Samphire Hoe Country Park 3.47

Samphire Hoe Country Park is a country park situated 3km west of Dover in Kent in southeast England. The park was created by using 4.9 million cubic metres of chalk marl from the Channel Tunnel excavations and is found at the bottom of a section of the White Cliffs of Dover. The site is owned by Eurotunnel Ltd., and managed by the White Cliffs Countryside Project.It is accessible by the public via a single-track tunnel controlled by traffic lights, which crosses over the South Eastern Main Line running in a tunnel underneath. Visitor facilities are provided, including car parking, toilets and a tea kiosk.Origin of the nameSamphire Hoe is named after the wild plant rock samphire that was once collected from the Dover cliffs; its fleshy green leaves were picked in May and pickled in barrels of brine and sent to London, where it was served as a dish to accompany meat. A 'hoe' is a piece of land which sticks out into the sea.The name was coined by Mrs Gillian Janaway, a retired English teacher from Dover, by way of a public competition.History of the areaThe cliffs above the current park were blown up with gunpowder in 1843 to aid the creation of the Dover to Folkestone railway. In 1880 an attempt was made from the site to create a tunnel that would pass under the English Channel but it failed shortly afterwards. In 1895 a coal mine was sunk there but this closed in 1921 after being very unsuccessful. These activities were served by Shakespeare Cliff Halt railway station at the western end of the Shakespeare Cliff tunnel; the remains of the platforms can be seen from the road to the car park. A community of fisherfolk and others once lived at the foot of Shakespeare Cliff.