Samphire Hoe

Samphire Hoe Country Park is a 30 ha nature park located 3 km west of Dover. The park was created from 4.9 million m³ of chalk, excavated during the construction of the Eurotunnel. The site is owned by Eurotunnel Ltd. and managed by the White Cliffs Countryside Project. It is accessible to the public via a small traffic light tunnel that runs under the Kent Coast railway.

The cliffs above the current park were blasted in 1843 for the construction of the railway line between Dover and Folkestone. In 1880, an attempt was already made to dig a tunnel under the Channel, but this failed. A coal mine was established in 1895, but due to little success, it closed back down in 1921. All these activities were supported by the Shakespeare Cliff Halt railway station on the western side of the Shakespeare Cliff tunnel. The remains of the platforms are still visible from the road to the parking area.

In 1980, this site was considered the most suitable from a list of 60 to dump the chalk from the tunnel works. The actual excavation works began in 1988. The first task involved erecting large concrete walls in the sea to create an artificial lagoon. These works were completed in 1994, and the site was ceremonially opened by Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and President François Mitterrand of France. The park opened to the public in 1997.

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