explained if they were a purpose-built defensive system, but it can be explained if they were a series of state trans-shipment centres."{{sfn|Cotterill|1993|p=238}} {{harvnb|Philp|2005|p=229}}, suggests on archaeological grounds that there may have been "a direct link between the ''Cohors I Baetasiorum'' and the ''[[Classis Britannica]]'' [or "British Fleet"] at ''Regulbium'' and this could indicate that they shared the fort."|group=Fn}}

The walls of the fort originally stood about {{convert|14.8|ft|m|1}} high and were {{convert|10|ft|m|0}} thick at their base, reducing to {{nowrap|{{convert|8|ft|m|1}}}} at the top; they were reinforced internally by an earthen bank.<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|p=14}}; {{harvnb|Wilmott|2012|p=20}}.</ref> The entrance to the fort's headquarters building faced north, indicating that the main gate was on the north side, facing the eponymous promontory and the sea.{{sfn|Harris|2001|p=33}} The north wall has been lost to the sea, along with the adjoining part of the east wall and most of the west wall; the east wall is most complete and includes the remains of the eastern gateway and guard post.<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|pp=15, 32–6}}; {{harvnb|Wilmott|2012|p=20}}.</ref> Parts of the surviving walls are all that remains of the fort above ground, and all have suffered from stone-robbing, especially near the south-western corner.{{sfn|Philp|2005|pp=14, 204}}{{refn|Stone from the fort was presumably used in the medieval settlement at Reculver as well as the church there; it may have been taken for use in the archiepiscopal residence at [[Ford Palace]], about {{convert|2.6|mi|km|1}} south-west of Reculver, and in the Davis Gate (or "Barbican Gate") at [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]] in the early 16th century; and there are records of its frequent use in the church of All Saints at [[Birchington-on-Sea]], until at least 1584.<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|pp=14, 204}}; {{harvnb|Clarke|2010|p=159}}; {{harvnb|Barrett|2005|pp=31–2}}.</ref>|group=Fn}} The walls were originally faced with [[Rag-stone|ragstone]], but very little of this remains: otherwise only the cores of the walls are visible, consisting mostly of flint and concrete and standing only {{convert|8.6|ft|m|1}} high at their highest.{{sfn|Philp|2005|pp=14–5}}

[[File:Roman Wall, Reculver Roman Fort - geograph.org.uk - 1470820.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|left|alt=refer to caption|Part of the Roman south wall of ''[[Regulbium]]'' fort, seen from its south-eastern corner]]
Roman forts were normally accompanied by a civilian settlement, or ''[[vicus]]'': at Reculver this lay outside the north and west sides of the fort, much of it in areas now lost to the sea, and was extensive, perhaps covering "some ten hectares [25&nbsp;acres] in all."<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|pp=95–7}}; {{harvnb|Philp|2009|p=174}}.</ref> In 1936 R.F. Jessup noted that "a Roman building with a [[hypocaust]] and [[Tessellation|tesselated]] [floor once] stood considerably to the northward of the fort":{{sfn|Jessup|1936|p=188}} this structure had been observed by the {{nowrap|17th- to}} 18th-century antiquarian [[John Battely]],{{sfn|Duncombe|1774|pp=56–7}} and was probably "an external bath {{nowrap|house&nbsp;...}} relating to [an early phase of] the fort."{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=96}} In the same area Battely described "several [[cistern]]s" between 10&nbsp;and 12&nbsp;feet (3–3.7&nbsp;m) square, lined with oak planks and sealed at the bottom with [[Puddling (engineering)|puddled clay]]. He believed that these were for storing rainwater, and noted that a Roman [[strigil]], which would have been used in a bath house, had been found in a similar cistern at Reculver; he also observed that "such a multitude [of cisterns] has been discovered, almost in our memory, as proves that the ancient inhabitants of the place were very numerous."{{sfn|Duncombe|1774|pp=57–60, 116}} In the 20th century twelve [[Water well|well]]s of the Roman period were identified to the west of the fort, ten of which were square; all were cut into the hard layer of sandstone below the soft sandstone of the [[Thanet Beds]], thus tapping into the [[water table]].{{sfn|Philp|2005|pp=95–6}}{{refn|Three female skeletons have been found in the Roman wells, complete with jewellery: "[i]t seems clear that these female skeletons do not represent orthodox burials, nor accidents, and it is likely that the three women were victims and that their bodies&nbsp;... were thrown into these&nbsp;... wells and never recovered."{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=96}}|group=Fn}} These and other 20th-century finds from the Roman period extend to {{convert|1120|ft|m|1}} west of the fort, and date to a period between 170 and 360, roughly coinciding with the period of occupation at the fort itself.{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=96}}

At least 10&nbsp;infant burials have been found within the fort, all of babies, of which six were associated with Roman buildings: five sets of infant remains were found within the foundations and walls of buildings, as were coins dating from 270 to 300&nbsp;AD.<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|pp=75–7, 86–7, 225}}; {{harvnb|Philp|1966|page=}}; {{harvnb|Philp|1969b|page=}}; {{harvnb|Merrifield|1987|pp=50–7 (esp. 51)}}.</ref> It was suspected that more such burials might be found in the walls of a building in the south-western area of the fort if it were excavated further.{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=86}}{{refn|Three infant skeletons discovered in the structure in the south-western area of the fort were "found incidentally in the only two critical cuts made through the walls of the building and statistically, at least, it seems likely that others may exist in the much longer lengths of walls not examined."{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=86}} Two of these burials are illustrated at {{harvnb|Philp|2005|loc=Plate&nbsp;XXXVIII}}.|group=Fn}} A baby's feeding bottle was also found in an excavated floor within {{convert|10|ft|m|0}} of one of the infant skeletons, though it may have been unconnected with the burials.{{sfn|Philp|1966|p=}} The babies were probably buried in the buildings as [[Sacrifice#Human sacrifice|ritual sacrifices]], but it is unknown whether they were selected for burial because they were already dead, perhaps stillborn, or if they were buried alive or killed for the purpose.<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|page=225}}; {{harvnb|Merrifield|1987|p=51}}.</ref>{{refn|"The Romans officially condemned human sacrifice&nbsp;... Human life was cheap on the frontier, however, and Roman auxiliaries could be as barbarous as those they fought&nbsp;... Even in the most civilised parts of [Roman] Britain, the authorities seem on occasion to have turned a blind eye to infant sacrifice, which may of course have been surreptitious."{{sfn|Merrifield|1987|p=51}}|group=Fn}} A local tale subsequently developed that the grounds of the fort were haunted by the sound of a crying baby.<ref>{{harvnb|Marsden|Horsler|Kelleher|2005|p=74}}; {{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/oct/30/haunted-halloween-spooky-uk |title=Ten spooky places to scare yourself |newspaper=The Guardian |date=30 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409041510/http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2009/oct/30/haunted-halloween-spooky-uk |archive-date=9 April 2014 |access-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Towards the end of the 3rd century a Roman naval commander named [[Carausius]], who later declared himself emperor in Britain, was given the task of clearing pirates from the sea between Britain and the European mainland.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.luc.edu/roman-emperors/carausiu.htm | title=Carausius (286/7–293 A.D.) | author=DiMaio, M. Jr. | website=An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families | publisher=Loyola University Chicago | date=28 October 1996 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521104630/http://www.luc.edu/roman-emperors/carausiu.htm | archive-date=21 May 2014 | url-status=live | access-date=21 May 2014}}</ref> In so doing he established a new chain of command, the British part of which was later to pass under the control of a [[Count of the Saxon Shore]]. The ''Notitia Dignitatum'' shows that the fort at Reculver became part of this arrangement, and its location meant that it lay at the "main point of contact in the system [of Saxon Shore forts]".{{sfn|Cotterill|1993|p=236}} Archaeological evidence indicates that it was abandoned in the 370s.<ref name=Notitia />

===Medieval===
[[File:Part of the south wall of the ruined church at Reculver.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|alt=refer to caption|Part of the south wall of the 7th-century church, incorporating Roman brick tiles]]
By the 7th century Reculver was part of a landed estate of the [[History of Anglo-Saxon England|Anglo-Saxon]] [[Kingdom of Kent|kings of Kent]], possibly with a royal toll-station or a "significant coastal trading settlement,"{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=73}} given the types and large quantity of coins found there.{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=73}}{{refn|While "[it] must be certain that the Roman fort had a supporting harbour, probably a natural feature improved by quays and jetties",{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=3}} "[the] quantity of seventh- and eighth-century coins picked up from Reculver and its vicinity is paralleled [in England] only at ''Hamwic'' [Anglo-Saxon Southampton]: finds include gold ''thrymsas'' and some 50 sceattas, with contemporary Merovingian coins and a small group of Northumbrian issues&nbsp;... Almost certainly there is some connection with Reculver's position on a major trading route".{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=73}}|group=Fn}} Other early Anglo-Saxon finds include a fragment of a gilt bronze brooch, or ''[[Fibula (brooch)|fibula]]'', which was originally circular and set with coloured stones or glass, a [[claw beaker]] and pottery.<ref>{{harvnb|Roach Smith|1850|loc=pp.&nbsp;213–4 & Plate&nbsp;7, Fig.&nbsp;18}}; {{cite web | url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6539 | title=Keystone garnet disc brooch from Reculver | author=Exploring Kent's Past | publisher=Kent County Council | date=n.d. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605154120/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6539 | archive-date=5 June 2015 | url-status=live | access-date=5 June 2015|postscript=;}} {{cite web | url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6549 | title=AS claw beaker, Reculver | author=Exploring Kent's Past | publisher=Kent County Council | date=n.d. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605154246/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6549 | archive-date=5 June 2015 | url-status=live | access-date=5 June 2015|postscript=;}} {{cite web | url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6537 | title=Anglo Saxon Pagan pottery from Reculver | author=Exploring Kent's Past | publisher=Kent County Council | date=n.d. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605154419/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE6537 | archive-date=5 June 2015 | url-status=live | access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>{{refn|"[The Reculver fibula] belongs to a class of ornaments&nbsp;... remarkable for peculiarities which seem almost to restrict them to the early Kentish Saxons. [John] Battely speaks of the fibulæ found at Reculver [in the late 17th and early 18th centuries], as being almost innumerable; some of these&nbsp;... were constructed with much artistic skill and good workmanship; they were either enameled, or set with precious stones."{{sfn|Roach Smith|1850|p=214}}|group=Fn}} Antiquarians such as the 18th-century clergyman [[John Duncombe (writer)|John Duncombe]] believed that King [[Æthelberht of Kent]] moved his royal court there from Canterbury in about 597, and built a palace on the site of the Roman ruins.{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|pp=71–2, 74}} However, archaeological excavation has shown no evidence of this; Æthelberht's household would have been peripatetic, and the story has been described as probably a "pious legend".<ref>{{harvnb|Gough|2014|p=191}}; {{harvnb|Brooks|1989|p=67}}.</ref>{{refn|The Roman remains at Reculver would have been "the only substantial building for miles around",{{sfn|Gough|2014|p=186}} but "Anglo-Saxon kings seem to have shown little interest in establishing themselves in old Roman forts."{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=73}} "An itinerant royal household eating and drinking the food surpluses collected at [the king's] own estates and those of his subjects&nbsp;... lies at the core of the Kentish kingdom&nbsp;..."{{sfn|Brooks|1989|p=67}}|group=Fn}} 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, which was dedicated to [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|St Mary]].<ref name=669Refs>{{harvnb|Garmonsway|1972|pp=34–5}}; {{harvnb|Fletcher|1965|pages=16–31}}; {{harvnb|Page|1926|pages=141–2}}; {{harvnb|Kelly|2008|pages=71–2}}.</ref>

The monastery developed as the centre of a "large estate, a manor and a parish",{{sfn|Gough|2014|p=187}} and, by the early 9th century, it had become "extremely wealthy",{{sfn|Blair|2005|p=123}} but it then fell under the control of the [[Archbishop of Canterbury|archbishops of Canterbury]]. In 811 Archbishop [[Wulfred]] is recorded as having deprived the monastery of some of its land,<ref>{{harvnb|Kelly|2008|p=80}}; {{harvnb|Sawyer|1968|loc=S&nbsp;1264}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.esawyer.org.uk/charter/1264.html# |title=S 1264 |year=2014 |website=The Electronic Sawyer |publisher=King's College London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421102401/http://www.esawyer.org.uk/charter/1264.html |archive-date=21 April 2014 |access-date=22 May 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and soon after it featured in a "monumental showdown"{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=80}} between Wulfred and King [[Coenwulf of Mercia]] over the control of monasteries.<ref>{{harvnb|Kelly|2008|p=80}}; {{harvnb|Blair|2005|pp=130–1}}.</ref> In 838 control of all monasteries under Canterbury's authority was passed to the kings of [[Wessex]], by the agreement of Archbishop [[Ceolnoth]] in exchange for protection from [[Viking]] attacks.<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=4999|title=Ceolnoth}} Retrieved 22 May 2014; {{harvnb|Blair|2005|p=124}}; {{harvnb|Kelly|2008|pages=81–2}}; {{harvnb|Brooks|1979|pp=1–20 (esp. 12)}}; {{harvnb|Brooks|1984|pages=203–4}}; {{harvnb|Kerr|1982|pages=192–94}}.</ref> By the 10th century the monastery at Reculver and its estate were both royal property: they were given back to the archbishops of Canterbury in 949 by King [[Eadred]] of England, at which time the estate included [[Hoath]] and [[Herne, Kent|Herne]], and land at [[Chilmington Green|Chilmington]], about {{convert|23.5|mi|km|1}} to the south-west, and in the west of the Isle of Thanet.{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=82}}

By 1066 the monastery had become a [[parish church]].{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=82}} However, in 1086 Reculver was named in the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086 as a [[Hundred (county subdivision)|hundred]], and the manor was valued at £42.7s. (£42.35).{{sfn|Williams|Martin|2002|p=8}}{{refn|This value can be compared with the £20 due to the archbishop from the manor of [[Maidstone]] and £50 from the [[Ancient borough|borough]] of [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]].{{sfn|Williams|Martin|2002|p=8}} Of the £42.7s. from Reculver, £7.7s. (£7.35) was from an unspecified source. While Hoath, Herne and western parts of the Isle of Thanet belonged to the monastery in the Anglo-Saxon period, and remained attached to the church long after 1086, of these only Reculver is mentioned by name in Domesday Book: {{nowrap|"[as]}} the name [Reculver] is used here, it means something larger than the parish but much smaller than the thirteenth-century manor of Reculver. It is fairly sure to have included Hoath ...; it may also have included the adjoining part of Thanet, [including] All Saints ... and St Nicholas-at-Wade ... [The separate manor of ''Nortone'' is] Herne ... under another name."{{sfn|Flight|2010|p=162}}|group=Fn}} Included in the Domesday account for the manor, as well as the church, farmland, a mill, [[Salt evaporation pond|salt pans]] and a fishery, are 90&nbsp;[[Serfdom#Villeins|villeins]] and 25&nbsp;[[Serfdom#Bordars and cottagers|bordars]]: these numbers can be multiplied four or five times to account for dependents, as they only represent "adult male heads of households".{{sfn|Eales|1992|p=21}}{{refn|The multiplication indicated by Eales would give a [[peasant]] population for the whole of the estate centred on Reculver in 1086 of 460–575&nbsp;people. The mill was probably a [[watermill]], near Brook Farm, and King Eadred's charter of 949 mentions a mill-[[Creek (tidal)|creek]] in the area.<ref>{{harvnb|Gough|1992|pages=94–5}}; {{harvnb|Kelly|2008|page=74}}; {{harvnb|Sawyer|1968|loc=S&nbsp;546}}; {{cite web |url=http://www.esawyer.org.uk/charter/546.html |title=S&nbsp;546 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |year=2014 |website=The Electronic Sawyer |publisher=King's College London |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331065536/http://www.esawyer.org.uk/charter/546.html |archive-date=31 March 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=19 May 2014}}</ref> There are numerous medieval salt working sites in the area to the south and east of Reculver, many of which lie on land belonging to Reculver in the medieval period, for example at {{gbmappingsmall|TR23316797}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MWX19398|title=Medieval salt mound|author=Exploring Kent's Past|publisher=Kent County Council| date= n.d. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150519195211/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MWX19398 | archive-date=19 May 2015 | url-status=live | access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>|group=Fn}} At that time, although Domesday Book records that Reculver belonged to the archbishop of Canterbury in both 1066 and 1086, in reality it must again have been lost to him, since [[William the Conqueror]] is recorded as having returned it, among other churches and properties, to the archbishop at his death.{{sfn|Flight|2010|pp=162, 217}}{{refn|The record states that the king "reddidit ecclesiae Christi omnes fere terras antiquis et modernis temporibus a iure ipsius ecclesiae ablatas&nbsp;... Haec omnia reddidit&nbsp;... gratis et sine ullo pretio." ("returned to Christ Church almost all the lands, its by right from ancient and modern times, that had been removed&nbsp;... He returned all these things&nbsp;... free and without any remuneration.").{{sfn|Flight|2010|p=217}} Among these, Reculver is listed only by name, while churches elsewhere are identified as monasteries.|group=Fn}} In the 13th century Reculver was a parish of "exceptional wealth",{{sfn|Graham|1944|p=1}} and the considerable enlargement of the church building during the [[Middle Ages]] indicates that the settlement had become a "thriving township",{{sfn|Gough|2014|p=187}} with "dozens of houses".{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=11}}{{refn|{{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pages=}} refers to Reculver as a "borough",{{sfn|Hasted|1800|pp=109–25}} but it is not listed as an [[ancient borough]] in Beresford, M. & Finberg, H.P.R., ''English Medieval Boroughs A Hand-List'', David & Charles, 1973. However, [[tithing]]s in Kent were known as "borghs", a word cognate with "borough", but derived from "''borh''", a "pledge".{{sfn|Baker|1966|p=11(note)}}|group=Fn}} In 1310 Archbishop [[Robert Winchelsey]] of Canterbury noted that the population of the whole parish in the time of his predecessor [[John Peckham]] ([[Wiktionary:circa|c.]]&nbsp;1230–1292) had numbered more than 3,000.<ref>{{harvnb|Gough|1984|p=19}}; {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|p=136}}.</ref>{{refn|{{harvnb|Graham|1944|p=10}}, gives the figure for the population in the late 13th century as "over a thousand", but the relevant [[primary source]] as edited at {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|p=136}}, gives it as "trium millium vel amplius" ("three thousand or more") and growing.|group=Fn}} For this reason, and because the parish was also large geographically, he converted [[Chapelry|chapelries]] at Herne and, on the Isle of Thanet, [[St Nicholas-at-Wade]] and [[Shuart, Kent|Shuart]] into parishes, though the church at Hoath remained a [[Perpetual curate|perpetual curacy]] belonging to Reculver parish until 1960.<ref>{{harvnb|Gough|1992|pages=91–2}}; {{harvnb|Gough|1984|pp=19–20}}; {{harvnb|Lewis|1848|pp=645–52}}</ref> Records for the [[poll tax]] of 1377 show that there were then 364&nbsp;individuals of 14&nbsp;years and above, not including "honest beggars", in the reduced parish of Reculver, who paid a total of £6.1s.4d. (£6.07) towards the tax.{{sfn|Fenwick|1998|loc=Introduction & p.&nbsp;393}}{{refn|The taxpayers of Hoath were presumably included with those of Reculver, since Hoath is not listed separately.{{sfn|Fenwick|1998|p=393}} An estimated 5% of the English population was exempt from or evaded the poll tax of 1377.{{sfn|Russell|1966|p=16}} Further, the population of England as a whole declined by about 40% between 1347 and 1377 because of the [[Black Death in England|Black Death]].{{sfn|Russell|1966|pp=16–7}}|group=Fn}}

===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}}

===Bouncing bombs===
{{main|Bouncing bomb}}
[[File:Bouncing bomb training - IWM FLM 2343.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|alt=refer to caption|[[Barnes Wallis]] and others watching a [[Operation Chastise|Dambusters]] bouncing bomb prototype strike the shoreline at Reculver, 1943]]
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], the coastline east of the village was used to test prototypes of [[Barnes Wallis]]'s bouncing bomb.{{sfn|Flower|2002|p=21}} This area was chosen for its seclusion,{{sfn|Flower|2002|p=29}} while the clear landmark of the church towers and the ease of recovering prototypes from the shallow water were probably also factors.{{sfn|Anon.|1997|p=240}}{{refn|The shoreline at Reculver had been put to a similar use by the [[Royal Artillery]] in 1805.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Times]] |title=The ''Powerful'', and ''Intrepid'',&nbsp;... |date=12 August 1805 |df=dmy |page=2 |url=https://www.thetimes.com/tto/archive/article/1805-08-12/2/4.html#start%3D1785-01-01%26end%3D1809-12-31%26terms%3DReculver%26back%3D/tto/archive/find/Reculver/w:1785-01-01%7E1809-12-31/1%26prev%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Reculver/w:1785-01-01%7E1809-12-31/5%26next%3D/tto/archive/frame/goto/Reculver/w:1785-01-01%7E1809-12-31/7 |url-access=subscription |access-date=25 November 2016}}</ref>|group=Fn}} Different, [[wikt:inert|inert]] versions of the bomb were tested at Reculver, leading to the development of the operational version known as "[[Bouncing bomb#Upkeep|Upkeep]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedambusters.org.uk/media.html|title=Video|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=The Dambusters (617 Squadron) | date=n.d.| at=Upkeep test drop 1 & Upkeep test drop 2 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041209055341/http://www.thedambusters.org.uk/media.html | archive-date=9 December 2004 | url-status=live |access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref> This bomb was used by the [[Royal Air Force|RAF]]'s [[No. 617 Squadron RAF|617 Squadron]] in [[Operation Chastise]], otherwise known as the Dambuster raids, in which dams in the [[Ruhr]] district of Germany were attacked on the night of 16–17&nbsp;May 1943 by formations of [[Avro Lancaster|Lancaster bombers]]. On 17&nbsp;May 2003 a Lancaster bomber overflew the Reculver testing site to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the exploit.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3036315.stm|title=Anniversary tribute to Dambusters|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> | work=BBC News Online|date=17 May 2003|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030622035135/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3036315.stm|archive-date=22 June 2003|url-status=live|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref>

Two prototype bouncing bombs, about {{convert|6|ft|m|0}} long and {{convert|3|ft|m|0}} wide, lay in marshland behind the sea wall until about 1977, when they were removed by the [[British Army|Army]].{{sfn|Anon.|1997|p=240}} Other prototypes were recovered from the shoreline in 1997, one of which is in [[Herne Bay Museum and Gallery]], a little over {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} west of Reculver.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-tide-is-turned-for-dam-buster-bombs-raised-1255040.html |title=The tide is turned for Dam Buster bombs raised |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=The Independent |date=9 June 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408222725/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/the-tide-is-turned-for-dam-buster-bombs-raised-1255040.html |archive-date=8 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=19 May 2014 |postscript=; }} {{cite web|url=http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=2194 |title=Bouncing bomb back |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=Canterbury City Council Online |date=29 October 1999 |access-date=20 April 2014 |postscript=; |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405072023/http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=2194 |archive-date=5 April 2013 }} {{harvnb|Anon.|1997|pp=239–40}}.</ref> Others are on display in [[Dover Castle]] and in the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum at the former [[RAF Manston]], on the Isle of Thanet.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/peoplesmuseum/week2_01.shtml |title=People's Museum – Week two gallery The Bouncing Bomb |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |magazine=BBC History |date=25 October 2006 |access-date=20 April 2014 |postscript=; |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101025154929/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/peoplesmuseum/week2_01.shtml |archive-date=25 October 2010 }} {{cite web|url=http://www.spitfiremuseum.org.uk/spitfire/other.htm |title=The Dambusters Bouncing Bomb |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=RAF Manston Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum |date=n.d. |access-date=20 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130812192310/http://www.spitfiremuseum.org.uk/spitfire/other.htm |archive-date=12 August 2013 }}</ref> Part of an inert Upkeep bomb, consisting mostly of a circular end with some of its filling still adhering, was uncovered during beach maintenance work undertaken at Reculver by the Environment Agency on 29&nbsp;March 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/31/world-war-two-bouncing-bomb-discovered-beach-kent/ |title=Dambusters bouncing bomb discovered washed up on a beach in Kent |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=31 March 2017 |access-date=3 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170703041745/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/31/world-war-two-bouncing-bomb-discovered-beach-kent/ |archive-date=3 July 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Governance==
[[File:Reculver in Domesday Book.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|alt=The entry for Reculver in Domesday Book|The [[Domesday Book]] entry for Reculver, given here as "Roculf", in 1086: the entry below it, headed "Nortone", is for {{nowrap|"Herne ...}} under another name".{{sfn|Flight|2010|p=162}}]]
In the 10th-century [[Anglo-Saxon charters|charter]] by which King Eadred gave Reculver to the archbishops of Canterbury, the boundary of the mainland part of the estate was about the same as those for the adjoining parishes of Reculver, Hoath and Herne in the 20th century, and the estate included part of the Isle of Thanet.<ref>{{harvnb|Sawyer|1968|loc=S&nbsp;546}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.esawyer.org.uk/charter/546.html|title=S 546|author=The Electronic Sawyer|publisher=King's College London|year=2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140331065536/http://www.esawyer.org.uk/charter/546.html |archive-date=31 March 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=19 May 2014|postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Gough|1992|p=}}; {{harvnb|Kelly|2008|page=73}}; {{harvnb|Flight|2010|page=162}}.</ref>{{refn|References such as "S&nbsp;546" indicate the number given to an [[Anglo-Saxon charters|Anglo-Saxon charter]] in {{harvnb|Sawyer|1968|page=}}. Details, [[Latin]] texts and English translations of charters referenced by Sawyer number in this article can be found through the list at {{cite web|url=http://www.esawyer.org.uk/browse/sawno.html|title=Browsing charters|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|website=The Electronic Sawyer|publisher=King's College London|year=2014|access-date=20 April 2014}} A map of the mainland part of the estate is at {{harvnb|Gough|1992|loc=Fig. 10}}.|group=Fn}} In 1086, Domesday Book named Reculver as a hundred, meaning that it was probably the meeting-place for the local [[Hundred (county subdivision)#Hundred courts|hundred court]].<ref>{{harvnb|Williams|Martin|2002|p=8}}; {{harvnb|Anderson|1934|pp=xxvi–xxviii}}.</ref> The hundred included Hoath and Herne, and it may also have included the neighbouring area of Thanet.{{sfn|Flight|2010|p=162}} In 1274–75 the local hundred was much larger: it was then named after Bleangate, in a detached part of [[Chislet]] parish, and was divided into northern and southern halves; it also included part of Thanet.{{sfn|Jones|2007|loc=Bleangate}}{{refn|Bleangate is about {{convert|7.4|mi|km|1}} south-west of Reculver, at OS grid reference {{gbmappingsmall|TR167645}}. In 1274–75 the jury for Bleangate hundred said that half of the hundred was in the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and the other half was in the hands of the [[abbot]] of [[St Augustine's Abbey|St Augustine's]], but that "they [did] not know from what time".{{sfn|Jones|2007|loc=Bleangate}} Bleangate hundred may have been in existence at the time of Domesday Book although not referenced by it, and if so probably included the Domesday hundreds of Chislet, Sturry and Reculver in 1086 as it did in the 13th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Thorn|1992|pp=56{{nowrap|(& n.&nbsp;67),}} 66}}; {{harvnb|Ballard|1920|p=17}}.</ref>|group=Fn}} By 1540 Bleangate hundred no longer included land on Thanet, its members being listed then as [[Sturry]], Chislet, Reculver and Herne for the archaic taxes known as "fifteenths and tenths",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e179/details.asp?piece_id=12938&doc_id=1557&doc_ref=E179/124/224 |title=E&nbsp;179/124/224 |author=E&nbsp;179 Database |publisher=The National Archives |date=n.d. |access-date=2 May 2014 |postscript=; }} {{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/taxation-before-1689.htm |title=Taxation before 1689 |at=4.2 Fifteenths and Tenths, 1334–1624 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=The National Archives |year=2010 |access-date=20 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319064550/http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/taxation-before-1689.htm |archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref>{{refn|All the members of Bleangate hundred were assessed at the same rate of £12.14s. (£12.70) for the two fifteenths and tenths granted to [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] in 1571 except for Herne, which was assessed at £12.15s (£12.75).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e179/details.asp?piece_id=13130&doc_id=1715&doc_ref=E179/126/415|title=E&nbsp;179/126/415|author=E&nbsp;179 Database|publisher=The National Archives|date=n.d.|access-date=2 May 2014|postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Lambarde|1596|p=28}}.</ref> While Sarre on the Isle of Thanet had been included in Bleangate hundred in 1274–75, by 1540 it was in Ringslow hundred, which consisted entirely of places on the Isle of Thanet.<ref>{{harvnb|Jones|2007|loc=Bleangate}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pp=217–37}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e179/details.asp?piece_id=12938&doc_id=1557&doc_ref=E179/124/224|title=E&nbsp;179/124/224|author=E&nbsp;179 Database|publisher=The National Archives|date=n.d.|access-date=2 May 2014}}</ref>|group=Fn}} and in 1659 they were listed as Chislet, Herne, Hoath, Reculver, [[Stourmouth]], Sturry and [[Westbere]].{{sfn|Kilburne|1659|page=332}} In 1808 the members of the northern half-hundred, or "Bleangate Upper", were listed as Herne, Reculver, Stourmouth and Hoath.<ref>{{cite news |last=Claridge |first=J.F. |date=25 March 1808 |title=Kent|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18080325/020/0002|newspaper=Kentish Gazette|access-date=5 May 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The [[Constable#United Kingdom|constable]] for the northern half-hundred was chosen at the [[court leet]] of the manor of Reculver, which by 1800 was usually held at Herne.<ref>{{harvnb|Harrington|1999|pp=264, 266–7}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pp=109–25}}</ref>{{refn|The election of a "Constable of the Half Hundred of Bleangate" named Cob as [[Sidesperson|sidesman]] for Reculver church was reported in 1596: he refused this duty on the grounds that he was too busy in his role as constable, and was supported in this claim by a letter from the "Worshipful" Mr [[Peter Manwood]].{{sfn|Hussey|1902|p=44}} In 1835 the [[Manorial court#Court baron|court baron]] was also held at Herne.<ref>{{cite news|last=Plummer|first=S.|title=Manor of Reculver|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18350616/034/0002|date=16 June 1835|newspaper=Kentish Gazette|access-date=5 May 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref>|group=Fn}}

The parish was represented by two [[tithing]]s&nbsp;– known in Kent as "borghs"<ref>{{harvnb|Baker|1966|p=11(note)}}; {{harvnb|Gough|2014|p=187}}.</ref>&nbsp;– in the [[Hundred Rolls]] of 1274–75 and, 400&nbsp;years later, for the purposes of the [[Hearth tax#Stuart period|Hearth Tax]], levied between 1662 and 1689.<ref>{{harvnb|Jones|2007|loc=Bleangate}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e179/notes.asp?slctgrantid=352&action=3|title=Tax grant details (Hearth Tax)|author=E&nbsp;179 Database|publisher=The National Archives|date=n.d.|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref> In 1274–75 they appear as Reculver borgh and Brookgate borgh;{{sfn|Jones|2007|loc=Bleangate}} in 1663 they appear as Reculver Street borgh and Brookgate borgh, which were recorded under a parish heading for Reculver, together with Hoath borgh;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e179/details.asp?piece_id=29684&doc_id=2329&doc_ref=E179/249/33|title=E&nbsp;179/249/33 Part 2 of 10|author=E&nbsp;179 Database|publisher=The National Archives|date=n.d.|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref> and in 1673 Reculver borgh and Brookgate borgh were recorded under a heading for Herne parish, while Hoath was recorded under its own parish heading.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e179/details.asp?piece_id=29726&doc_id=2504&doc_ref=E179/129/746|title=E&nbsp;179/129/746|author=E&nbsp;179 Database|publisher=The National Archives|date=n.d.|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref> However, borghs in Kent, and tithings generally, were related to the manorial and [[wikt:hundredal|hundredal]] administration of a county, rather than to the ecclesiastical parishes in which they lay.{{sfn|Harrington|2000|pp=xx–xxi}}

The parishes of [[Herne, Kent|Herne]] and, on the Isle of Thanet, [[St Nicholas-at-Wade]] were created from parts of Reculver parish in 1310, although they continued to have a subordinate relationship with their original parish into the 19th century, while [[Hoath]] remained a perpetual curacy into the 20th.<ref name=GrahamHastedHusseyBagshaw&news>{{harvnb|Graham|1944|pp=10–1}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pages=109–25}}; {{harvnb|Hussey|1902|loc=''passim''}}; {{harvnb|Bagshaw|1847|pages=217, 225}}; {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Archbishop of Canterbury has appointed&nbsp;... |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19170702/131/0007 |newspaper=The Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer |date=2 July 1917 |access-date=9 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Reculver |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000524/19221028/135/0008 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=28 October 1922 |access-date=9 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Curate's suicide |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000330/19310522/054/0009 |newspaper=Dover Express |date=22 May 1931 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Thereafter Reculver's parish boundary, enclosing an area of about {{convert|2|sqmi|km2|0}}, remained the same for both ecclesiastical and civil purposes until 1934, and included the settlements of Hillborough, Bishopstone and Brook, now Brook Farm.<ref name=unithistory>{{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10224330/relationships|title=Reculver AP/CP|at=Relationships and changes|author=Vision of Britain|publisher=University of Portsmouth et al.|year=2009 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140519124630/http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10224330/relationships | archive-date=19 May 2014 | url-status=live |access-date=19 May 2014|postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Bagshaw|1847|page=224}}.</ref> The parish extended west almost to [[Beltinge]], in Herne parish, and to [[Broomfield, Herne Bay|Broomfield]] in the south-west, where the boundary with Herne parish ran along the centre of the main thoroughfare, now Margate Road; it was bounded in open country on the south-east and east by the parish of Chislet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/sheet/county_diagrams_1920s/Kent_1921_1929|title=Ordnance Survey County Diagrams of England and Wales, Kent|author=Vision of Britain|publisher=University of Portsmouth et al.|year=2009|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref>{{refn|For the historical parish boundary see {{cite web|url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10224330/boundary|title=Reculver AP/CP|author=Vision of Britain|publisher=University of Portsmouth et al.|at=Boundary Map of Reculver AP/CP|year=2009|access-date=19 May 2014}} For the current ecclesiastical parish boundary, see {{cite web|url=https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=http://www.achurchnearyou.com/kml/parish/parish_560149.kml&hl=en&t=m&z=14|title=Parish Boundary (06BLK121)|author=achurchnearyou.com|publisher=Google Maps|year=2014|access-date=20 April 2014}}|group=Fn}} On 1 April 1934 the civil parish was abolished and merged with of Herne Bay.<ref name=unithistory /> In 1931 the civil parish had a population of 829.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10224330/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Reculver AP/CP through time|publisher=[[A Vision of Britain through Time]]|accessdate=29 September 2023}}</ref>

Reculver is in an [[Wards of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]] of the same name that includes Beltinge, Bishopstone, Brook Farm, [[Boyden Gate]], Chislet, Hillborough, Hoath and [[Maypole, Canterbury|Maypole]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lgbce.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/23064/Canterbury_F_Sh1_SO.pdf |title=Final recommendations for ward boundaries in the City of Canterbury August 2014 |publisher=[[Local Government Boundary Commission for England|LGBCE]] |year=2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205152144/http://www.lgbce.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/23064/Canterbury_F_Sh1_SO.pdf |archive-date=5 December 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=5 December 2016 |df=dmy |postscript=;}} {{cite web|url=https://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/7111/Ward-boundary-reference-maps.pdf |title=2015 ward boundary changes in Kent |publisher=Kent County Council |year=2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205155308/https://www.kent.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/7111/Ward-boundary-reference-maps.pdf |archive-date=5 December 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=5 December 2016 |df=dmy}}</ref> The ward is in the local government district of Canterbury and has one seat on Canterbury City Council; in the [[2019 United Kingdom local elections|local elections of 2019]], the seat was won by Rachel Lois Carnac, [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/electionresults?areaid=187 |title=Local election results 2019 |publisher=Canterbury City Council |year=2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503171311/https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/electionresults?areaid=187 |archive-date=3 May 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=3 May 2019 |df=dmy |postscript=;}} {{cite web|url=https://democracy.canterbury.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=6158 |title=Rachel Carnac |publisher=Canterbury City Council |year=2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508154944/https://democracy.canterbury.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=6158 |archive-date=8 May 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=9 May 2019 |df=dmy}}</ref> At the national level Reculver is in the English [[Electoral district|parliamentary constituency]] of [[Herne Bay and Sandwich (UK Parliament constituency)|Herne Bay and Sandwich]]. Sir [[Roger Gale]] (Conservative) has been [[Member of Parliament|MP]] for the area since 1983.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/constituency/4097/overview|title=Sir Roger Gale MP|publisher=www.parliament.uk|date=2024 |access-date=9 February 2025}}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:The eroding cliffs of Reculver Country Park - geograph.org.uk - 6930.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Sandy cliffs at Reculver Country Park|The soft sandstones of the cliffs fronting Reculver country park are easily undercut by the sea. Shingle in the area is composed of small pebbles washed out of the cliff, augmented to the east by shingle dredged off the coast of [[East Anglia]].<ref>[[#{{harvid|Matthews|Thompson|Golding}}|Matthews, Thompson & Golding]], pp.&nbsp;9, 13.</ref>{{refn|"[A]longshore transport rates are low [between Bishopstone Glen and Reculver]. Apart from along the eastern end of the section where there is a weak east to west transport, there does not appear to be a strong drift in either direction."{{sfn|Halcrow Group|2010|p=14}}|group=Fn}}]]
The ruins of the Roman fort and medieval church at Reculver stand on the remnant of a promontory, a low hill with a maximum height of {{convert|50|ft|m|0}}, which is the "last seaward extension of the Blean Hills."{{sfn|Jessup|1936|p=188}} Sediments laid down around 55&nbsp;million years ago are particularly well displayed in the cliffs to the west.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/sites/kent.live.wt.precedenthost.co.uk/files/Geology%20of%20Kent.pdf |title=Geology of Kent |publisher=Kent Wildlife Trust |year=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413150415/http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/sites/kent.live.wt.precedenthost.co.uk/files/Geology%20of%20Kent.pdf |archive-date=13 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> Nearby Herne Bay is the [[type section]] for the upper part of the [[Thanet Formation]], previously known as the Thanet Beds, consisting of a fine-grained sand that can be clayey and [[Glauconite|glauconitic]] and is of [[Thanetian]] (late [[Paleocene]]) age.<ref name=BGS>{{cite web | url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=TAB | title=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Thanet Sand Formation | author=British Geological Survey | publisher=NERC | year=2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320114238/http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=TAB | archive-date=20 March 2012| url-status=live | access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> It rests [[Unconformity|unconformably]] on the [[Chalk Group]],<ref name=BGS /> and forms the base of the cliffs in the Reculver and Herne Bay area.{{sfn|Ward|1978|loc=p. iv, Fig. 1 & pp. 2–3}}{{refn|{{harvnb|Ward|1978|loc=p. iv, Fig. 1}}, gives the location of the section of cliff illustrated there as being at Ordnance Survey grid reference "{{gbmappingsmall|TQ 2140 6902}}": this location is in [[New Malden]] in south-west London, whereas {{gbmappingsmall|TR 2140 6902}} is a location on the cliff between Bishopstone and Reculver. Compare also the grid references given at {{harvnb|Ward|1978|pp=4–5}}.|group=Fn}} Above the Thanet Sand are the [[Upnor Formation]], a medium sandstone,<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=UPR | title=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Upnor Formation | author=British Geological Survey | publisher=NERC | year=2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320114254/http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=UPR | archive-date=20 March 2012 | url-status=live | access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> and the sandy clays of the [[Harwich Formation]] at the Paleocene–[[Eocene]] boundary.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=HWH | title=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details Harwich Formation | author=British Geological Survey | publisher=NERC | year=2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320114301/http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=HWH | archive-date=20 March 2012 | url-status=live | access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> The highest cliffs, rising to a maximum height of about {{convert|115|ft|m|0}} to the west of Reculver,{{sfn|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=16}} have a cap of [[London Clay]],{{sfn|Ward|1978|loc=p. iv, Fig. 1 & p. 4}} a fine silty clay of Eocene age.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=LC | title=The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details London Clay Formation | author=British Geological Survey | publisher=NERC | year=2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110408164051/http://www.bgs.ac.uk/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?pub=LC | archive-date=8 April 2011 | url-status=live | access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> The surface consists mainly of flint gravel with some areas of [[brickearth]], both of which are [[Till|glacial deposits]].<ref>[[#{{harvid|Matthews|Thompson|Golding}}|Matthews, Thompson & Golding]], p.&nbsp;5; {{harvnb|Halcrow Group|2010|p=15}}.</ref>

Rocks such as these are easily washed away by the sea.<ref>[[#{{harvid|Matthews|Thompson|Golding}}|Matthews, Thompson & Golding]], pp.&nbsp;6, 9; {{harvnb|Halcrow Group|2010|p=15}}.</ref> It has been estimated that the Roman fort was originally about 1&nbsp;mile (1.6&nbsp;km) from the sea to the north, but the cliffs are eroding at a rate of approximately {{convert|3.3|ft|m|0}} per year.<ref>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|pp=186–8}}; [[#{{harvid|Matthews|Thompson|Golding}}|Matthews, Thompson & Golding]], p.&nbsp;13; {{harvnb|Halcrow Group|2010|p=16}}.</ref> Coastal erosion had washed away most of Reculver village by 1800, leading residents to re-locate to Hillborough, within Reculver parish.<ref>{{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pages=109–25}}; {{harvnb|Harris|2001|page=36}}.</ref> 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&nbsp;– including the site of the Roman fort and the medieval church&nbsp;– will be protected from further erosion.{{sfn|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=13}} New sea defences were built in the 1990s, including covering the beaches around the church with [[Riprap|boulders]].<ref>[[#{{harvid|Matthews|Thompson|Golding}}|Matthews, Thompson & Golding]], pp.&nbsp;10, 14.</ref>

The warmest time of year in Kent is in July and August, with average maximum temperatures of around {{convert|21|C|F|0}}, and the coolest is in January and February, with average minimum temperatures of around {{convert|1|C|F|0}}.<ref name=Wye>{{cite web|url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19812010/sites/wye.html|title=Wye 1981–2010 averages|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=Met Office|date=n.d.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140324190959/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19812010/sites/wye.html|archive-date=24 March 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=20 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Average maximum and minimum temperatures are about 0.5&nbsp;°C (0.3&nbsp;°F) higher than they are nationally.<ref name=UKtemp>{{cite web|url=http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19812010/areal/england.html|title=England 1981–2010 averages|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=Met Office|date=n.d.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130410093339/http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/averages/19812010/areal/england.html|archive-date=10 April 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=20 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/weather/features/kent_weather2.shtml |title=Kent weather exposed |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=BBC Kent |date=13 August 2006 |access-date=20 April 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813133013/http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/weather/features/kent_weather2.shtml |archive-date=13 August 2006 }}</ref> Average annual rainfall in Kent is about {{convert|728|mm|in|1}}, with the highest rainfall from October to January.<ref name=Wye /> This is lower than the national average annual rainfall of {{convert|838|mm|in|0}}.<ref name=UKtemp /> Occasional [[drought]] conditions can lead to the imposition of [[Outdoor water-use restriction|Temporary Use Bans]] to conserve water supplies,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.southeastwater.co.uk/media/155156/SEW_FINAL_Drought_Plan_2013.pdf |title=Final Drought Plan 2013 |publisher=southeastwater.co.uk |year=2013 |pages=29–62 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421064745/http://www.southeastwater.co.uk/media/155156/SEW_FINAL_Drought_Plan_2013.pdf |archive-date=21 April 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> and it was announced in 2013 that a water [[desalination]] plant was to be built at Reculver to increase supplies.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/South-East-water-plans-build-new-plant-Reculver/story-18980416-detail/story.html |title=South East water plans to build a new plant at Reculver and reservoir at Broad Oak |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=14 May 2013 |website=Canterbury Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512215806/http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/South-East-water-plans-build-new-plant-Reculver/story-18980416-detail/story.html |archive-date=12 May 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=20 May 2014 |df=dmy-all }}</ref>

==Demography==
In the [[Census in the United Kingdom|census]] of 1801 the number of people present in the parish of Reculver, enclosing an area of about {{convert|2|sqmi|km2|0}} and including the settlements of Hillborough, Bishopstone and part of Broomfield, was given as 252, and this figure remained roughly stable until the 20th century when a dramatic increase was recorded: in the census of 1931, the number was given as 829.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Maps/REC/01.htm |title=Reculver Population 1801 to 1921 |publisher=KAS |year=2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229233631/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Maps/REC/01.htm |archive-date=29 February 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 |postscript=; }} {{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TOT_POP&u_id=10224330&c_id=10001043 |title=Reculver AP/CP |author=Vision of Britain |publisher=University of Portsmouth et al. |at=Chart view |year=2009 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6PiE9CRGn?url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TOT_POP&u_id=10224330&c_id=10001043 |archive-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> But this included holidaymakers, and in 2005 the number of people at Reculver was estimated to increase to "over 1,000&nbsp;at the height of the [summer] holiday season".<ref>{{harvnb|Philp|2005|p=2}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/how-our-census-works/about-censuses/census-history/200-years-of-the-census/census-1911-2001/index.html |title=Census 1911–2001 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=n.d. |at=1931 Census |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521115740/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/how-our-census-works/about-censuses/census-history/200-years-of-the-census/census-1911-2001/index.html |archive-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=21 May 2014 }}</ref>{{refn|The form for the 1931 census specified that the presence of "visitors" should be recorded; visitors should also give their usual postal address.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/how-our-census-works/about-censuses/census-history/200-years-of-the-census/census-1911-2001/index.html |title=Census 1911–2001 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=n.d. |at=1931 Census |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521115740/http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/census/2011/how-our-census-works/about-censuses/census-history/200-years-of-the-census/census-1911-2001/index.html |archive-date=21 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=21 May 2014 }}</ref>|group=Fn}}

[[File:Fred C Palmer Reculver 1913 002.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|alt=Reculver postcard from 1913|Postcard of Reculver from 1913, with a tourist café in the foreground]]
In the [[2001 United Kingdom census|2001 census]], conducted on 29&nbsp;April, the relevant [[Census tract|census area]] covered {{convert|2.79|sqmi|km2|0}} and included only Reculver and outlying farms and houses, in which 135&nbsp;people were found, almost a quarter of whom were in caravans.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=457352&c=CT6+6SU&d=15&e=8&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1324575452150&enc=1 |title=Key Figures for Physical Environment |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |year=2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140420022331/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=457352&c=CT6%2B6SU&d=15&e=8&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1324575452150&enc=1 |archive-date=20 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=18 May 2014 }}; {{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=457352&c=CT6+6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1 |title=Key Figures for 2001 Census: Census Area Statistics |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |year=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518164546/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do%3Bjessionid%3Dac1f930d30d5bbbe57e4b23e4636af3fcdb2be2f4cea?a=3&b=457352&c=CT6%2B6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1305451938093&enc=1&a=3&b=457352&c=CT6%2B6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1&nsjs=true&nsck=true&nssvg=false&nswid=1290 |archive-date=18 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=18 May 2014 |postscript=; }} {{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do;jsessionid=ac1f930b30d8d90452de21b04c31a6f1b6b88801837d?a=7&b=457352&c=CT6+6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1284032438218&enc=1&dsFamilyId=129&nsjs=true&nsck=true&nssvg=false&nswid=1232 |title=Area: E00122332 (Output Area) Accommodation Type – People (UV42) |publisher=Office for National Statistics |year=2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612140348/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do%3Bjsessionid%3Dac1f930b30d8d90452de21b04c31a6f1b6b88801837d?a=7&b=457352&c=CT6%206SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1284032438218&enc=1&dsFamilyId=129&nsjs=true&nsck=true&nssvg=false&nswid=1232 |archive-date=12 June 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> All were born in the United Kingdom except for three individuals from the Republic of Ireland and three from South Africa. Gender was given as 69&nbsp;female and 66&nbsp;male, and the age distribution was 12&nbsp;individuals aged 0–5&nbsp;years (8.8%), 16 aged 6–16&nbsp;years (14%), 30 aged 17–35&nbsp;years (22.2%), 14 aged 36–45&nbsp;years (10.3%), 44 aged 46–64&nbsp;years (32.5%) and 21 aged 65&nbsp;years and over (15.5%). Half (67) of all the individuals recorded were described as economically active, with 58&nbsp;of these having employers and nine being self-employed; none were recorded as full-time students or unemployed. Twenty-four people (17.7%) were described as retired. Of those aged 16–74&nbsp;years, 14&nbsp;(12.8%) were placed at the highest level for education or qualification. Christianity was the only religion represented, by 99&nbsp;individuals, with 22&nbsp;recorded as having no religion and 14&nbsp;whose religion was not stated.<ref name=census2001>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=457352&c=CT6+6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1 |title=Key Figures for 2001 Census: Census Area Statistics |publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]] |year=2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518164546/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do%3Bjessionid%3Dac1f930d30d5bbbe57e4b23e4636af3fcdb2be2f4cea?a=3&b=457352&c=CT6%2B6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=0&s=1305451938093&enc=1&a=3&b=457352&c=CT6%2B6SU&d=15&e=16&g=457352&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&enc=1&nsjs=true&nsck=true&nssvg=false&nswid=1290 |archive-date=18 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=18 May 2014 }}</ref> From April 2001 to March 2002 the average gross weekly income of households in the electoral ward of Reculver was estimated by the [[Office for National Statistics]] as £560, or £29,120 per year; this was below the average for the south-east of England, excluding London, which was £660, or £34,320.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=6179320&c=Reculver&d=14&e=14&g=457343&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1323816846716&enc=1&dsFamilyId=266|title=Neighbourhood Statistics Area: Reculver (Ward)|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=Office for National Statistics|at=Income: Model-Based Estimates|date=n.d.| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520095941/http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=6179320&c=Reculver&d=14&e=14&g=457343&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1400579951907&enc=1&dsFamilyId=266&nsjs=true&nsck=false&nssvg=false&nswid=1290 | archive-date=20 May 2014 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref>

In the 2011 census the relevant census area was identical to the electoral ward, an area of {{convert|3.55|sqmi|km2|0}}, and produced information for the area as a whole.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=6505229&c=CT6+6SU&d=14&e=62&g=6436298&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1396348642042&enc=1 |title=Area: Reculver (Ward) Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics |publisher=Office for National Statistics |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407083909/http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=6505229&c=CT6%206SU&d=14&e=62&g=6436298&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=0&s=1396348642042&enc=1 |archive-date=7 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 |postscript=; }} {{cite web|url=https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2FDocuments%2Ffacts%2Dand%2Dfigures%2FPopulation%2Dand%2DCensus%2F2011%20Census& |title=Census: Usual residents by resident type, and population density, number of households with at least one usual resident and average household size |publisher=Kent County Council |year=2012 |at=2011-census-hsehlds-hsehld-pop-ahhs.kent-wards |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520134613/https://shareweb.kent.gov.uk/Documents/Forms/AllItems.aspx?RootFolder=%2FDocuments%2Ffacts-and-figures%2FPopulation-and-Census%2F2011%20Census& |archive-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> Therefore, while the total resident population of the ward at the 2011 census numbered 8,845, detailed information comparable to that of the 2001 census is unavailable.

==Economy==
[[File:Reculver from the air.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|left|alt=refer to caption|Aerial view of Reculver looking [[Points of the compass|west by south]] at {{convert|600|ft|m|0}} in June 2015: the mown, sub-rectangular area of grass around the church ruins marks the remaining interior of the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] fort. The untended area to its immediate left was a park for static caravans until about 2015.]]
In the Middle Ages Reculver was one of several members, or "limbs", of the [[Cinque Ports|Cinque Port]] of [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]]: possibly originating in a loose association in the 11th century, this status was first recorded in about 1300.<ref>{{harvnb|Murray|1935|pp=43–4}}; {{harvnb|Clarke|2010|p=61}}; {{harvnb|Jenkins|1984|p=18}}.</ref> Like other limbs at [[Fordwich]], [[Deal, Kent|Deal]], Sarre and Stonar, it was then involved in maritime trade, and it shared in the Cinque Ports' duty to supply ships and men for the king's use, in return for concessions such as tax exemption.<ref>{{harvnb|Clarke|2010|loc=p.&nbsp;61 & Fig.&nbsp;2.2}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/e179/details.asp?piece_id=12728&doc_id=1351&doc_ref=E179/123/18|title=E&nbsp;179/123/18|author=E&nbsp;179 Database|publisher=The National Archives|date=n.d.|access-date=20 April 2014 | postscript=; }} {{harvnb|Bagshaw|1847|p=295}}.</ref> The last surviving record of Reculver as a limb of Sandwich dates from 1377, and its name is absent from Cinque Port records of 1432, probably because of "drastic coastal erosion, and the consequent silting up of the Wantsum Channel between Sarre and the North Mouth [adjacent to Reculver]."{{sfn|Jenkins|1984|p=18}} In 1220 King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] granted the archbishop of Canterbury a market to be held weekly at Reculver on Thursdays,<ref>{{harvnb|McLain|1997|p=101}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.html|title=Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516|author=Centre for Metropolitan History|publisher=Institute of Historical Research|year=2010 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127084511/http://www.history.ac.uk/cmh/gaz/gazweb2.html | archive-date=27 November 2013 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014|postscript=:}} click on "List of places", {{nowrap|"[R]"}}, "Reculver (Kent)".</ref> and an annual [[fair]] was held there on [[Saint Giles]]'s Day, 1 September.{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|p=73}}{{refn|[[William Lambarde]], writing in 1576, gave the day of the fair as "7.Septemb. being the Nativitie of the blessed virgine Marie",{{sfn|Lambarde|1596|p=65}} to whom the church at Reculver was dedicated. The fair continued in the 17th century, when [[yeoman]] "David Amberton of Chislet sent horses [and wheat]&nbsp;... to Reculver for sale".{{sfn|Bower|1994|p=161}}|group=Fn}}

Oysters from the "Rutupian shore"&nbsp;– the shoreline around [[Richborough Castle|Richborough]], a little over {{convert|8|mi|km|0}} to the south-east&nbsp;– were noted as a delicacy by the {{nowrap|1st–2nd-century}} Roman poet [[Juvenal]],{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|p=79}} and in 1576 oysters from Reculver itself were "reputed as farre to passe those of Whitstaple, as Whitstaple doe surmount the rest of this shyre [of Kent] in savorie saltnesse."{{sfn|Lambarde|1596|p=261}} An enclosed area of salt water known as the Dene was leased for the breeding of [[oyster]]s and [[lobster]]s in 1867;<ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=New mode of oyster culture|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 |postscript=; }} {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=East Kent Natural History Society |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18690914/019/0005 |newspaper=Kentish Gazette |date=14 September 1869 |access-date=6 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> as of 2014 there is a [[hatchery]] for oysters in saltwater ponds on the eastern side of Reculver belonging to a seafood company that is based there.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/invasive-carpet-seasquirt-spread-a69212|title=Invasive carpet seasquirt spreads rapidly on the Herne Bay coast|author=Walker, J.|publisher=KentOnline|date=5 December 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409014215/http://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/invasive-carpet-seasquirt-spread-a69212 | archive-date=9 April 2014 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> In May 1914, Anglo-Westphalian Kent Coalfield Ltd drilled a [[borehole]] at Reculver in search of coal, since it had found a seam of coal {{convert|48|ft|m|1}} thick at nearby Chislet and was developing a [[Coal mining|colliery]] there; possible samples of coal were retrieved from the borehole at a depth of {{convert|1,129|ft|m|1}}, but it was abandoned, no workable seam having been found.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Anglo-Westphalian Kent coalfield |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000524/19140509/154/0007 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=9 May 1914 |access-date=8 May 2014|url-access=subscription |postscript=; }} {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Anglo-Westphalian Kent Coalfield Limited. Present position of Chislet Colliery |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000330/19140703/023/0005 |newspaper=Dover Express and East Kent News |date=3 July 1914 |access-date=8 May 2014|url-access=subscription |postscript=; }} {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Anglo-Wesphalian borings abandoned |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000330/19140717/034/0005 |newspaper=Dover Express and East Kent News |date=17 July 1914 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

[[File:Coastline east of Reculver - geograph.org.uk - 335114.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=refer to caption|Looking east across the mouth of the former [[Wantsum Channel]], from Reculver churchyard: an oyster hatchery is to the right. [[Margate]] is on the horizon.]]
Today Reculver is dominated by static [[RV park|caravan parks]], the first of which appeared after the Second World War.{{sfn|Kerr|1982|p=194}}{{refn|"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."{{sfn|Kerr|1982|p=194}} A 1953 image of the ruins at Reculver surrounded by caravans is at {{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=7}}.|group=Fn}} Also present are a country park, the King Ethelbert public house, which is a [[Public house#Tied houses and free houses in Britain|free house]], and a nearby shop and cafe.{{sfn|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=17}} Reculver was defined as a "key heritage area" in 2008, and there are plans for its development as a destination for [[Ecotourism|green tourism]].{{sfn|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=11}}{{refn|"Reculver's role in the region wide development of East Kent as a green tourism destination is central to [Natural East Kent]'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."{{sfn|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=11}}|group=Fn}} Canterbury City Council's ''Reculver Masterplan'', adopted in 2009, envisaged the creation of 100&nbsp;touring pitches in its caravan park, south-east of the Roman fort, which was then leased to the [[Camping and Caravanning Club]].<ref>{{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2008|pp=19–31}}; {{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2013|p=16}}.</ref> That caravan park was closed by 2015, when Canterbury City Council undertook a consultation on its incorporation into the country park.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/Reculver-Country-Park-users-improvement-plans/story-26662292-detail/story.html|title=Reculver Country Park users back improvement plans|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line-->|publisher=Canterbury Times|date=9 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150726173400/http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/Reculver-Country-Park-users-improvement-plans/story-26662292-detail/story.html|archive-date=26 July 2015|url-status=dead|access-date=26 July 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

===Community facilities===
Reculver Church of England Primary School is adjacent to the church at Hillborough.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reculver.kent.sch.uk/page/?title=Home&pid=1 |title=Reculver C of E Primary School |publisher=reculver.kent.sch.uk |year=2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409011431/http://www.reculver.kent.sch.uk/page/?title=Home&pid=1 |archive-date=9 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 |postscript=; }} {{harvnb|Harris|2001|p=36}}.</ref> The school's site also hosts Beltinge Day Nursery and Reculver Breakfast and Afterschool Club.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/127013 |title=Beltinge Day Nursery |publisher=Ofsted |year=2014 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6PiQUT1Y7?url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/127013 |archive-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 |postscript=; }} {{cite web|url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/EY405148 |title=Reculver Breakfast and Afterschool Club |publisher=Ofsted |year=2014 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6PiQfbS8S?url=http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/CARE/EY405148 |archive-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=21 April 2014 }}</ref> The nearest school for older children is Herne Bay High School.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hernebayhigh.kent.sch.uk |title=Herne Bay High School |publisher=hernebayhigh.kent.sch.uk |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409012843/http://www.hernebayhigh.kent.sch.uk/ |archive-date=9 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref>

The nearest post office is in Beltinge, about {{convert|1.9|mi|km|1}} to the west-southwest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.postoffice.co.uk/bing-maps/directions/CT66SU%3BCT66PL|title=Directions|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=The Post Office|year=2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616075859/http://www.postoffice.co.uk/bing-maps/directions/CT66SU%3BCT66PL|archive-date=16 June 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=20 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref> The nearest general practitioner (GP) surgery is about {{convert|1.4|mi|km|1}} to the south-west, between Bishopstone and Hillborough, with others in Beltinge, Herne Bay, Broomfield and St Nicholas-at-Wade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/GP/ct6-6su/Results/4/1.19728302955627/51.3781852722168/4/0?distance=5|title=Results for GP in CT6 6SU|author=NHS|author-link=National Health Service (England)|publisher=gov.uk|date=n.d.|access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> While the nearest [[Hospital#Types|general hospital]] is the Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, about {{convert|2.5|mi|km|0}} to the west in Herne Bay,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/home/our-services/queen-victoria-memorial-hospital-herne-bay/?entryid109=230338|title=Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital, Herne Bay|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=NHS|date=n.d.| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511235441/http://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/home/our-services/queen-victoria-memorial-hospital-herne-bay/?entryid109=230338 | archive-date=11 May 2013 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> the closest hospital with an Accident and Emergency (A&E) department is the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital, about {{convert|8.2|mi|km|1}} to the east in [[Margate]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/UrgentCare/UrgentCareFinder?Location.Name=Reculver&Location.Latitude=51.381&Location.Longitude=1.2&IsAandE=True&IsPharmacy=False&IsUrgentCare=True&IsOpenNow=False&MileValue=10&currentPage=1|title=Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=NHS|date=n.d.| archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20141125235255/http://www.nhs.uk/Service-Search/UrgentCare/UrgentCareFinder?Location.Name=Reculver&Location.Latitude=51.381&Location.Longitude=1.2&IsAandE=True&IsPharmacy=False&IsUrgentCare=True&IsOpenNow=False&MileValue=10&currentPage=1 | archive-date=25 November 2014 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> The nearest community centre is Reculver and Beltinge Memorial Hall, about {{convert|1.9|mi|km|1}} to the west-southwest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://opencharities.org/charities/302823|title=Reculver and Beltinge Memorial Hall|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=OpenCharities.org|year=2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409002315/http://opencharities.org/charities/302823|archive-date=9 April 2014|url-status=live|access-date=20 May 2014|postscript=;}} {{cite web|url=http://postcode-finder.net/address/27997243|title=Beltinge & Reculver Memorial Hall|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=Postcode-Finder.net|year=2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422232102/http://postcode-finder.net/address/27997243|archive-date=22 April 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=20 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==Landmarks==
===Ruined church of St Mary===
{{main|St Mary's Church, Reculver}}
[[File:Reculver 1800 and early 1900s.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.5|alt=Reculver church in 1800 and in the early 1900s |Reculver church near intact in 1800 (above), and in ruins in the early 1900s (below)]]
The medieval towers of the ruined church of St Mary are Reculver's "most dominant features".{{sfn|Harris|2001|p=26}} They were added in the late 12th century to a church founded in 669, when King [[Ecgberht of Kent]] granted land to Bassa the priest for the foundation of a monastery.<ref name=669Refs /> The church was sited near the centre of the Roman fort, and was built "almost completely from demolished Roman structures".{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=204}} In 692 the monastery's [[abbot]] [[Berhtwald]] was elected archbishop of Canterbury,<ref>{{harvnb|Bede|1968|p=282}}; {{harvnb|Brooks|1984|pp=76–80}}.</ref> and King [[Eadberht II]] of Kent was buried inside the church in the 760s.{{sfn|Kelly|2008|pp=78–9}}{{refn|In her 2004 entry for Æthelberht II in the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Susan Kelly wrote that [[Eadbert I of Kent|Eadberht I of Kent]] was buried at Reculver "in 748".<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=52310|title=Æthelberht II}} Retrieved 21 April 2014.</ref> However, in {{harvnb|Kelly|2008|page=}}, she observes that there is "a much better context"{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=79}} for this royal burial to have been of [[Eadberht II]], who "faded from view c. 763 x 764".{{sfn|Kelly|2008|pp=78–9}} The royal tomb at Reculver was "in a position corresponding to the south ''porticus'' (at St Augustine's kings were buried in the south ''porticus''); an inscription or other record identifying [the occupant] as King Eadberht (grand-)son of King Æthelberht may have given rise to the later belief that it was the earlier King Æthelberht himself that was buried [at Reculver]."{{sfn|Kelly|2008|pp=78–9}}|group=Fn|name=Eadberht}} The church building was considerably enlarged over time, the last additions being made in the 15th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|pages=180–3}}; {{harvnb|Wilmott|2012|p=26}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/reculver-towers-and-roman-fort/history-and-research|title=History and Research: Reculver Towers and Roman Fort|author=Portico|publisher=English Heritage|date=n.d.| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609014609/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/reculver-towers-and-roman-fort/history-and-research/ | archive-date=9 June 2011 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref>{{refn|Ground plans showing the development of the church from the 7th century to the 15th are at {{harvnb|Wilmott|2012|pp=24–5}}. The towers had been topped with [[spire]]s by 1414, and the north tower held a [[ring of bells]].<ref>{{harvnb|Rollason|1979|p=7}}; {{harvnb|Rollason|1982|p=10}}; {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|p=127}}; {{cite web|url=https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/research/monumental-inscriptions/reculver|author=Torr, V.J.|title=Some Monumental Inscriptions of St Mary's Church, Reculver, Noted by Rev Bryan Faussett: Noted 1758|publisher=Kent Archaeological Society|year=2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119163252/https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/research/monumental-inscriptions/reculver|url-status=live|archive-date=19 November 2019|access-date=29 December 2019}}</ref> One of these was reported sold in 1606, and in 1683 it was reported that the existing ring of bells, which were cast in 1635 by [[Joseph Hatch (bellfounder)|Joseph Hatch]], was in need of repair.<ref>{{harvnb|Hussey|1902|pp=46, 56}};  {{cite web|url=https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/research/monumental-inscriptions/reculver|author=Torr, V.J.|title=Some Monumental Inscriptions of St Mary's Church, Reculver, Noted by Rev Bryan Faussett: Noted 1758|publisher=Kent Archaeological Society|year=2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119163252/https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/research/monumental-inscriptions/reculver|url-status=live|archive-date=19 November 2019|access-date=29 December 2019}}</ref> Four bells were reported present by Francis Green, vicar of Reculver from 1695 to 1716.{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|pp=127, 156}}|group=Fn}} But it retained many prominent Anglo-Saxon features, including a triple [[chancel]] arch and a stone [[high cross]], though this had been removed by 1784.{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|p=72}}{{refn|The cross probably stood until the [[English Reformation]], when it was "presumably destroyed by sixteenth-century iconoclasts [after which] nothing more is recorded of it."{{sfn|Peers|1927|p=251}}|group=Fn}}

The church was demolished in 1809, in what has been described as "an act of vandalism for which there can be few parallels even in the blackest records of the nineteenth century".<ref>{{harvnb|Wormald|1982|loc=p. 107, Figs. 99 & 100}}, quoting Taylor, H.M & J. (1965), ''Anglo-Saxon Architecture'' '''2''', Cambridge, p.&nbsp;503; {{harvnb|Cozens|1809|p=906}}; {{harvnb|Anon.|1856|p=315}}; {{harvnb|Harris|2001|p=36}}; {{harvnb|Gough|2001|p=137}}; {{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> Archaeological excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries established the building sequence of the church, and areas of missing wall are marked on the ground by concrete edged with flint.<ref>{{harvnb|Dowker|1878a|p=}}; {{harvnb|Peers|1927|p=}}; {{harvnb|Wilmott|2012|p=24}}.</ref> The ruins are now in the care of [[English Heritage]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/reculver-towers-and-roman-fort|title=Reculver Towers and Roman Fort|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=English Heritage|date=n.d.| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609014609/http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/properties/reculver-towers-and-roman-fort/history-and-research/ | archive-date=9 June 2011 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> The sea defences protecting them were installed by Trinity House in 1810, but are now maintained by the [[Environment Agency]].<ref name=TrinityHouse1810 /> Fragments of the stone cross, and two stone columns that had been part of the church's triple chancel arch, are on display in [[Canterbury Cathedral]].{{sfn|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=5}}{{refn|An aerial view of the ruins is at {{harvnb|Witney|1982|loc=Plate&nbsp;8}}.|group=Fn}}

A byname for the towers is the "Twin Sisters", and an account of how this first arose was current about a hundred years after its supposed happening in the late 15th century, but in its usual form, for example in a 19th-century travel guide,{{sfn|Anon.|1865|p=103}} it is mostly an invention created around "pseudo-historical detail".<ref>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|pp=179–80}}; {{harvnb|Anon.|1791|pp=97–104}}.</ref>{{refn|The byname is also found as "The Sisters" and the "Two Sisters", but the towers are also sometimes known as simply "The Reculvers".<ref>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|page=179}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pages=109–25}}.</ref>|group=Fn}} ''[[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.{{sfn|Ingoldsby|1840|pp=455–65}} [[Clive Aslet]] used the byname in noting that, in [[Ian Fleming]]'s ''[[James Bond]]'' novel ''[[Goldfinger (novel)|Goldfinger]]'', the villain [[Auric Goldfinger]] "lived at Reculver".{{sfn|Aslet|2010|p=139}}

===Country park===
[[File:Numenius arquata Reculver.jpg|thumb|alt=A Eurasian curlew |[[Eurasian curlew]] at Reculver, 2007]]
[[Reculver Country Park]] is a nature reserve managed by Canterbury City Council and the [[Kent Wildlife Trust]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://explorekent.org/activities/reculver-country-park|title=Reculver Country Park|author=Explore Kent|publisher=Kent County Council|date=n.d.| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408230618/http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/parks-and-outdoor-activities/find-a-park/reculver-country-park | archive-date=8 April 2014 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014|postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2013|pp=14–5}}; [[#{{harvid|Matthews}}|Matthews]].</ref> It covers {{convert|64|acre|ha|0}} and comprises a narrow strip of protected, cliff-top land about {{convert|1.5|mi|km|0}} long, running from the remaining enclosure of the Roman fort west to Bishopstone Glen. Most of the cliff-top and all of the foreshore in this area are included in the Thanet Coast [[Site of Special Scientific Interest|SSSI]], the Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay [[Special Protection Area|SPA]] and the similarly named [[Ramsar convention|Ramsar]] site; most of the Country Park is also part of the [[Bishopstone Cliffs]] [[local nature reserve]], which covers {{convert|166.5|acre|ha|1}} of the coastline between Beltinge and Reculver.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003560.pdf|title=Thanet Coast|publisher=Natural England|date=1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024164417/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003560.pdf|archive-date=24 October 2012|url-status=live|access-date=1 November 2015|postscript=;}} {{cite web|url=http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2045|title=Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay|publisher=JNCC|date=2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812154646/http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2045|archive-date=12 August 2011|access-date=1 November 2015|postscript=;}} {{cite web|url=http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/RIS/UK11070.pdf|title=Thanet Coast and Sandwich Bay|publisher=JNCC|date=1994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151013092349/http://jncc.defra.gov.uk/pdf/RIS/UK11070.pdf|archive-date=13 October 2015|url-status=live|access-date=1 November 2015|postscript=;}} {{cite web|url=http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?themeid=1008785|title=Bishopstone Cliffs|publisher=Natural England|date=2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119151217/http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?themeid=1008785|archive-date=19 November 2015|url-status=live|access-date=19 November 2015}}</ref> In winter [[brent goose|brent geese]] and wading birds such as [[sanderling]]s and [[turnstone]]s may be seen; during the summer months the largest colony of [[sand martin]]s in Kent nests in the soft cliffs, on top of which [[fulmar]]s were also reported to have begun nesting in 2013, and wading [[Eurasian curlew|curlews]] may be seen at any time.<ref>[[#{{harvid|Matthews}}|Matthews]]; {{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2013|pp=11, 14–5}}.</ref> The grasslands on the cliff top are among the few remaining cliff-top wildflower meadows left in Kent, and are home to butterflies and [[skylark]]s. Also present are the nationally scarce [[Peucedanum officinale|hog's fennel]] and two species of [[Sphecidae|digger wasp]], ''Alysson lunicornis'' and ''Ectemnius ruficornis''.<ref name=SSSI />{{sfn|Canterbury City Council|2012|p=26}}{{refn|A list of "Species of Principal Importance" in the country park, and the results of a 2006 [[Buglife – The Invertebrate Conservation Trust|Buglife]] survey of winged insects found there, are at {{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2012|pp=21–6}}. For more on the wildlife, see [[#{{harvid|Matthews}}|Matthews]].|group=Fn}} The coastline here forms part of the "key on-land Palaeocene site in the London Basin",<ref name=SSSI>{{cite web|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003560.pdf|title=Thanet Coast|publisher=Natural England|date=1990|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024164417/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003560.pdf|archive-date=24 October 2012|url-status=live|access-date=1 November 2015}}</ref> and is the only location in the [[Woolwich Beds]] to contain wood.<ref name=SSSI /> The foreshore displays a "rich invertebrate and vertebrate fossil fauna&nbsp;... and the section has been extensively studied over many years."<ref name=SSSI /> The park first won a [[Green Flag Award]] in 2005, and it is estimated that over 200,000&nbsp;people visit it each year, including up to 3,500&nbsp;students for educational trips.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=3552 |title=Green Flag to fly at Reculver |publisher=Canterbury City Council Online |date=26 July 2005 |access-date=21 April 2014 |postscript=; |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130405055008/http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=3552 |archive-date=5 April 2013 }} {{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2013|p=8}}; {{cite web |url=http://www.canterbury.co.uk/Herne-Bay-Reculver-Country-Park-Reculver-Towers/details/?dms=3&venue=3030632 |title=Reculver Country Park & Reculver Towers |author=Visit Canterbury |publisher=Canterbury City Council |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6PiKLvLu4?url=http://www.canterbury.co.uk/Herne-Bay-Reculver-Country-Park-Reculver-Towers/details/?dms=3&venue=3030632 |archive-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> Canterbury City Council's ''Reculver Masterplan'' envisages purchasing farmland to the south of the country park to replace land lost to the sea through coastal erosion.<ref>{{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=33}}; {{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2013|p=16}}.</ref>

In 2011 it was found that the shoreline in the Herne Bay area, including Reculver, had come under threat from an [[invasive species]], the [[Didemnum vexillum|carpet sea squirt]] (''Didemnum vexillum''), also known as "marine vomit".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/invasive-carpet-seasquirt-spread-a69212|title=Invasive carpet seasquirt spreads rapidly on the Herne Bay coast|author=Walker, J.|publisher=KentOnline|date=5 December 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409014215/http://www.kentonline.co.uk/canterbury/news/invasive-carpet-seasquirt-spread-a69212 | archive-date=9 April 2014 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014|postscript=;}} {{cite web|url=http://www.nonnativespecies.org//index.cfm?pageid=155|title=Carpet Sea Squirt|author=Non-Native Species Secretariat|publisher=Defra|year=2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409043034/http://www.nonnativespecies.org//index.cfm?pageid=155 | archive-date=9 April 2014 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> First recorded in UK waters in 2008, the carpet sea squirt is [[Indigenous (ecology)|indigenous]] to the sea around Japan, but it has been carried to other parts of the world, including New Zealand and the US, on boat hulls, fishing equipment and floating seaweed.<ref name=Carpetseasquirt>{{cite web|url=http://www.nonnativespecies.org//factsheet/factsheet.cfm?speciesId=1209|title=Carpet sea squirt, ''Didemnum vexillum''|author=Non-Native Species Secretariat|publisher=Defra|year=2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520153425/http://www.nonnativespecies.org//factsheet/factsheet.cfm?speciesId=1209 | archive-date=20 May 2014 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref> Carpet sea squirt can overgrow other, [[Sessility (zoology)|sessile]] species, "potentially smothering species living in gravel and affecting fisheries."<ref name=Carpetseasquirt />{{refn|Carpet sea squirt is classified as an "alert species", and the public are requested to "report any sightings as soon as possible."<ref name=Carpetseasquirt />|group=Fn}}

===Centre for renewable energy===
A visitor centre in Reculver Country Park re-opened in 2009 as the Reculver Renewable Energy and Interpretation Centre, "marking 200 years of the moving of Reculver village".<ref name="Reculver">{{cite web|url=http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=2026 |title=Reculver Centre: for renewable energy and interpretation |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=Canterbury City Council Online |year=2009 |postscript=; |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224052752/http://www.canterbury.gov.uk/main.cfm?objectid=2026 |archive-date=24 February 2012 }} {{cite web|url=http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/reserves/reculver-visitor-centre-and-country-park |title=Reculver Visitor Centre and Country Park |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |publisher=Kent Wildlife Trust |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408212722/http://www.kentwildlifetrust.org.uk/reserves/reculver-visitor-centre-and-country-park |archive-date=8 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref>{{refn|There is no record of the settlement of Reculver being moved to a new site: rather, "the gradual erosion of the coastline meant that [Reculver's] residents began to abandon it, moving instead to Hillborough [within the same parish]."{{sfn|Harris|2001|p=36}} An Ordnance Survey map of 1885 has the place-name "Reculver" against the location of the church at Hillborough,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/sheet/bc_reports_1885/Kent_1885|title=H.M.S.O. Boundary Commission Report 1885, Kent|author=Vision of Britain|publisher=University of Portsmouth et al.|year=2009|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref> as does a map of 1903,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/sheet/new_series_revised_medium/sheet_20_and_24|title=Ordnance Survey of England and Wales Revised New Series, 20 and 24|author=Vision of Britain|publisher=University of Portsmouth et al.|year=2009|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref> but these do not reflect common usage: compare a map of 1805,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/results.jsp?xCenter=3410000&yCenter=2770000&scale=633600&mapLayer=nineteenth&subLayer=smith_1806&title=C.%20Smith%20New%20Map%20of%20Great%20Britain%20and%20Ireland|title=C. Smith New Map of Great Britain and Ireland|author=Vision of Britain|publisher=University of Portsmouth et al.|year=2009|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref> other 19th- and 20th-century maps,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/index.jsp|title=Historical maps|author=Vision of Britain|publisher=University of Portsmouth et al.|year=2009|at=Topographic maps|access-date=20 April 2014}}</ref> and current OS maps at grid reference {{gbmappingsmall|TR225692}}.|group=Fn}} The centre features a log burner fuelled by logs from the [[East Blean Woods|Blean woodland]], [[solar power|solar]] and [[Photovoltaics|photovoltaic]] panels provide electrical power, and there are displays describing the history, geography and wildlife of the area.<ref name="Reculver"/>

==Transport==
[[File:Reculver from the sea.jpg|thumb|left|alt=refer to caption|Reculver from the sea: ''All About Margate and Herne Bay'', 1865]]
Reculver is at the end of an [[Great Britain road numbering scheme#Other classifications|unclassified road]], Reculver Lane, and is about {{convert|2|mi|km|1}} by road from the nearest major junction of the [[A299 road|A299]], or Thanet Way. From Roman times there was a connection to Canterbury by road, the presence of which is reflected in parish boundaries for much of its length.{{sfn|Jessup|1936|pp=190–1}}{{refn|"[A] road that is now hard to trace ran from Canterbury to Reculver; its course may have been via Fordwich (there is now a footpath from Fordwich to Canterbury that may represent it), where the Stour was crossed, Buckwell, Maypole [in the civil parish of Hoath], and Hillborough to Reculver. It would not have been impossible for the Romans to have constructed a road between Richborough and Reculver, but it would have been an enormous task and scarcely worth the trouble; the only practicable route would have been by way of Chislet, Upstreet, and Grove on the banks of the Wantsum Channel, and then at least three waterways would have had to be negotiated."{{sfn|Jessup|1932|p=135}}|group=Fn}} An estate map of 1685 shows the Reculver end of this road as "The King's highe Way", which may have been in use until 1875, when it was reported that a public road had been diverted because of a cliff fall near Love Street Farm.<ref>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|pp=190–1}}; {{cite news |last=Ashenden |first=T. |date=17 July 1874 |title=Home Highway Board |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18750717/002/0002 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |access-date=6 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{refn|Love Street farmhouse, now occupied by the Blue Dolphin Club, is at Ordnance Survey grid reference {{gbmappingsmall|TR22406915}}, and is shown on the 1877 Ordnance Survey 1:10,560 scale (6 inch/mile) County Series map of Kent.|group=Fn}} Remains of a Roman road leading to the east gate of the fort have also been found, which were "substantial&nbsp;... consisting of a sandstone platform [10–13&nbsp;feet (3–4&nbsp;m)] wide and at least [11&nbsp;inches (30&nbsp;cm)] deep."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1861018&resourceID=304|title=Reculver (East of the Fort)|author=Heritage Gateway|publisher=English Heritage|year=2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141001/http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=1861018&resourceID=304 | archive-date=13 April 2014 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014}}</ref>

In 1817 the nearest access to transport by [[Stagecoach|coach]] was at [[Upstreet]], about {{convert|4|mi|km|1}} south of Reculver, which lay on a route that ran between London, Canterbury and the Isle of Thanet.{{sfn|Cary|1817|pp=258, 291}} In 1839 coaches and vans ran daily from Herne Bay to Canterbury and on to destinations on the southern and eastern coasts of Kent, with access to the [[English Channel]], at [[Deal, Kent|Deal]], [[Dover]], [[Sandgate, Kent|Sandgate]] and [[Hythe, Kent|Hythe]].{{sfn|Pigot|1839|p=75}} In 1865 transport from Herne Bay was available by "fly"&nbsp;– a type of one-horse [[hackney carriage]].<ref>{{harvnb|Anon.|1865|p=iv}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.webster-dictionary.org/definition/fly|title=Fly|author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->|publisher=webster-dictionary.org|date=n.d.|at=n. 5|access-date=21 April 2014}}</ref> Today, bus services calling at a stop adjacent to the King Ethelbert Inn connect Reculver with Herne Bay, Canterbury, Birchington and Margate.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://bustimes.org/localities/reculver |title=Stops in Reculver |website=bustimes.org |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231145417/https://bustimes.org/localities/reculver |archive-date=31 December 2019 |url-status=live |access-date=31 December 2019}}</ref>

[[File:Chatham Main Line over Wantsum.jpg|thumb|alt=The Chatham Main Line crosses the River Wantsum|The [[Chatham Main Line]] in 2010, looking west: here the railway crosses a bridge over the [[River Wantsum]], about {{convert|1.6|mi|km|1}} south by east from Reculver.]]
The nearest railway stations are at [[Herne Bay railway station|Herne Bay]], about {{convert|3.8|mi|km|1}} to the west, and [[Birchington-on-Sea railway station|Birchington-on-Sea]], about {{convert|4.5|mi|km|1}} to the east. Both stations are on the [[Chatham Main Line]], running between London's [[London Victoria station|Victoria station]] and [[Ramsgate railway station|Ramsgate]], on the south-eastern coast of the Isle of Thanet.{{sfn|National Rail|2013|p=}} The railway first reached Herne Bay from the west in 1861 and was extended to [[Ramsgate Harbour railway station]] by 1863, but no provision was made for public access from Reculver, although purchase of land for a station there had been envisaged and a short-lived [[goods station]] was opened in 1864.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=W.E. |date=30 November 1863 |title=Kent Coast Railway |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000174/18631130/002/0002 |newspaper=Morning post |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Knight|1986|p=18}}; {{harvnb|Gray|1984|pp=132–3}}.</ref> In the same year a passenger station was proposed for Reculver, primarily to serve tourists, but it was not built.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Kent Coast Railway |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18640809/015/0003 |newspaper=Kentish Gazette |date=9 August 1864 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In 1884 the [[South Eastern Railway, UK|South Eastern Railway]] proposed building a [[branch line]] from its station at [[Grove Ferry and Upstreet railway station|Grove Ferry]] on the Ashford to Ramsgate line to join the [[London, Chatham and Dover Railway]]'s Chatham Main Line at Reculver, thereby linking Canterbury and Herne Bay.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The proposed Canterbury and Kent Coast Railway |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18841220/003/0002 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=20 December 1884 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The proposed Canterbury and Kent Coast Railway |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18850124/007/0003 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=24 January 1885 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Canterbury and Kent Coast Railway Bill was presented to a [[Select committee (United Kingdom)|select committee]] of MPs in January 1885: the London, Chatham and Dover Railway objected to it, particularly the junction with their main line at Reculver, so the Bill was rejected and the line was not built.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Rejection of the Canterbury and Herne Bay Railway Bill |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18850418/030/0004 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=18 April 1885 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Gray|1984|pp=132–3}}.</ref> Rudimentary houses were erected by the [[East Kent Railway]] company on nearby marshland in 1858 for the [[Navvy|navvies]] who constructed the line through the area; these had been taken over by enginemen of the [[South Eastern and Chatham Railway]] by October 1904, when they were replaced by cottages.{{sfn|Gray|1998|p=202}}

There is no provision for access to Reculver from the sea, but there were maritime connections from at least the 1st century, when the Roman fort of ''Regulbium'' had a supporting harbour.{{sfn|Philp|2005|p=3}} The quantity and variety of coins found at Reculver dating from the 7th century to the 8th are almost certainly related to its location on a major trade route through the [[Wantsum Channel]];{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=73}} there was probably still a harbour in Anglo-Saxon times, and the monastery may well have operated a "fleet of ships and its own boatyard."{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=72}} Details in the 10th-century charter in which King Eadred gave Reculver to the archbishops of Canterbury suggest that there was then an island immediately to the north, creating a "mini-Wantsum [Channel that] could have provided a sheltered channel for beaching and berthing ships";<ref>{{harvnb|Gough|1992|page=94}}; {{harvnb|Kelly|2008|page=72}}.</ref> the present day Black Rock beyond the shoreline may be a remnant of this island.{{sfn|Gough|2003|pp=90–2}}

[[File:Thanet Coastal Path towards Herne Bay.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Looking west from Reculver churchyard in 2012|Looking west from Reculver churchyard in 2012: in medieval times a harbour lay in the area of sea to the right. The King Ethelbert Inn, built and extended in the 19th century, is on the left; the bus stop is adjacent.]]
In the 17th century an inlet to the north-west was described as "anciently for a harber of ships, called now The Old Pen".{{sfn|Roach Smith|1850|p=193}} In the 18th century there was a place for landing passengers and goods at the village,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MWX17595|title=Buildings on Reculver Foreshore|author=Exploring Kent's Past|publisher=Kent County Council|date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605155308/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MWX17595 | archive-date=5 June 2015 |access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> and the former name of the King Ethelbert Inn, the "Hoy and Anchor", makes reference to [[Hoy (boat)|hoys]], a local type of merchant sailing vessel.{{sfn|Gough|2014|p=188}} These continued to serve the coastline of northern Kent in the mid-19th century.<ref>{{harvnb|Bagshaw|1847|pages=138, 174, 211}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pages=109–25}}.</ref> In 1810 a [[canal]] was proposed to run from the coast between Reculver and St Nicholas-at-Wade to Canterbury, with a harbour for sea-going vessels at the northern end, which would be accessible from Reculver by a new road beginning at the inn, but none of this was built.<ref>{{cite news|author=Anon.|title=To the printers of the ''Kentish Gazette''|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18100427/001/0002|newspaper=Kentish Gazette|date=27 April 1810|access-date=5 May 2014|url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{cite news|last=Highmore|first=A.|title=Intended harbour at St Nicholas' bay, and canal to Canterbury|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18100918/013/0002|newspaper=Kentish Gazette|date=18 September 1810|access-date=5 May 2014|url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{harnvb|Priestley|1831|pp=140–1}}.</ref>{{refn|By 1810 the inn at Reculver was located where the King Ethelbert Inn now stands, though it was then named as the "Anchor" in a notice regarding the proposed canal.<ref>{{cite news|last=Highmore|first=A.|title=Intended harbour at St Nicholas' bay, and canal to Canterbury|url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000235/18100918/013/0002|newspaper=Kentish Gazette|date=18 September 1810|access-date=5 May 2014|url-access=subscription }}</ref>|group=Fn}} Passenger [[Steamboat|steamships]] called at Herne Bay pier on their route between London and destinations along the north coast of Kent from 1832, but this service ceased in the first half of the 20th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hernebaypiertrust.co.uk/history.htm |title=History of the pier |publisher=Herne Bay Pier Trust |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111218215729/http://www.hernebaypiertrust.co.uk/history.htm |archive-date=18 December 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=20 May 2014 |postscript=; }} {{harvnb|Bagshaw|1847|page=173}}.</ref> A travel guide of 1865 advised that

{{Quotation|[the] best way to visit Reculver from Margate is by means of a sailing or rowing boat&nbsp;... [although] Herne Bay is by far the most convenient place to get to Reculver from, as you can be rowed to the foot of the twin towers in little more than half an hour&nbsp;... [after which] we run the boat on the beach, and plant our foot on the famous "Rutupian shore," sung by Juvenal&nbsp;...|''All About Margate and Herne Bay'', 1865{{sfn|Anon.|1865|p=98}}}}

[[Her Majesty's Coastguard|Coastguards]] were stationed at Reculver from the mid-19th century until they were withdrawn in the mid-20th century,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/Coastguards/Table.html|title=British Coastguards 1841 – 1901 – Table of References|author=Waight, S.|publisher=Genuki|year=2011|at=Reculver (Bishopstone) | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080206111727/http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/Coastguards/Table.html | archive-date=6 February 2008 | url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014|postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Canterbury City Council|2008|p=7}}.</ref> but the towers of the ruined church remain a landmark for mariners, both practically and through their use to mark the division between areas covered by Thames Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) and Dover MRCC.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmtran/948/94806.htm |title=Consultation on the future of HM Coastguard |publisher=www.parliament.uk |year=2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121201070637/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmtran/948/94806.htm |archive-date=1 December 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref><!--@29 December 2011 Thames Coastguard was scheduled to close by 2015 & changes may mean Reculver shall no longer be relevant http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/blueprint_announcement_final_-_221111.pdf -->

==Religion==
{{main|Church of St Mary the Virgin, Reculver}}
[[File:St Mary's Church, Reculver, Kent - geograph.org.uk - 858211.jpg|thumb|left|alt=The church at Hillborough|Reculver parish church of St Mary the Virgin, [[Hillborough]], built in 1876]]
Early in the 19th century a new [[Church of England|Anglican]] parish church was built at Hillborough, about {{convert|1.25|mi|km|0}} south-west of Reculver, as a replacement for the old church of St Mary.{{sfn|Anon.|1856|p=317 & note}} The new church was given the same dedication to St Mary and, standing on a plot of land bought for £30, it was [[Consecration|consecrated]] on 13 April 1813.<ref>{{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=20 May 2014|postscript=;}} {{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> A "miserable little {{nowrap|[church] ...}} built in a rough and poverty-stricken style",{{sfn|Anon.|1856|p=317 & note}} it had a leaking roof and was already decaying by 1874, and was replaced by the present structure, begun in 1876 and consecrated on 12&nbsp;June 1878.<ref>{{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=20 May 2014 | postscript=; }} {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Hoath |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18740509/035/0004 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=9 May 1874 |access-date=6 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Reculver. Dedication of the new church |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18780622/038/0004 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=22 June 1878 |access-date=7 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Newman|1976|p=431}}; {{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>

The church begun in 1876 was designed in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] style by the architect [[Joseph Clarke (architect)|Joseph Clarke]],{{sfn|Newman|1976|p=431}} who was surveyor for the [[diocese of Canterbury]] at the time.<ref name=StMtheVKCC>{{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> It has seating for about 100&nbsp;people, and is a "simple and relatively plain building",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stmaryreculver.co.uk/page18.html |title=St. Mary the Virgin, Reculver – Church History and Background |publisher=stmaryreculver.co.uk |year=2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207121818/http://www.stmaryreculver.co.uk/page18.html |archive-date=7 December 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=3 May 2016 }}</ref> though it incorporates stonework from the old church at Reculver.<ref>{{harvnb|Jessup|1936|page=184}}; {{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>{{refn|"The [south] doorway is a 13th-century one reused from the ancient church at Reculver and has a multi-moulded arch and keeled nook-shafts with simple foliage capitals&nbsp;... A few stones from the ancient church of Reculver have been reused [in the interior], for example at the junction of the nave and chancel&nbsp;... Some 17th-century memorial slabs from the old church are set into the floor."<ref name=StMtheVKCC />|group=Fn}} The medieval [[baptismal font]] in the church is probably from the former chapel of [[All Saints' Church, Shuart|All Saints, Shuart]], on the Isle of Thanet, which was demolished in the 15th century.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Reculver. Dedication of the new church |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18780622/038/0004 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=22 June 1878 |access-date=7 May 2014 |url-access=subscription |postscript=;}} {{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|postscript=;}} {{harvnb|Jenkins|1981|pp=153–4}}.</ref>{{refn|The font "was rescued from a state of neglect, and kindly presented to the church by John Rammell, Esq., of Shuart, St Nicholas", in 1878.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Reculver. Dedication of the new church |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000338/18780622/038/0004 |newspaper=Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald |date=22 June 1878 |access-date=7 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>|group=Fn}} A war memorial stands at the northern edge of the churchyard, facing into the adjacent Reculver Lane, and records the names of 27&nbsp;parishioners who died fighting in the [[World War I|First World War]] and the Second World War.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/conMemorial.41037 |title=Reculver |author=War Memorials Archive |publisher=Imperial War Museum |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520181051/http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/conMemorial.41037 |archive-date=20 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 |postscript=; }} {{cite web|url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE44236 |title=Reculver War Memorial |author=Exploring Kent's Past |publisher=Kent County Council |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605160228/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE44236 |archive-date=5 June 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=5 June 2015 }}</ref>

==Notable people==
[[File:Ralph Brooke monument Reculver.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=refer to caption|[[Ralph Brooke]]'s monument in the chancel at [[St Mary's Church, Reculver]], engraved in 1784{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|loc=Plate&nbsp;II}}]]
[[File:Brook gateway.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=refer to caption|[[Elizabethan architecture|Elizabethan]] brick gateway near Reculver, a remnant of the home of Sir Cavalliero Maycote, in 2015]]
[[File:Maycote monument.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=refer to caption|The Maycote monument in the chancel at [[St Mary's Church, Reculver]], engraved in 1784{{sfn|Pridden|1787|loc=Plate X, Fig. 4}}]]
King [[Eadberht II]] of Kent was buried in the church at Reculver in the 760s.{{sfn|Kelly|2008|pp=78–9}}{{refn||group=Fn|name=Eadberht}} His tomb was in the south ''[[porticus]]'' of the church, adjacent to the chancel: this ''porticus'' later became part of the church's south aisle.{{sfn|Kelly|2008|p=79}}{{refn|{{harvnb|Pridden|1787|loc=p.&nbsp;171 & Plate&nbsp;XI}}, indicates the location of the royal tomb, and includes a plan of the church which shows the north and south ''porticus'' as separate rooms: {{harvnb|Freeman|1810|pp=40–1}}, effectively reports that both ''porticus'', or chapels, had been completely sealed up, and observes that any surviving royal tomb must have been enclosed within the southern one.|group=Fn}} This was traditionally believed to be the tomb of King [[Æthelberht of Kent|Æthelberht I]] of Kent,<ref>{{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|pages=71–2}}; {{harvnb|Kelly|2008|pages=73, 78–9}}.</ref> and was "of an antique form, mounted with two spires".{{sfn|Hasted|1800|pp=109–25}}{{refn|The tomb was still in existence in 1604, when a report of recent damage to it was made to the [[archdeacon]] of Canterbury.{{sfn|Hussey|1902|p=45}}|group=Fn}} [[John Langton (bishop of Chichester)|John Langton]], a [[Lord Chancellor|chancellor]] under the kings [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] and [[Edward II of England|Edward II]], was also a [[Rector (ecclesiastical)|rector]] of Reculver, as was [[Simon of Faversham]], a 14th-century philosopher and [[Theology|theologian]]: he was given the position but was forced to defend it to the Pope, and died in France, either on his way to the [[Roman Curia|papal curia]] in [[Avignon Papacy|Avignon]] or after his arrival, some time before 19 July 1306.<ref>{{harvnb|Graham|1944|p=1}}; {{ODNBweb|id=25572|title=Simon of Faversham}} Retrieved 21 April 2014.</ref>

The first recorded owner of Brook, about {{convert|0.8|mi|km|0}} south-southwest of Reculver, was Nicholas Tingewick,<ref>{{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|page=78}}.</ref> physician to King [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] and rector of Reculver until 1310, when he became its first recorded [[vicar]].<ref>{{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|p=154}}; {{ODNBweb|id=52684|title=Nicholas Tingewick}} Retrieved 21 April 2014.</ref>{{refn|"The house was anciently of considerable local importance, was called Helborough (the modern Hillborough)&nbsp;... and it eventually came into the possession of the family of Masters, from whose former house of Brooke, near Ash [about {{convert|3|mi|km|0}} west of Sandwich], it is said to have assumed its present name."{{sfn|Councer|1934|pp=137–8}}{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|p=78}}|group=Fn}} He was regarded as the "best doctor for the king's health",<ref name=ODNBTingewick>{{ODNBweb|id=52684|title=Nicholas Tingewick}} Retrieved 21 April 2014.</ref> and there are more records of his medical practice than there are for "most physicians of his time."<ref name=ODNBTingewick />{{refn|In 1918 it was reported that a [[Seal (emblem)|seal]] matrix had been discovered in the previous year "just to the south-east of the ruined church."{{sfn|Clinch|1918|p=169}} The seal matrix dates to the early 14th century, and bears the inscription "S[igillum] Vicarii de Reiculvre", or "Seal of the Vicar of Reculver". It was probably created in connection with the grant of the [[Royal Peculiar|peculiar]] status of [[Rural Dean|rural dean]] to Nicholas Tingewick in 1325.<ref>{{harvnb|Clinch|1918|pp=169–70}}; {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|p=154}}; {{ODNBweb|id=52684|title=Nicholas Tingewick}} Retrieved 8 July 2015.</ref>|group=Fn}} Brook subsequently passed to James de la Pine, [[High Sheriff of Kent|sheriff of Kent]] in the early 1350s.<ref>{{harvnb|Kilburne|1659|page=392}}; {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|page=78}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|1797|pp=177–213}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pages=109–25}}.</ref>{{refn|{{harvnb|Kilburne|1659|page=392}}, lists "James le Pine" as sheriff of Kent in the 26th and 28th years of the reign of [[Edward III of England|Edward III]]; {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|page=78}}, mentions "''James de la Pine'', who was sheriff of Kent 26 and 27 Edward III"; {{harvnb|Hasted|1797|pp=177–213}}, lists "James de la Pine" as sheriff of Kent for part of the 26th and 27th years of the reign of Edward III. This king's regnal years began on 25 January: in the [[Gregorian calendar]] in use today, his 26th year ran from 25 January 1352 to 24 January 1353, his 27th from 25 January 1353 to 24 January 1354 and his 28th from 25 January 1354 to 24 January 1355.{{sfn|Cheney|1991|pp=3–4, 21}} Regarding the sheriff's family name, {{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pages=109–25}}, states that this was "de la Pine, as they were at first written".|group=Fn}} His grandson sold it to an ancestor of [[Henry Cheyne, 1st Baron Cheyne|Henry Cheyne]],{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|p=78}} who was elected [[Knights of the Shire|knight of the shire]] for Kent in 1563, and was created "Lord Cheyney" in 1572.<ref name=HistofParlCheyne>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/cheyney-%28cheyne%29-henry-1540-87 |title=Cheyney (Cheyne), Henry (1540–87), of Toddington, Beds. and Shurland, Kent |publisher=The History of Parliament |year=2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140313055822/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/cheyney-%28cheyne%29-henry-1540-87 |archive-date=13 March 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> He had sold all of his possessions in Kent by 1574 to "finance his extravagance",<ref name=HistofParlCheyne /> and Brook subsequently became the property of Sir Cavalliero Maycote, who was a leading [[courtier]] to [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] and [[James VI and I|James I]].{{sfn|Duncombe|1784|p=78}} He had a "handsome monument [on the south wall of the chancel in the church at Reculver] representing Sir Cavalliero and Lady Maycote, with their nine children, all in alabaster figures, kneeling".<ref>{{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|p=72}}; {{harvnb|Pridden|1787|p=165}}.</ref>{{refn|The Maycote monument is illustrated at {{harvnb|Pridden|1787|loc=Plate&nbsp;X, fig.&nbsp;4}}. A letter dated 7 May 1595 from Archbishop [[John Whitgift]] of Canterbury giving his permission for Sir Cavalliero to create a [[Burial vault (tomb)|vault]] for his family in the chancel at Reculver is printed at {{harvnb|Hussey|1902|p=44}}. The existence of a large, circular vault at the east end of the chancel, containing coffins arranged in a circle, was reported in 1878 by George Dowker, who made excavations in the church;{{sfn|Dowker|1878a|p=261}} further excavations in 1927 revealed steps leading down to the vault.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Reculver excavations. Interesting recent discoveries |url=http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000330/19270610/087/0013 |newspaper=Dover Express |date=10 June 1927 |access-date=8 May 2014 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The date of Sir Cavalliero's death was omitted from his monument, but he was recorded as living in 1618.<ref>{{harvnb|Pridden|1787|p=166 & note}}; {{harvnb|Hussey|1902|p=48}}.</ref> A [[monumental brass]] in the church at Hoath records the death of Sir Cavalliero's paternal grandparents, Antony and Agnes Maycot, in 1532.{{sfn|Smith|1984|pp=64–6}}{{sfn|Councer|1934|p=137}} Several other memorials in the old church at Reculver are also described in {{harvnb|Pridden|1787|pp=166–9}}.|group=Fn}} Brook is now Brook Farm, where there is a remnant of Maycote's home in the form of a gateway, which is a "very rustic Elizabethan affair",{{sfn|Newman|1976|p=431}} all of brick, with [[wikt:molding#Noun|mouldings]].<ref>{{harvnb|Newman|1976|p=431}}; {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|p=72}}; {{harvnb|Councer|1934|p=138}}.</ref>{{refn|The gateway at Brook Farm is a [[scheduled monument]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1005153|desc=Gateway to Brook Farm, Hillborough}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20140502033716/http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1005153 Archived] from the original on 2 May 2014. Retrieved 20 May 2014; {{cite web|url=http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE25280 |title=Gateway to North-East of Brook Farmhouse |author=Exploring Kent's Past |publisher=Kent County Council |date=n.d. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605160401/http://webapps.kent.gov.uk/KCC.ExploringKentsPast.Web.Sites.Public/SingleResult.aspx?uid=MKE25280 |archive-date=5 June 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=5 June 2015 }}</ref> "The present aspect of the gateway is not in accordance with its builder's intention, since the brickwork seems originally to have been covered with stucco."{{sfn|Councer|1934|loc=p. 138, n. 2}} It can be viewed from the adjacent road, Brook Lane, and is mapped as a historic feature at OS grid reference {{gbmappingsmall|TR22026810}}.|group=Fn}}

[[Thomas Broke]], [[alderman]] and MP for [[Calais]] in the mid-16th century,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/broke-thomas-1513-55 |title=Broke, Thomas (by 1513–at least 55), of Calais |publisher=The History of Parliament |year=2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005171006/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/broke-thomas-1513-55-or-later |archive-date=5 October 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref> may have been a son of Thomas Brooke of Reculver, as well as being a "religious radical".<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=3498|title=Thomas Broke}} Retrieved 21 April 2014.</ref> [[Ralph Brooke]], [[officer of arms]] as [[Rouge Croix Pursuivant]] and [[York Herald]] under Elizabeth I and James I, died in 1625 and was buried inside the church, where he was commemorated by a black marble tablet on the south wall of the chancel, showing him dressed in his herald's coat.<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=3552|title=Ralph Brooke}} Retrieved 21 April 2014; {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|pp=73, 89}}; {{harvnb|Hasted|1800|pages=109–25}}.</ref>{{refn|Brooke's monument in Reculver church is illustrated at {{harvnb|Duncombe|1784|loc=Plate&nbsp;2}}, and was described by John Pridden in 1787 as "much ruined".{{sfn|Pridden|1787|p=166}}|group=Fn}}

[[Robert Hunt (chaplain)|Robert Hunt]], vicar of Reculver from 1595 to 1602, became minister of religion to the English colonial settlement at [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]], [[Colony of Virginia|Virginia]], sailing there in the ship ''[[Susan Constant]]'' in 1606, and celebrated probably "the first known service of holy communion in what is today the United States of America on 21 June 1607."<ref>{{ODNBweb|id= 14202 |title=Robert Hunt}} Retrieved 21 April 2014.</ref> Barnabas Knell was vicar from 1602 to 1646: during the [[English Civil War]] his son Paul Knell, born in about 1615, was chaplain to a regiment of [[Cavalier|Royalist]] [[cuirassier]]s, to whom he preached a sermon, "The convoy of a Christian", at the [[siege of Gloucester]] in August 1643.<ref>{{ODNBweb|id= 15706 |title=Paul Knell}} Retrieved 21 April 2014; {{harvnb|Knell|1660|p=}}.</ref>{{refn|Barnabas Knell "'proved himself a pugnacious, litigious and aggressive character,&nbsp;... thoroughly upsetting his flock at Reculver and Hoath, [and] being "presented" to the Archdeacon of Canterbury by the churchwardens on a number of {{nowrap|occasions.' ...}} He clung on to his post until 6 October 1646, when he was fired by the [[Committee for Plundered Ministers]] for 'swearing, observing ceremonies and, in sermons and otherwise, expressing malignancy against (Cromwell's) Parliament'."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/Way-Picture-vicar/story-20941390-detail/story.html |title=Way we were: Picture a vicar |publisher=Canterbury Times |date=10 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140422232258/http://www.canterburytimes.co.uk/Way-Picture-vicar/story-20941390-detail/story.html |archive-date=22 April 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref>{{sfn|Gough|1995|p=}}|group=Fn}} An estate map of 1685 shows that much of the land around Reculver then belonged to [[Sir James Oxenden, 2nd Baronet|James Oxenden]], who spent much of his life as an MP for Kent constituencies between 1679 and 1702.<ref>{{harvnb|Roach Smith|1850|page=193}}; {{cite web|url=http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/oxenden-sir-james-1641-1708 |title=Oxenden, Sir James, 2nd Bt. (1641–1708), of Deane, Wingham, Kent |publisher=The History of Parliament |year=2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409095925/http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/oxenden-sir-james-1641-1708 |archive-date=9 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=20 May 2014 }}</ref>

==In popular culture==

Author [[Russell Hoban]] repurposes Reculver as "Reakys Over" in his 1980, post apocalyptic novel ''[[Riddley Walker]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.errorbar.net/rw/Places|title=Places - Riddley Walker Annotations|website=Errorbar|access-date=21 August 2022|archive-date=29 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729025537/http://www.errorbar.net/rw/Places|url-status=live}}</ref>

==References==

===Footnotes===
{{reflist|group=Fn}}

===Notes===
{{reflist|25em}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation |last=Anderson |first=O.S. |title=The English Hundred-Names |publisher=Lund |year=1934 |oclc=63249941}}
*{{citation|last=Anon.|title=The Sisters, an affecting history: With a perspective view of Reculver Church, in the county of Kent|journal=Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure|volume=89|year=1791|pages=97–10 4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4l03AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA97 |oclc=7676735}}
*{{citation|last=Anon.|title=Storm and tide |journal=The Literary Panorama|volume=3|year=1808|at=cols. 1309–10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=st0RAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA13-PT277|oclc=7687961}}
*{{citation|last=Anon.|title=Strolls on the Kentish coast II. Reculver and the Wentsum|journal=The Gentleman's Magazine|volume=201|year=1856|pages=313–8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d_4IAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA313 |issn=2043-2992}}
*{{citation|last=Anon.|title=All About Margate and Herne Bay|publisher=Kent|year=1865|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yxQHAAAAQAAJ |oclc=23376603}}
*{{citation|last=Anon.|title=The Dam-Busters bombs found at Reculver|journal=Kent Archaeological Review|issue=130|year=1997|pages=239–40|issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation|author=Anon.|title=Early letters discovered at Reculver|journal=Kent Archaeological Review|year=1999|issue=138|pages=189–90|issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation|last=Anon. |title=John Rennie (1761–1821) |publisher=Institution of Civil Engineers |year=2011 |url=https://www.ice.org.uk/getattachment/4acf1713-6683-4815-b2de-8c05144c80b8/John-Rennie-exhibition.aspx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407121935/https://www.ice.org.uk/getattachment/4acf1713-6683-4815-b2de-8c05144c80b8/John-Rennie-exhibition.aspx |archive-date=7 April 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=23 May 2014 }}
*{{citation|last=Aslet |first=C. |title=Villages of Britain |publisher=Bloomsbury |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-4088-8371-6}}
*{{citation |last=Bagshaw |first=S. |title=History, Gazetteer & Directory of Kent|volume=II |publisher=Bagshaw |year=1847 |url=http://cdm16445.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16445coll4/id/278569 |oclc=505035666}}
*{{citation|last=Baker |first=A.R.H. |title=Field systems in the Vale of Holmesdale |journal=The Agricultural History Review |volume=14 |issue=1 |year=1966 |pages=1–24 |url=http://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/14n1a1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923181700/http://www.bahs.org.uk/AGHR/ARTICLES/14n1a1.pdf |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |issn=0002-1490 }}
*{{citation|last=Ballard|first=A.|chapter=An eleventh-century inquisition of St Augustine's, Canterbury|title=The British Academy Records of the Social and Economic History of England and Wales|volume=4|issue=2|year=1920|url=https://archive.org/details/terrieroffleetli04fleeuoft|oclc=458595302}}
*{{citation|last=Barrett|first=J.P.|title=A History of the Ville of Birchington|edition=3rd|publisher=Michaels Bookshop|year=2005|orig-year=1893|isbn=1-905477-16-3}}
*{{citation|last=Bede|author-link=Bede|others=translated by Leo Sherley-Price|title=A History of the English Church and People|publisher=Penguin|year=1968|orig-year=1955|isbn=978-0-14-044042-3}}
*{{citation|last=Blair|first=J.|title=The Church in Anglo-Saxon Society|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-19-822695-6}}
*{{citation|last=Bower|first=J.|title=The Kent yeoman in the seventeenth century|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=114|year=1994|pages=149–63|issn=0066-5894|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/114-1994/114-05.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602180253/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/114-1994/114-05.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=2 June 2015|access-date=2 June 2015}}
*{{citation|last=Brooks|first=N.|author-link=Nicholas Brooks (historian)|title=England in the ninth century: The crucible of defeat|journal=Transactions of the Royal Historical Society|series=5th series|volume=29|year=1979|pages=1–20|issn=0080-4401|doi=10.2307/3679110|jstor=3679110|s2cid=159670976 }}
*{{citation|last=Brooks|first=N.|title=The Early History of the Church of Canterbury|publisher=Leicester University Press|year=1984|isbn=0-7185-1182-4}}
*{{citation|last=Brooks|first=N.|editor-last=Bassett|editor-first=S.|chapter=The creation and early structure of the kingdom of Kent|title=The Origins of Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms|publisher=Leicester University Press|year=1989|pages=55–74|isbn=978-0-7185-1317-7}}
*{{citation |last=Wormald |first=P. |author-link=Patrick Wormald |chapter=The Age of Offa and Alcuin |editor-last=Campbell |editor-first=J. |title=The Anglo-Saxons |publisher=Phaidon |year=1982 |pages=101–28|isbn=0-7148-2149-7}}
*{{citation |author=Canterbury City Council |title=Reculver Masterplan Report Volume 1 |publisher=canterbury.gov.uk |year=2008 |url=https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/197595/reculvermasterplanvol1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141017/https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/197595/reculvermasterplanvol1.pdf |archive-date=13 April 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=23 May 2014 }}
*{{citation
 |author      = Canterbury City Council
 |title       = Reculver Country Park Management Plan 2012–2017 Appendices Vol. 2
 |publisher   = canterbury.gov.uk
 |year        = 2012
 |url         = https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/196341/reculverappendices-vol2.pdf
 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140418233851/https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/196341/reculverappendices-vol2.pdf
 |archive-date = 18 April 2014
 |url-status   = dead
 |access-date  = 23 May 2014
}}
*{{citation |author=Canterbury City Council |title=Reculver Country Park Management Plan 2013 to 2018 |publisher=canterbury.gov.uk |year=2013 |url=https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/314852/Reculver-Management-Plan-2013-17-web.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418233941/https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/314852/Reculver-Management-Plan-2013-17-web.pdf |archive-date=18 April 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=23 May 2014 }}
*{{citation |author=Cantianus |title=Mr. Urban|journal=The Gentleman's Magazine|volume=54|year=1784|page=87|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEkDAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA87 |issn=2043-2992}}
*{{citation |last=Cary|first=J. |author-link=John Cary |title=Cary's New Itinerary |publisher=Cary|year=1817 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sZ1bAAAAQAAJ|oclc=65248010}}
*{{citation|last=Cheney|first=C.R.|author-link = C. R. Cheney|title=Handbook of Dates for Students of English History |publisher=Royal Historical Society|year=1991|isbn=0-901050-10-5}}
*{{citation|last=Clarke|first=Helen et al. (eds.)|title=Sandwich: The 'Completest Medieval Town in England'|publisher=Oxbow|year=2010|isbn=978-1-84217-400-5}}
*{{citation|last=Clinch|first=G.|title=Seal of the vicar of Reculver|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=33|year=1918|pages=169–70|issn=0066-5894|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.033%20-%201918/033-10.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708192408/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.033%20-%201918/033-10.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=8 July 2015|access-date=8 July 2015}}
*{{citation|last=Cotterill|first=J.|title=Saxon raiding and the role of the Late Roman coastal forts of Britain|journal=Britannia|volume=24|year=1993|pages=227–39|issn=1753-5352|doi=10.2307/526729|jstor=526729|s2cid=161578402 }}
*{{citation|last=Councer|first=C.R.|title=Brook Farm, Reculver|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=46|year=1934|pages=137–9|issn=0066-5894|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.046%20-%201934/046-14.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160325081445/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.046%20-%201934/046-14.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=25 March 2016|access-date=20 April 2016}}
*{{citation|last=Cozens|first=Z.|title=Mr. Urban|journal=The Gentleman's Magazine|volume=79|year=1809|pages=906–8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BaJoSZchmCUC&pg=PA906|issn=2043-2992}}
*{{citation|last=Dowker|first=G.|title=Reculver church|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=12|year=1878a|pages=248–68|url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologiacant12kent|issn=0066-5894}}
*{{citation|last=Dowker|first=G.|title=The Roman castrum at Reculver|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=12|year=1878b|pages=1–13|url=https://archive.org/details/archaeologiacant12kent|issn=0066-5894}}
*{{citation|last=Duncombe|first=J.|author-link=John Duncombe (writer)|title=The Antiquities of Richborough and Reculver Abridged from the Latin of Mr. Archdeacon Battely|publisher=Johnson|year=1774|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uJBbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PP1|oclc=752514968}}
*{{citation|last=Duncombe|first=J.|editor-last=Nichols|editor-first=J.|editor-link=John Nichols (printer)|chapter=The history and antiquities of the two parishes of Reculver and Herne, in the county of Kent|title=Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica|volume=18|year=1784|publisher=Nichols|pages=65–161|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FY1bAAAAQAAJ|oclc=475730544}}
*{{citation|last=Eales|first=R.|editor-last1=Eales|editor-first1=R.|editor-last2=Thorn|editor-first2=F.|chapter=An Introduction to the Kent Domesday|title=The Kent Domesday|publisher=Alecto|year= 1992 |pages=1–49 |isbn=0-948459-98-0}}
*{{citation|last=Ekwall|first=E.|author-link=Eilert Ekwall|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names|publisher = Oxford University Press| edition = 4th | year = 1960|isbn=978-0-19-869103-7}}
*{{citation|last=Fenwick|first=C.|title=The Poll Taxes of 1377, 1379 and 1381 Part 1 Bedfordshire–Leicestershire|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998|isbn=978-0-19-726186-6}}
*{{citation|last=Fletcher|first=E.|title=Early Kentish churches|journal=Medieval Archaeology|volume=9|year=1965|pages=16–31|doi=10.1080/00766097.1965.11735685|issn=0076-6097}}
*{{citation|last=Flight |first=C. |title=The Survey of Kent: Documents Relating to the Survey of the County Conducted in 1086 |series=BAR British Series |publisher=Archaeopress |volume=506 |year=2010 |url=http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/digiarchive/ColinFlight/survey1086/Survey1086.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121217034551/http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/digiarchive/ColinFlight/survey1086/Survey1086.html |archive-date=17 December 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |isbn=978-1-4073-0541-7 }}
*{{citation|last=Flower|first=S.|title=A Hell of a Bomb: How the Bombs of Barnes Wallis Helped Win the Second World War|publisher=Tempus|year=2002|isbn=978-0-7524-2386-9}}
*{{citation|last=Freeman|first=R.|title=Regulbium: A Poem, with an Historical and Descriptive Account of the Roman Station at Reculver, in Kent|publisher=Rouse, Kirkby & Lawrence|year=1810|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThIHAAAAQAAJ|oclc=55555194}}
*{{citation|editor-last=Garmonsway|editor-first=G.N.|title=The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle|publisher=Dent|year=1972|isbn=0-460-11624-X}}
*{{citation|last=Glover|first=J.|title=The Place Names of Kent|publisher=Batsford|year=1976|isbn=978-0-7134-3069-1}}
*{{citation|last=Gough|first=H.|title=A fresh look at the Reculver parish clerk's story|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=99|year=1983|pages=133–8|issn=0066-5894}}
*{{citation|last=Gough |first=H. |editor1-last=McIntosh |editor1-first=K.H. |editor2-last=Gough |editor2-first=H.E. |chapter=The cure of souls at Hoath |title=Hoath and Herne: The Last of the Forest |publisher=K. H. McIntosh |year=1984 |pages=19–23|isbn=978-0-95024-237-8}}
*{{citation | last = Gough | first = H. |editor-last=Ramsay|editor-first=N.|editor2-last=Sparks|editor2-first=M.|editor3-last=Tatton-Brown|editor3-first=T.|title=St Dunstan: His Life, Times and Cult|chapter=Eadred's charter of AD 949 and the extent of the monastic estate at Reculver, Kent|publisher=Boydell|year=1992|isbn=978-0-85115-301-8|pages=89–102}}
*{{citation|last=Gough|first=H.|editor=Blake, L.J.|title=The Parish of Reculver: A Short Historical Guide to the Parish and to the Present Church of St Mary the Virgin at Hillborough|publisher=St Mary the Virgin P.C.C.|year=1995|orig-year=1969}}
*{{citation|last=Gough|first=H.|title=A true tale of Reculver|journal=Kent Archaeological Review|year=2001|issue=146|pages=137–8|issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation|last=Gough|first=H.|title=Coast erosion and Reculver|journal=Kent Archaeological Review|issue=149|year=2002|pages=203–6|issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation|last=Gough|first=H.|title=Was Reculver's Black Rock an offshore island?|journal=Kent Archaeological Review|issue=154|year=2003|pages=90–2|issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation|last=Gough|first=H.|title=The two names of a Reculver inn|journal=Kent Archaeological Review|issue=195|year=2014|pages=186–91|issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation | last = Graham|first=R.|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|title=Sidelights on the rectors and parishioners of Reculver from the Register of Archbishop Winchelsey|volume=57|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.057%20-%201944/01/01.htm|year=1944|pages=1–12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304190608/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.057%20-%201944/01/01.htm|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=live|access-date=6 December 2016|issn=0066-5894}}
*{{citation|last=Gray|first=A.|title=The London, Chatham and Dover Railway|publisher=Meresborough|year=1984|isbn=978-0-905270-88-3}}
*{{citation|last=Gray|first=A.|title=South Eastern and Chatham Railways: A Marriage of Convenience|publisher=Middleton|year=1998|isbn=978-1-901706-08-6}}
*{{citation|author=Halcrow Group |title=Isle of Grain to South Foreland Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) Review Appendix C – Baseline Process Understanding |publisher=South East Coastal Group |year=2010 |url=http://www.se-coastalgroup.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IGSF-Appendix-C.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518040824/http://www.se-coastalgroup.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/IGSF-Appendix-C.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 }}
*{{citation|last=Harrington |first=D |title=Kent Hearth Tax Assessment Lady Day 1664 CKS: Q/RTh |publisher=Centre for Hearth Tax Research |year=1999 |url=http://www.hearthtax.org.uk/communities/kent/kent_1664L_transcript.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121012023704/http://www.hearthtax.org.uk/communities/kent/kent_1664L_transcript.pdf |archive-date=12 October 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 }}
*{{citation|last=Harrington|first=D.|title=Kent Hearth Tax Assessment Lady Day 1664|publisher=British Record Society|year=2000|url=http://www.hearthtax.org.uk/communities/kent/kent_historical_introduction.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408213401/http://www.hearthtax.org.uk/communities/kent/kent_historical_introduction.pdf |archive-date=8 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |isbn=978-0-901505-43-9}}
*{{citation|last=Harris|first=S.|title=Richborough and Reculver|publisher=English Heritage|year=2001|isbn=978-1-85074-765-9}}
*{{citation|last=Hasted|first=E.|author-link=Edward Hasted|title=The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent|volume=1|publisher=Bristow|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53762#s6|year=1797|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525092008/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53762|archive-date=25 May 2011|url-status=live|access-date=23 May 2014|oclc=642415561}}
*{{citation|last=Hasted|first=E.|title=The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent|volume=9|publisher=Bristow|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63544|year=1800|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070503214738/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=63544|archive-date=3 May 2007|url-status=live|access-date=23 May 2014|oclc=367530442}}
*{{citation|last=Hearne|first=T.|author-link=Thomas Hearne (antiquarian)|title=The Itinerary of John Leland the Antiquary|volume=6|year=1711|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/TopographicalTradition/1712-leland.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120415042857/http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/TopographicalTradition/1712-leland.pdf |archive-date=15 April 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=23 May 2014 |oclc=642395517}}
*{{citation|last=Holman|first=J.|title=Antiquities of Reculver. Holman's Notes for the Guidance of Visitors |publisher=Holman|year=1870|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iIJaAAAAcAAJ|oclc=874806525}}
*{{citation|last=Hunt|first=A.|title=English Heritage Coastal Estate Risk Assessment |series=Research Department Report Series |issue=68–2011 |publisher=English Heritage |url=http://research.historicengland.org.uk/redirect.aspx?id=6005%7CEnglish%20Heritage%20Coastal%20Estate%20Risk%20Assessment |year=2011 |oclc=755071035}}
*{{citation|last=Hussey|first=A.|title=Visitations of the Archdeacon of Canterbury|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=25|year=1902|pages=11–56|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/025-1902/025-02.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502003611/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/025-1902/02/Arch%20Cant%2025-02.pdf |archive-date=2 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |issn=0066-5894}}
*{{citation|last=Ingoldsby|first=T.|author-link=Richard Harris Barham|title=The Ingoldsby Legends or Mirth and Marvels|publisher=Bentley|year=1840|url=http://www.exclassics.com/ingold/ingold.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140220032727/http://www.exclassics.com/ingold/ingold.pdf |archive-date=20 February 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |oclc=644179346}}
*{{citation|last=Jenkins|first=F.|editor-last=Detsicas|editor-first=A.|chapter=The church of All Saints, Shuart in the Isle of Thanet|title=Collectanea Historica: Essays in Memory of Stuart Rigold|publisher=Kent Archaeological Society|year=1981|isbn=0-906746-02-7|pages=147–54}}
*{{citation|last=Jenkins |first=F. |editor1-last=McIntosh |editor1-first=K.H. |editor2-last=Gough |editor2-first=H.E. |chapter=Reculver and the Cinque Ports |title=Hoath and Herne: The Last of the Forest |publisher=K. H. McIntosh |year=1984 |pages=17–9|isbn=978-0-95024-237-8}}
*{{citation|last=Jessup|first=R.F.|chapter=Roads|editor-last=Page|editor-first=W.|title=A History of the County of Kent|volume=3|publisher=Victoria County History, St Catherine|year=1932|pages=134–42|chapter-url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/03/03/01F/134b.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141502/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/03/03/01F/134b.htm |archive-date=13 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |oclc=907091}}
*{{citation|last=Jessup|first=R.F.|journal=Antiquity|title=Reculver|volume=10|issue=38|year=1936|pages=179–94|doi=10.1017/S0003598X0001156X|s2cid=246044669 |issn=0003-598X}}
*{{citation|last=Jones|first=B.|title=Kent Hundred Rolls|publisher=Kent Archaeological Society|year=2007|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/khrp/hrproject.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192253/http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/khrp/hrproject.pdf |archive-date=29 October 2013 | url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014}}
*{{citation|last=Kelly|first=S.|editor-last=Barrow|editor-first=J.|editor2-last=Wareham|editor2-first=A.|chapter=Reculver Minster and its early charters|title=Myth, Rulership, Church and Charters Essays in Honour of Nicholas Brooks|publisher=Ashgate|year=2008|pages=67–82|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W2spwSjY9YcC&pg=PA67|isbn=978-0-7546-5120-8}}
*{{citation|last=Kerr|first=N. & M.|title=A Guide to Anglo-Saxon Sites|publisher=Granada|year=1982|isbn=978-0-246-11775-5}}
*{{citation|last=Kilburne|first=R.|title=A Topographie or Survey of the County of Kent|publisher=Atkinson|year=1659|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/TopographicalTradition/1659-kilburne.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140318212812/http://www.kentarchaeology.ac/TopographicalTradition/1659-kilburne.pdf |archive-date=18 March 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |oclc=12425692}}
*{{citation|last=Knell |first=P. |title=Five seasonable sermons. As they were preached before eminent auditories, upon several arguments |publisher=Anon. |year=1660 |url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eebo2;idno=A87806.0001.001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523115604/http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eebo2%3Bidno%3DA87806.0001.001 |archive-date=23 May 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |oclc=607055836 }}
*{{citation|last=Knight|first=A.|title=The Railways of South East England|publisher=Ian Allan|year=1986|isbn=978-0-7110-1556-2}}
*{{citation|last=Lambarde|first=W.|author-link=William Lambarde|title=A Perambulation of Kent: Conteining the Description, Hystorie, and Customes of that Shyre|publisher=Bollisant|year=1596|orig-year=1576|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FwY6AAAAcAAJ|oclc=606507630}}
*{{citation|last=Lewis|first=A.D.|title=The Kent Coast|publisher=Unwin|year=1911|oclc=4829854}}
*{{citation|last=Lewis|first=S.|author-link=Samuel Lewis (publisher)|chapter=Raydon – Redditch|title=A Topographical Dictionary of England|chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51233#s17|publisher=Lewis|year=1848|pages=645–52|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109001238/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51233|archive-date=9 November 2012|url-status=live|access-date=23 May 2014|oclc=7705743}}
*{{citation|last=McLain|first=B.A.|title=Factors in market establishment in medieval England: The evidence from Kent 1086–1350|journal=Archaeologia Cantiana|volume=117|year=1997|pages=83–103|issn=0066-5894|url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/117-1997/117-06.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150602181444/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/117-1997/117-06.pdf|url-status=live|archive-date=2 June 2015|access-date=2 June 2015}}
*{{citation|last1=Marsden|first1=S.|last2=Horsler|first2=V.|last3=Kelleher|first3=S.|author-link1=Simon Marsden|title=This Spectred Isle: A Journey Through Haunted England|publisher=English Heritage|year=2005|isbn=1-85074-930-2}}
*{{citation|last=Matthews|first=C.|title=Reculver Country Park Wildlife Resource Pack|publisher=Kent Wildlife Trust|url=https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/196365/reculverwildlife.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140408214744/https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/196365/reculverwildlife.pdf|archive-date=8 April 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=23 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}
*{{citation|last1=Matthews|first1=C.|last2=Thompson|first2=S.|last3=Golding|first3=P.|title=Reculver Country Park Geology Resource Pack|publisher=Kent Wildlife Trust|url=https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/196349/reculvergeology.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419012106/https://www.canterbury.gov.uk/media/196349/reculvergeology.pdf |archive-date=19 April 2014 |access-date=23 May 2014}}
*{{citation|last=Merrifield|first=R.|author-link=Ralph Merrifield|title=The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic|publisher=Batsford|year=1987|isbn=978-0-7134-4870-2}}
*{{citation|last=Mills|first=A.D.|title=A Dictionary of English Place-Names|publisher = Oxford University Press| edition = 2nd|year=1998|isbn=978-0-19-280074-9}}
*{{citation|last=Mot|first=T.|chapter=3. Vicarage house|title=The Gentleman's Magazine|year=1809a|volume=79|at=Plate&nbsp;II|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BaJoSZchmCUC&pg=PA1009|issn=2043-2992}}
*{{citation|last=Mot|first=T.|title=Mr. Urban|journal=The Gentleman's Magazine|volume=79|year=1809b|pages=801–2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BaJoSZchmCUC&pg=PA801|issn=2043-2992}}
*{{citation|last=Murray|first=K.M.E.|title=The Constitutional History of the Cinque Ports|publisher=Manchester University Press|year=1935|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88S8AAAAIAAJ|oclc=474981814}}
*{{citation|author=National Rail|title=London and the South East Rail Services|year=2013|publisher=ATOC|url=http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/London_South_East.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409015126/http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/static/documents/content/London_South_East.pdf|archive-date=9 April 2014|url-status=dead|access-date=23 May 2014|df=dmy-all}}
*{{citation |last=Nepos |title=Mr. Urban |journal=The Gentleman's Magazine |volume=91 |year=1821 |pages=319–20 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9MZnclDVK98C&pg=PA319 |issn=2043-2992}}
*{{citation |last=Newman |first=J.|title=North East and East Kent |series=Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England |publisher=Penguin |edition=2nd |year=1976 |isbn=978-0-14-071039-7}}
*{{citation |last=Page |first=W.|author-link=William Henry Page |chapter=The Abbey of Reculver|title=A History of the County of Kent |volume=2 |publisher=Victoria County History, St Catherine |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=38194|year=1926 |pages=141–2 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140423232142/http://british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=38194 |archive-date=23 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |oclc=9243447}}
*{{citation |last=Peers |first=C.R. |title=Reculver: Its Saxon church and cross |journal=Archaeologia |volume=77 |year=1927 |pages=241–56 |issn=0261-3409 |doi=10.1017/s0261340900013436}}
*{{citation |last=Perkins |first=D. |title=The long demise of the Wantsum sea channel: A recapitulation based on the data |journal=Archaeologia Cantiana |volume=127 |year=2007 |pages=249–59 |url=http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/127-2007/14/249.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413132004/http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/127-2007/14/249.htm |archive-date=13 April 2014 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |issn=0066-5894}}
*{{citation |last=Philp |first=B. |journal=Kent Archaeological Review |title=Ritual burials at Reculver |issue=6 |year=1966 |page=7 |url=http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR006/KAR006_Reculver.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718030303/http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR006/KAR006_Reculver.htm |archive-date=18 July 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation |last=Philp |first=B. |journal=Kent Archaeological Review |title=The Reculver inscription |issue=17 |year=1969a |page=18 |url=http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR017/KAR017_Reculver.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718025723/http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR017/KAR017_Reculver.htm |archive-date=18 July 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation |last=Philp |first=B. |journal=Kent Archaeological Review|title=The Roman fort at Reculver excavations 1968 – Interim Report|issue=15 |year=1969b |pages=7–11|url=http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR015/KAR015_Reculver.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718025832/http://cka.moon-demon.co.uk/KAR015/KAR015_Reculver.htm |archive-date=18 July 2011 |url-status=live |access-date=23 May 2014 |issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation |last=Philp |first=B. |title=The Excavation of the Roman Fort at Reculver, Kent |publisher=Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit |year=2005 |isbn=0-947831-24-X}}
*{{citation |last=Philp |first=B. |title=Excavations at the Visitors Centre, Reculver, Kent 2008–9 |journal=Kent Archaeological Review |issue=178 |year=2009 |pages=173–7 |issn=0023-0014}}
*{{citation |last=Pigot |first=J. |title=Pigot and Co.'s Royal National and Commercial Directory and Topography of the Counties of Bedford, Cambridge, Essex, Herts, Huntingdon, Kent, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey and Sussex |publisher=Pigot & Co. |year=1839 |oclc=41997105}}
*{{citation |last=Pridden |first=J. |author-link=John Pridden |editor-last=Nichols |editor-first=J. |chapter=Letter to Mr John Nichols |title=Bibliotheca Topographica Britannica |volume=45 |publisher=Nichols |year=1787 |pages=163–80 |url=https://archive.org/details/topographicabrit01nich |oclc=728419767}}
*{{citation |last=Priestley |first=J. |title=Historical Account of the Navigable Rivers, Canals, and Railways, throughout Great Britain, as a Reference to Nichols, Priestley and Walker's New Map of Inland Navigation|publisher=Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green; Cary; Nichols |year=1831 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6y1AAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA140|oclc=503766891}}
*{{citation |last=Roach Smith |first=C. |author-link=Charles Roach Smith |title=The Antiquities of Richborough, Reculver, and Lymne |publisher=Russell Smith |year=1850 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E1AGAAAAQAAJ |oclc=27084170}}
*{{citation |last=Rollason |first=D.W. |author-link=David Rollason |title=The date of the parish boundary of Minster-in-Thanet (Kent) |journal=Archaeologia Cantiana |volume=95 |year=1979 |pages=7–17|issn=0066-5894}}
*{{citation |last=Rollason |first=D.W. |title=The Mildrith Legend: A Study in Early Medieval Hagiography in England |publisher=Leicester University Press |year=1982 |isbn=0-7185-1201-4}}
*{{citation |last=Russell |first=J.C. |title=The preplague population of England |journal=Journal of British Studies |volume=5 |issue=2 |year=1966 |pages=1–21 |issn=0021-9371 |doi=10.1086/385516|s2cid=144704569 }}
*{{citation |last=Sawyer |first=P.H. |author-link=Peter Hayes Sawyer |title=Anglo-Saxon Charters: An Annotated List and Bibliography |publisher=Royal Historical Society|year=1968 |oclc=460956}}
*{{citation |last=Smith |first=L.A. |editor1-last=McIntosh |editor1-first=K.H. |editor2-last=Gough |editor2-first=H.E. |chapter=The monumental brasses of Herne and Hoath |title=Hoath and Herne: The Last of the Forest |publisher=K. H. McIntosh |year=1984 |pages=54–68|isbn=978-0-95024-237-8}}
*{{citation |last=Thorn |first=F.R. |chapter=Hundreds and wapentakes |editor-last=Williams |editor-first=A. |title=The Kent Domesday |publisher=Alecto |year=1992 |pages=50–72 |isbn=0-948459-98-0}}
*{{citation |last=Ward |first=D.J. |title=The lower London Tertiary (Palaeocene) succession of Herne Bay, Kent |publisher=H.M.S.O |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-11-884052-1}}
*{{citation |editor1-last=Williams |editor1-first=A. |editor1-link=Ann Williams (historian) |editor2-last=Martin |editor2-first=G.H. |title=Domesday Book A Complete Translation |publisher=Penguin |year=2002 |orig-year=1992 |isbn=0-14-051535-6}}
*{{citation |last=Wilmott |first=T. |title=Richborough and Reculver |publisher=English Heritage |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-84802-073-3}}
*{{citation |last=Witney |first=K.P. |title=The Kingdom of Kent |publisher=Phillimore |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-85033-443-2}}

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Reculver}}

{{Canterbury}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Roman fortifications in England]]
[[Category:Anglo-Saxon sites in England]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in Kent]]
[[Category:City of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Country parks in Kent]]
[[Category:English Heritage sites in Kent]]
[[Category:Villages in Kent]]
[[Category:Former civil parishes in Kent]]