Dover

This article is about the English port. For other uses see Dover (disambiguation).

Dover is a major channel port in the English county of Kent. In 1991 it had a population of 34,200.

It is the closest English point of proximity to France and continental Europe being only 21 miles (34 kilometres) from the French port of Calais. It is famous for its white cliffs, which are made of chalk. The cliffs gave Britain its nickname of Albion, meaning "white". The town's name derives from the Brythonic word for water.

Due to its closeness to continental Europe Dover is one of the busiest cross Channel ports of the United Kingdom, with 18 million passengers passing through every year. Regular ferry services operate from Dover to Calais. As of 2004, services to other ports no longer operate, although Hoverspeed offers an Ostend service that combines its catamaran route to Calais with a bus to Ostend.

History

Dover has been an important port for millennia. In 1992, a waterlogged boat was discovered in a depth of 6 m that dates to the Bronze Age and is one of the oldest seagoing vessels ever recovered. It has been dated by the radiocarbon method to ca. 1550 BC. The Langdon Bay hoard, discovered in 1974 off the Dover coast contains bronze axes of a French type and may represent the cargo of a sunken vessel, thus demonstrating cross-channel trade already for the Bronze Age, if not earlier. Both finds are on display in the Dover museum in market square. The Romans were the first to record the town's existence and named it Dubris, Although there is believed to have been settlements there since before the Roman period. The town was the starting point of Watling Street.

The Romans built a lighthouse in the grounds of what is now Dover Castle in around AD 50, making it one of the oldest buildings in Britain. The "Painted House" is a Roman mansion from about AD 200 and one of the best preserved Roman houses in Britain. In late Roman times, Dover was an important harbour of the classis britannica (British fleet).

On May 26, 1670 Charles II of England and Louis XIV of France secretly signed a treaty here which ended hostilities between their kingdoms.

Dover is represented in Parliament by the Labour MP Gywn Prosser.

Sport

Dover Athletic F.C. are Dover's football team. They are a non-league side.