Many of us dream of a home on the coast and with its extensive coastline, Kent has many options for those renting or buying a home within a kiss-me-quick hat’s throw of the sea. The county’s eastern shoreline has a number of renowned resorts and thanks to an extensive rail network, including the High Speed 1 service via Ashford, they are all well connected to the rest of the county and to London, making a commute possible.
The mix of busy ports, quaint seaside towns, sandy beaches, dramatic cliffs and the results of considerable regeneration means there’s a host of reasons for house-hunters to look at this area. We’ve picked out some of the best towns to look for in this region, considering not just the range of houses available but also the amenities and transport connections on offer.
Broadstairs – Blue Flag beaches and a Dickens connection
Viking Bay in Broadstairs
Broadstairs is a small town, popular with tourists and an increasingly sought-after place to live. The main town, high on the cliffs overlooking the English Channel, meanders down to the harbour and Blue Flag sandy beaches below. Cliff-top walks, a busy High Street with restaurants, bars and shops, theatre, cinema and museum, mean there’s always plenty to see and do. The annual Dickens Festival celebrates author Charles Dickens, whose former home in the town is now a museum. A mile outside of the town is the Westwood Cross Shopping Centre and retail park with its major stores, restaurant brands, cinema and casino. There’s also plenty of new housing in the area providing homes for those wanting to come to the town. Nearby Kent International Airport offers flights to 130 destinations, including recently-introduced daily KLM flights to Amsterdam, while the High Speed rail services from Broadstairs to London take as little as 1 hour 22 minutes.
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Ramsgate – an ancient port with a substantial marina
Like Broadstairs, the neighbouring town of Ramsgate, offers a good range of education including grammar schools and further education Colleges, and enjoys its own sandy beaches and the Royal Harbour marina, home to over 700 pleasure yachts. One of the many ancient Cinque Ports in this part of Kent, the town was considered the country’s greatest seaside resort in the 19th century and is now home to over 40,000 people. While the M25 is over an hour away via the A299 and M2 by car, High Speed rail services take around 75 minutes, making the town increasingly popular with commuters. The Hugin, a Viking longship gifted by the Danish government to celebrate 1,500 years since the arrival of the Danes to the area, is a popular tourist attraction in nearby Pegwell Bay, the area’s longest sandy beach. Ramsgate also benefits from a range of sports clubs and sporting facilities and, of course, sailing in the English Channel.
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Sandwich – many listed buildings and some world-class golf courses
Sandwich is an ancient town on the banks of the River Stour, first granted a Charter by King Canute in 1028. It boasts many listed buildings including private houses, churches, the Admiral Owen pub and the Guildhall. Its narrow streets are lined with curio shops, pubs and restaurants, and its small harbour, on the river, provides a central point for visitors. The town’s Fisher Gate, built in the 14th Century, is now an Ancient Monument. Two nearby links golf courses, Royal St George and Princes, have played host to many international tournaments including the British Open, and nearby Richborough adds to the history of the area as the place where the Roman invasion of Britain first landed in AD43. The remains of the Roman’s fort are still to be seen there.
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Deal – once England’s busiest port, now popular with house-hunters
A few miles south sits the larger town of Deal. The busiest port in 13th-century England, Deal is now a quieter town, with shingle beaches overlooking the French coast, visible on a clear day. Deal’s pier is popular with fishermen, as are the restaurant, cafe and bar which sit at the end of the 1,000 feet-long structure. The Tudor castle, built by Henry VIII, still sits on the seafront, while narrow streets and a busy High Street offer a range of shops and boutiques. The town’s barracks, once home to the Royal Marines, have been converted more recently into housing.
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Walmer – Cinque Port that is set to expand with new housing
Adjacent to Deal is the seaside town of Walmer. The town’s castle is the official home to the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, and a previous holder of that title, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, was a regular visitor to the town. Now largely residential, Walmer’s 7,000 inhabitants enjoy a long beach, bowling club and many walks into the nearby woods and countryside. Many areas of Walmer have been earmarked for new housing development in the coming years.
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Dover – major port at the end of the North Downs
Described as the gateway to Europe, the town is just 22 miles from the French port of Calais, and overlooked by Dover Castle, which sits on top of the famous While Cliffs of Dover. The town’s main shopping area has lost many traders in recent years, though still provides a busy centre for locals to shop and meet. De Bradelei Wharf Discount Centre, with its boutiques and designer brands, and a new retail development to the north of the town serve residents and nearby villages alike. Journeys to London now take 70 minutes by High Speed train to St Pancras or a little over two hours on the Victoria or Charing Cross lines. There is a wide range of schools locally, including two grammar schools, and performing arts college, while much of the local economy is based around the port and maritime industries. The surrounding area, known as White Cliffs Country, offers visitors miles of natural park land across the rolling hills where the North Downs meets the English Channel.
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Folkestone – a town of three parts
The busy town centre, on top of the cliffs, enjoys a range of high street names and local traders, and is home to the famous Leas Cliff Hall is a popular venue for music concerts and shows, set right on the edge of the cliffs. The Old Town of steep narrow streets lined with little shops, runs from the newer parts to the Arts Quarter, seafront, with its beaches and attractions, while the harbour area has been redeveloped to include fashionable restaurants. A large town, of over 45,000 people, Folkestone is less than an hour by High Speed train to London, and served by the M20 motorway which provides fast access by road to Dover, Ashford and Maidstone.
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Hythe – a quiet market town at the end of Romney Marsh
The Royal Military Canal runs from Hythe to Winchelsea in Sussex, and the 14-mile long Romney Hythe and Dymchurch 15-inch narrow gauge railway is a popular tourist attraction as well as serving as a commuter service for those living on the Romney Marsh. Hythe is home to a regular farmer’s market, set among its Medieval and Georgian streets, and the town has a wealth of sporting and social clubs, from horse riding to tennis. Nearby attractions include Saltwood and Lympne castles and Howlett’s Port Lympne Wild Animal Park, owned by the John Aspinal Foundation, famous for its internationally recognised breeding programs for black rhino, Siberian and Bengal tigers and other endangered species. Author H.G. Wells lived in nearby Sandgate, and based his book Kipps on the shops in Hythe; a book later turned into the musical film Half a Sixpence, starring Tommy Steele.
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by Mike Whiting