The London Clay Between Whitstable and Herne Bay Copperas, Bronze Age Well Complexes, Lost Roman Ships and Disappearing Communities

The East Kent coast between Whitstable and Herne Bay has had a long and important history, which is still visible today in the Whitstable Oyster Fisheries, the working harbour and a thriving tourist industry traceable to the Victorian period. But this section of coastline also has another story to tell which goes back deeper into geological time…

The anaerobic (absence of free oxygen) environment of the London Clay has helped to preserve the archaeological record, continuing to reveal secrets of this changing foreshore. Although this part of the coastline has given little protection from the forces of the North Sea over the years, its geology has provided important minerals and materials. This has included both copperas stones and loose brickearths that have facilitated agriculture in the Bronze Age and helped to develop brick building industries in the early 20th Century. Added to this geological picture are the alluvial sediments that stretch around the east Kent Coast, making safe navigation difficult for seafarers in these shallow flat waters and perhaps hiding long lost Roman shipwrecks…