Cliffs End brings together several distinct themes for a stay: the Hugin Viking Ship stands on Hugin Green, St Augustine’s Cross recalls a traditionally recorded arrival, and the Way of St Augustine runs through Cliffsend. Pegwell Bay adds birdlife, geology and archaeology to the picture. If you are looking for a holiday rental, you can weigh up whether village history, a walking route or nature watching best matches your travel interests.
Ship, Cross and Historical Traces
The Hugin Viking Ship stands on Hugin Green in Cliffsend. There is a car park beside the Hugin Viking Ship on Sandwich Road.
Another historical landmark is St Augustine’s Cross in Cliffsend. The cross dates from the 19th century and is designed in the Saxon style. It is associated with the traditionally accepted location where St Augustine landed on the coast of England in 597 AD. Granville George Leveson-Gower, the 2nd Earl Granville, commissioned the cross in 1884. The dates refer to different things: 597 marks the traditionally recorded arrival, while 1884 marks the later commission. The style designation also adds a description of the design to the historical context.
Cliffsend is also associated with the arrival of the Jutish chieftains Hengist and Horsa in 410 AD. Alongside the Augustinian reference to 597, there are thus two dated accounts of arrivals that differ in time. Another piece of village history is the former Primitive Methodist Chapel on Foads Lane: it was built in 1871 and opened as St Mary the Virgin in 1954. These dates mark its construction and its later opening under that name—a different kind of historical trace from the arrival accounts.
Route, Birdlife and Landscape in Pegwell Bay
The Way of St Augustine runs through the village of Cliffsend. For travellers who take walking routes into account when choosing a destination, this provides a direct route connection to the village. The route offers a different way to explore the area from its individual, dated monument and building histories.
There is a birdwatching hide in the sea cliffs at Pegwell Bay. Waders are found in the bay that occur nowhere else in East Kent. Pegwell Bay is also considered a nature reserve of international importance and is geologically significant. The information about the waders concerns their distribution in East Kent; conservation and geology describe other aspects of the bay.
Cliffsend and Pegwell Bay also form part of a landscape associated with significant archaeological discoveries in Thanet. This provides a shared cultural and historical connection, while birdlife and geology remain distinct natural themes of the bay. When choosing a holiday rental, you can therefore first consider whether you are mainly looking for village history and routes, or whether birdlife and landscape are your priority.
Discover more destinations: Stone in Oxney, Woodchurch, Frittenden, Egerton, Warehorne, Pluckley, Headcorn, Lamberhurst.
For the wider travel overview: Kent.
