Marine Parade c.1905.
What is know generally as the Sea Front by the inhabitants
of Dover does in fact have four separate names for its different stretches.
Running from the Prince of Wales
Pier to the Eastern
Docks, the sections are
the Esplanade, Waterloo Crescent, Marine Parade and East Cliff.
Prior to 1817 the site of the Sea Front was a ridge
of shingle which had begun to accumulate about 1500. On this ridge was
Dover’s original ropewalk, where ships’ ropes were made. The area was
also used as a gathering ground for cobblestones, with which the Town
Commissioners of 1778 paved the streets of Dover.
The decision to start building on the shingle bank
was taken by the Harbour Commissioners in 1816, and Marine Parade was
completed in 1820. The houses on the Esplanade were commenced in 1833,
and Waterloo Crescent in 1834. The houses at East Cliff span this whole
building period and beyond, into the 1840s.
In 1850, due to erosion of the shoreline caused by
the change in currents after the construction of the Admiralty
Pier, the Harbour Board commenced the building of a strong sea wall
along the Esplanade. This was extended along Waterloo Crescent and Marine
Parade. East Cliff was not under the jurisdiction of the Harbour Board
and was left with little protection other than shingle, and it soon
became necessary to build sea defences here too. These were built by
the Borough Council in 1878.
The sweeping curve of promenade created by the sea
wall has been popular ever since with local and tourists alike. In Victorian
times there were sea bathing establishments
and bathing machines. Large hotels like the Grand
and the Burlington were opened to
cater for the increasing tourist trade. Concerts could be enjoyed in
the Granville Gardens and, for a
short while, the Promenade Pier was
another attraction on the Sea Front.
The Sea Front suffered serious damage in the Second
World War. In the late 1950s the houses of Marine
Parade were cleared to make way for the new Gateway
Flats, an unfortunate development of council flats
out of scale and character with the surviving Victorian
buildings. In spite of this the Sea Front still provides
and excellent promenade with marvellous views of the
Castle and
the busy harbour.
