Whitstable

Archaeological finds indicate that the Whitstable area was inhabited during the Palaeolithic era, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Oysters were harvested in the area in Roman times. The remains of a Roman building have been found in the centre of the town. Charters indicate that there were Saxon settlements where salt production and coastal trade occurred. In the 19th century, extensive finds of Roman pottery were found in the sea around Whitstable during oyster dredging, and an offshore rock near the town has been associated with Caunos, an island mentioned by Ptolemy. The town was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, under the name Witenestaple, meaning "the meeting place of the white…

The town has shingle/sandy beaches flanking the harbour, where sunbathing, swimming and water sports are popular. The beaches east and west are unique amongst seaside towns in the south-east of England for having no promenade; making them generally peaceful. An exception is Long Beach to the immediate east of the harbour where there is a base for jet skis. A notable feature of Whitstable is The Street, a natural strip of shingle on clay bank which runs out to sea at right angles to the coast, for a distance of about 1/2 mi. It is the last remnant of the Swale river valley to the north of the town lost to sea erosion over millennia. Located to the east of the harbour, The Street is revealed…