Allhallows offers two distinct focuses to consider when planning your trip: historic buildings and military traces on the one hand, and an extensive coastal walk on the other. Its history spans the parish church and a Victorian fort to a site from the Second World War. The coastal stretch between Allhallows and Cliffe involves a different consideration: here, the distance and the lack of stopping points along the way are key. This lets you decide in advance whether local history or a longer route better suits your travel interests.

Church and fort: building history by the water

The Church of All Saints in Allhallows is a Grade I listed parish church. Ewan Christian restored it from 1886 to 1891. Its designation describes its protected status, while the restoration marks a clearly defined phase in its history as a building. If you are interested in churches and architectural history, you can read these as two distinct historical reference points: its enduring listed status and the restoration carried out over a specific period.

Slough Fort offers a different architectural point of reference. It is a Victorian fort overlooking the Thames at Allhallows. Access to the fort by car is via The Brimp. Check this access information before setting out if you plan to visit the fort.

Military traces and their historical context

Among the traces of the Second World War is the site of a QF P-series oil-bomb decoy. It is located in Allhallows on the Hoo Peninsula and dates from 1940 to 1941. This provides a distinct, precisely dated point of reference alongside the Victorian history of the fort and the restoration of the church.

The Allhallows pillbox was once on dry land and later on the beach. This contrast makes the changing position of the structure along the coast a topic in its own right, alongside the historical context of the military installations.

A field observation on 28 January 2007 located a Type 24 concrete pillbox about 30 metres out in the Thames, north of Allhallows on the Isle of Grain. This specific location distinguishes the pillbox from the one in Allhallows itself.

Planning a long coastal walk

You can walk the coastal stretch between Allhallows and Cliffe for more than 20 km without passing another coastal village or car park along the way. This is an important planning consideration: do not expect another coastal village or car park as a stopping point along this stretch. If you are considering the walk, take the distance of more than 20 km into account when planning. This lets you treat the coastal route as a long, standalone activity and distinguish it from a short walk between places.

Discover more destinations: Strood, Chatham, Rochester, Isle of Grain, High Halstow, Gillingham, Chattenden

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