Port of Dover
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The Port of Dover is a cross-channel ferry, cruise terminal, maritime cargo and marina facility situated in
Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...
,
Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
, south-east
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It is the nearest English port to France, at just away, and is one of the world's busiest maritime passenger ports, with 11.7 million passengers, 2.6 million lorries, 2.2 million cars and motorcycles and 80,000 coaches passing through it in 2017, and with an annual turnover of £58.5 million a year. This contrasts with the nearby
Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (french: Tunnel sous la Manche), also known as the Chunnel, is a railway tunnel that connects Folkestone (Kent, England, UK) with Coquelles ( Hauts-de-France, France) beneath the English Channel at the Strait of Dover. ...
, the only fixed link between the island of
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
and the European mainland, which now handles an estimated 20 million passengers and 1.6 million trucks per year. The modern port facility features a large artificial harbour constructed behind stone piers and a defensive concrete breakwater. The port is divided into two main sections: the Eastern Docks serve as the main cross-channel ferry terminal, while the Western Docks contain a cruise ship terminal and a yacht marina along with cargo facilities. The Port of Dover has a long history and possesses several
listed buildings In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
and structures. The port is owned and operated by the Dover Harbour Board, a
statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...
formed by
Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
in 1606 by
King James I James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...
. Most of the board members of the Dover Harbour Board are appointees of the
Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...
. The port has its own private police force, the
Port of Dover Police The Port of Dover Police (PoDP) is a non- Home Office ports police force which provides a 24-hour policing service to the Port of Dover, Kent, England. Organisation & Role The PoDP is established, funded and maintained by the owners of the Po ...
. The current port traffic volumes and urban population categorize Dover as a Large-Port Town.


History

Recent archaeology indicates that the Dover's history as a port and trading gateway dates back at least as far as the
Stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
and
Bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
ages. Known as Dubris during the
Roman occupation of Britain Roman Britain was the period in classical antiquity when large parts of the island of Great Britain were under occupation by the Roman Empire. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. During that time, the territory conquered was ...
the port has always enjoyed a significant strategic position due its proximity to
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
and as the location of sheltered
River Dour The River Dour is a chalk stream in the county of Kent, England. It flows from the villages of Temple Ewell and River between which is a neighbourhood served by a railway station, Kearsney. It is roughly long. It originally had a wide estu ...
estuary between two imposing chalk cliffs. The development of the port led directly to the growth of Dover as a settlement and, over many centuries, to the building of extensive defensive fortifications including
Dover Castle Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent, England and is Grade I listed. It was founded in the 11th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history. Some sources say it is the ...
and the Dover Western Heights. In the Roman era a walled town was built on the West Bank of the River Dour and the port grew into an important military, mercantile and cross-channel harbour. Dubris was one of the principal starting points of the
Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...
later known as
Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...
. Dover grew further after the Norman invasion of 1066 as a member of the Confederation of Cinque Ports. After the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket at
Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...
in 1170, Dover flourished as the only designated port of entry for foreign pilgrims and as a point of departure for the
Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...
and subsequent crusades. Following Edward III's success at the
Battle of Sluys The Battle of Sluys (; ), also called the Battle of l'Écluse, was a naval battle fought on 24 June 1340 between England and France. It took place in the roadstead of the port of Sluys (French ''Écluse''), on a since silted-up inlet betwee ...
in 1340 a large defensive wall was built around the town. Although few concerted attempts to manage the shingle deposits blocking the harbour entrance were made during the late Middle Ages, a short pier and two defensive towers were constructed at the port in years immediately prior to
Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
's departure to the royal summit known as the
Field of the Cloth of Gold The Field of the Cloth of Gold (french: Camp du Drap d'Or, ) was a summit meeting between King Henry VIII of England and King Francis I of France from 7 to 24 June 1520. Held at Balinghem, between Ardres in France and Guînes in the English P ...
in 1520. In the 1580s, under the direction of
Thomas Digges Thomas Digges (; c. 1546 – 24 August 1595) was an English mathematician and astronomer. He was the first to expound the Copernican system in English but discarded the notion of a fixed shell of immoveable stars to postulate infinitely many s ...
and championed by
Sir Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...
, early port infrastructure work commenced to address
siltation Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...
through the use of sluices and the development of an enclosed pool of water known as the Great Pent: by means of this the harbour could be periodically scoured. The Great Pent was formed by the construction of a cross wall across the existing natural shingle lagoon at the mouth of the River Dour: the work was largely undertaken by labourers from
Romney Marsh Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until th ...
, using skills honed in the construction of
seawall A seawall (or sea wall) is a form of coastal defense constructed where the sea, and associated coastal processes, impact directly upon the landforms of the coast. The purpose of a seawall is to protect areas of human habitation, conservation ...
s. The project has been described as "one of the most successful engineering enterprises of ueenElizabeth's reign". The later construction of Wellington Dock, designed by James Walker in the early 1830s, occupies the approximate footprint of the Great Pent. After the threats of the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
at the beginning of the 19th century the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
selected Dover as the most suitable location of a harbour of refuge for the fleet between the dockyards of
Chatham Chatham may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Chatham Islands (British Columbia) * Chatham Sound, British Columbia * Chatham, New Brunswick, a former town, now a neighbourhood of Miramichi * Chatham (electoral district), New Brunswic ...
and
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. In 1847 construction began on the Admiralty Pier. Envisaged as the Western Arm of the proposed haven, completion of the massive first stage in 1871 effectively stopped the silting of the harbour mouth as it cut off the drift of shingle from the direction of
Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...
. The Admiralty Pier was constructed using a foundation of
Portland Stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
blocks surmounted by granite and durable Bramley Fall stone on the seaward facing exterior. Further construction from 1897 onwards established the Eastern Arm of the current harbour, the Southern Breakwater and a further extension of the Admiralty Pier.


Eastern Docks

Dover's Eastern Docks were used for
ship breaking Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...
beginning during the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
when the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
began dismantling ships there. The Stanlee Shipbreaking and Salvage Co. Ltd. took over the ship breaking operation commercially in 1920. Many of the ships broken up were naval vessels from the First World War. The company also handled machinery and general scrap, including the dismantling of the Dover Promenade Pier. The yard began to shrink after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and was closed in 1964 to make way for port redevelopment and a car ferry terminal. From 1930 until 1950 an aerial ropeway carried coal from
Tilmanstone Tilmanstone is a small village and civil parish in Kent, in the South East of England, near Eastry, a much bigger and more developed area. Tilmanstone no longer has a village school; however, the independent Northbourne Park School is close to the ...
colliery, 7½ miles to the north. It emerged halfway up the Langdon cliffs directly above the Eastern harbour arm, through two portals which have been bricked up but can still be seen from the ferry port. Coal was deposited in bunkers at the outer end of the Eastern harbour arm. The ropeway had 600 1-ton buckets that departed at intervals of 21 seconds and travelled at 4½ miles per hour. The system could thus transport 120 tons of coal per hour. The first two
roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
ferry berths in the Eastern Docks were opened on 30 June 1953. The first ro-ro ferry, the appropriately modified British Railways' ''S.S.Dinard'', departed for Boulogne on 3 July 1953. Today, there are 7 active docks for Ro-Ro vessels to utilise at Dover, one deconstructed dock and one unused dock for high-speed Ro-Ro watercraft. In 1966 well over 600,000 accompanied vehicles travelled through Dover's Eastern Docks en route to France or Belgium.


Western Docks

After rail services were extended to Dover in 1844, the Western Docks were used as a terminal for the Golden Arrow and other cross-channel train services with its own railway station, Dover Marine, later renamed Dover Western Docks. At Dover Marine station an estimated 5 million troops departed for the trenches of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
and nearly 1.5 million wounded soldiers returned. In 1920 the remains of the
Unknown Warrior The British grave of the Unknown Warrior (often known as 'The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior') holds an unidentified member of the British armed forces killed on a European battlefield during the First World War.Hanson, Chapters 23 & 24 He was gi ...
were landed prior to transportation to London and a ceremonial interment at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
. Dover Marine railway station closed in 1994, later to be redeveloped into Cruise Terminal One. The Western Docks area was also used from 1968 to the early 2000s for a cross-channel
hovercraft A hovercraft, also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious Craft (vehicle), craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the hull ...
service run by
Hoverspeed Hoverspeed was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd. Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed Sea ...
. Hoverspeed also ran catamaran services until being declared bankrupt in 2005. Another catamaran service ran from 2004 until November 2008 run by the single ship of SpeedFerries, ''SpeedOne'', with up to five services daily to
Boulogne-sur-Mer Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...
. The hoverport has now been demolished and redeveloped as a cargo handling facility.


Infrastructure

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


Eastern Docks

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


Ferry services

The Eastern Docks also used to be served by the now defunct following: *
MyFerryLink MyFerryLink was an English Channel passenger and freight ferry company which began operating between Dover and Calais in August 2012. The MyFerryLink fleet consisted of two modern ferries – sister ships the and the – that carried passen ...
*
LD Lines LD Lines was a French shipping company, with both roro freight and passenger ferry operations. It was a subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus Armateurs (LDA), which engages in building, owning, operating, and managing vessels. LD Lines operated fer ...
* SeaFrance *
Norfolkline Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English channel and Irish Sea; and l ...
* Stena Line *
P&O Stena Line P&O Stena Line was formed in 1998 after the merger of P&O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd and the Dover and Newhaven operations of Stena Line. History The idea for a joint service was initially put forward in July 1996 and in October of the sam ...
* Townsend Thoresen * Normandy Ferries *
Sealink Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, Folkesto ...
(later ''Sealink Stena Line'') and four companies under the tag: **
Regie voor Maritiem Transport Regie voor Maritiem Transport (RMT) was the Belgium, Belgian state-owned ferry service and operated ferries on the Ostend-Dover route under the name Oostende Lines. For the last few years until its demise in February 1997, the ferries from Osten ...
**
Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (known as SMZ or in English as Zeeland Steamship Company ) was a Dutch ferry operator that ran services from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom between 1875 and 1989.Haws (1993), p.197 History The Stoomvaart ...
**
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...
** British Rail An adjacent freight terminal (with three loading cranes) is scheduled to be repurposed under port redevelopment plans but can currently be used by ships of up to .


Western Docks

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


Cruise ship terminal

Conversion and restoration of the historic former Dover Marine rail terminus, and the opening of a second, larger, cruise terminal building in 1996, have supported a significant expansion in cruise ship traffic. Cruise Terminal 2 is able to accommodate ships as large as the
Celebrity Silhouette ''Celebrity Silhouette'' is a operated by Celebrity Cruises, a subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. She was ordered with German shipbuilder Meyer Werft in May 2007 and was delivered in July 2011 as the fourth ''Solstice''-class ship in the flee ...
at in
length overall __NOTOC__ Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...
, a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and 122,400
gross tons Gross tonnage (GT, G.T. or gt) is a nonlinear measure of a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage should be confused with measures of mass or weig ...
. The cruise ship terminal can accommodate up to three ships at any one time. In 2019 the Port of Dover accommodated 130 cruise ship port calls and over 200,000 passengers making it the second busiest cruise ship port in the United Kingdom after the
Port of Southampton The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and op ...
.


Cargo handling

Dover Cargo Terminal West opened in December 2019 replacing berthing and handling facilities at the Eastern Docks. Two new berths can accommodate ships of and simultaneously with a minimum quay depth of . The new purpose built
cold chain A cold chain is a low temperature-controlled supply chain network. An unbroken cold chain is an uninterrupted series of refrigerated production, storage and distribution activities, along with associated equipment and logistics, which maintain qu ...
and warehousing complex is capable of handling fresh produce, containers, project cargo, general cargo, breakbulk, grain and
Roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...
.


Marina

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


Access

The port is accessible by road from the M20/A20 (leading to
Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...
) and the M2/A2 (to
Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. ...
), and by train from Dover Priory station with
Southeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
services to
London St Pancras St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a London station group, central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Bor ...
via Folkestone Central, , , as well as trains to
London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Q ...
or London Charing Cross via and the Medway towns such as Gillingham, and or via then either via and or . There are trains to and .


In fiction

A boat train at Dover Western Harbour station is seen in the third episode of ''Inspector Morse'', ' Deceived by Flight', which was filmed in 1989, prior to the station's closure in November 1994.


See also

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


References


Notes


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Port of Dover official website

Dover Ferries Forum

Dover Ferry Photos Website & Forum

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