by Charles Moorhen

Created on: August 27, 2008

The White Cliffs of Dover and the Secret Tunnels Within.

Crossing the English Channel from France to Dover, a distance of a little over twenty miles, the first sighting of England that travellers aboard the ferries have is the famous White Cliffs of Dover'.

Seeing the formidable mass of chalk slowly drawing nearer, many of the travellers are no doubt aware of some of the historic events that are connected with the cliffs. Events such as Matthew Arnold sitting in their proximity as he composed his well-known poem Dover Beach' while on a visit to the seaside town; and that the Frenchman Louis Bleriot landed his flimsy monoplane on the cliff-top in 1909, ensuring forever his place in the history books as the first person to fly the English Channel.

However, what those same passengers may not realise as they drive off the ferry and onto British soil, is that they are virtually within a stone's throw' of a network of secret subterranean tunnels that were designed to keep the island safe during times of conflict.

Deep within the chalky bowels of the 80 million year-old cliffs are a labyrinth of tunnels as large, in many instances, as those of the London Underground railway system. Their origin dates back to the 18th century when the threat of an invasion from Napoleon's army was very real indeed. Gun emplacements were built on both shoreline and cliff-top, Dover Castle was modernised and made stronger in order to repel attack, and the first stage of the tunnels was completed. One tunnel is so long in fact that it stretches for almost half a mile before emerging literally at the cliff-face itself. That very same entrance, albeit slightly modernised, can still be seen to this day.

Following the defeat of the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the threat of invasion came to and end and except for general repair and maintenance the tunnels were closed down.

By 1914 the threat of further conflict, this time in the shape of World War One, became a reality and the tunnel complex was once again placed in a state of readiness. The tunnels were enlarged and extended to encompass a larger weapons arsenal, offices for administration purposes and a casualty clearing station. But, as in the days of the threat from Napolean, the defences were never really put to the test. When the German army surrendered in 1918, and the war to end all wars' came to an end, the underground was once more closed down in the hope that it would never be needed again.
Sadly, it was not to be!

In 1938,

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