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Langdon Cliffs from the Prince
of Wales Pier.
The cliffs of Dover were mentioned by Julius
Caesar in his account of the Roman invasion of Britain in
55 BC. Shakespeare too makes reference to them in 'King
Lear' and the lines beginning "There is a cliff, whose
high and bending head looks fearfully on the confined deep"
are commemorated by Shakespeare Cliff to the west of the town.
Throughout the centuries, the chalk cliffs
have been a symbol of home to Britons abroad and coupled with
bluebirds in the popular
song of World War II, they provided a world-wide symbol
of peace. Although any visitor hoping to see the bluebirds
will be disappointed as they were artistic licence on the
part of the song writer - obviously bluebirds sounded more
romantic than sea gulls!
The cliffs were formed in the Cretaceous
Period (Mesozoic Era), which commenced about 136,000,000 years
ago, and are essentially marine in origin, probably originating
in deep, open sea. They consist mainly of upper, middle and
lower chalk, i.e. white, soft pure limestone composed ofcountless
shells. The top of Shakespeare Cliff for example, consists
of nodular upper chalk with flints, the centre of middle white
and nodular chalk and the bottom of chalk (glauconitic) marl
and grey chalk on a base of gault and greensand.
Numerous fossils have been discovered in
the chalk, ranging from shark's teeth, ventriculites, micrasters
and many sponges in the upper chalk, to large pectens, palatal
teeth oysters, ammonites, remains of saurians and brain corals
in the middle and lower chalk.
A large area of cliff-top to the east of
the town, known as Langdon Cliffs,
is now owned and managed by the National
Trust.
Shakespeare Cliff.
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