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Coordinates: 51°08′N 1°22′E / 51.14°N
1.37°E / 51.14;
1.37
The White Cliffs of Dover
The cliffs seen across the channel from Cap Gris Nez, France
The location and extent of the White Cliffs of Dover.
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The White Cliffs of Dover are cliffs which form part of the British coastline
facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliffs are part of the North Downs formation.
The cliff face, which reaches up to 107 metres (350 ft)
[1], owes
its striking façade to its composition of chalk (pure white calcium carbonate) accentuated by
streaks of black flint. The
cliffs spread east and west from the town of Dover in the county of Kent, an ancient and still important English port.
The cliffs have great symbolic value for Britain because they
face towards Continental Europe across the
narrowest part of the English Channel, where invasions have
historically threatened and against which the cliffs form a
symbolic guard. Because crossing at Dover was the primary route to
the continent before air travel, the white line of cliffs also
formed the first or last sight of the UK for travellers.
Location
The cliffs are located along the coastline between
approximately: Latitude 51°06'N, Longitude 1°14'E and Latitude
51°12'N, Longitude 1°24'E. Shakespeare Cliff marks the point where
England most closely
approaches continental Europe.
On a clear day, the cliffs are easily visible from the French
coast.
Geology
The cliffs are composed mainly of soft, white limestone with a very
fine-grained texture, composed primarily of coccoliths, plates of calcium
carbonate formed by coccolithophores,
single-celled planktonic
algae whose skeletal remains
sank to the bottom of the ocean and, together with the remains of
bottom-living creatures, formed sediments. Flint and quartz are also found in the chalk.[2]
White cliffs like those of Dover (but smaller) are also found on
the Danish islands of Møn and Langeland or the coasts of the island of Rügen in Germany. The cliff
face continues to erode at
an average rate of 1 centimetre (0.39 in) per year,
although occasionally—most recently in 2001—a large chunk of the
edge, as large as a football pitch, fell into the channel. Visitors
are, therefore, urged to remain well away from the cliff edge.[3].
Ecology
Evidence of erosion along the cliff top
Close up of the cliffs from the walk along the ridge
South Foreland lighthouse above the cliffs at Dover
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Several species of cliff nesting birds nest on the cliff face,
including fulmar and colonies
of Black-legged Kittiwake. However,
contrary to the words of the famous song ("There'll be bluebirds
over the white cliffs of Dover"), bluebirds are an American species not found in
the UK.
Defence
Behind the cliff face are miles of hidden tunnels that were
created during the Middle Ages and later played a role in the
defence of Britain during the Napoleonic Wars. The tunnels were later
enlarged to become the Secret Wartime Tunnels beneath Dover Castle.
In popular
culture
- In Matthew
Arnold's 1867 poem "Dover Beach", the cliffs are a sign of
reassuring strength. Rudyard Kipling's 1902 poem "The
Broken Men" ends with the lines "How stands the old Lord Warden? Are
Dover's cliffs still white?" to represent the English exiles'
homesickness. The most iconic reference is perhaps the World War II song,
sung by Vera Lynn,
"(There'll
Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover".
- Other people to cover the song or sing about the white cliffs
include, Jim Reeves, Jimmy Cliff ("Many
Rivers to Cross"), Glenn Miller, The
Righteous Brothers, Kay
Kyser, Kate Smith,
Blur ("Clover Over
Dover"), Coil
("Ostia (The death of Pasolini)"); The Decemberists ("We Both Go Down
Together"), Louis
Prima, Robson and Jerome, Clutch, Andrew Bird, Current 93, Fatboy Slim and The
Late Morning Risers. Other poetry includes Alice Duer
Miller's "The White Cliffs", on which the 1944 film
The White Cliffs of
Dover was based.
- In Ian Fleming's
third James Bond
novel, Moonraker, a chapter is set at
the cliffs. The villain attempts to assassinate Bond and Gala Brand by bombing the
cliff so they are showered in debris.
- Guitarist Eric
Johnson wrote a well-known composition called "Cliffs of Dover" for his 1990
album Ah Via
Musicom. The song won a Grammy, and also later appears in the rhythm video game Guitar Hero III:
Legends of Rock.
- In a 2005 poll
of Radio
Times readers, the cliffs were named as the 3rd greatest
natural wonder in Britain.
- Pink
mentions the cliffs as a famous landmark she has visited in her
Try This song
Humble Neighbourhoods.
- Twenty-eight days before it was released, a Biohazard sign was projected on the cliffs
to promote the 2007 film 28 Weeks Later.[4]
- Jamaica
Kincaid references the white cliffs of Dover in her essay "On
Seeing England for the First Time." [5]
- Van Morrison
references the white cliffs of Dover in the song "See Me
Through."
- EPMD references The White
Cliffs of Dover in their 1992 hit, "Crossover."
- In The
Decemberists's song "We Both Go Down Together" The
lyrics read "Here on these cliffs of Dover, so high you can't see
over..."
- In "Oracles of Delphi Keep", a children's novel by Victoria
Laurie, the White Cliffs of Dover take an important role in the
story.
- In King
Lear of William Shakespeare, the Earl of
Gloucester wants to commit suicide, jumping from a high cliff of
Dover.
- The cliffs of dover are featured in the Girls Can't
Catch's second single and music video "Echo_(Girls_Can't_Catch_song)"
in which the girls spend the entire video singing from the
cliffs.
- In "The Chipmunk Adventure" movie,
the cliffs of Dover are referenced in the song "Off To See The
World".
- The cliffs are mentioned in Blur's song "Clover Over Dover" from their
1994 Album Parklife.
- Mark Knopfler makes reference to the cliffs in the song Border
Reiver from his 2009 album 'Get Lucky' calling the cliffs the
Albion
See also
Notes
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