Sandwich, England Tourist Attractions
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Sandwich (pop. 5,000) still lives on the memory of its glorious past. Although now separated by 2mi/3km of alluvial land from the sea, it was once one of England's most important seaports, numbered with Dover, Hastings, Romney and Hythe as one of the Cinque Ports. It was also a notorious smugglers' lair.Sandwich is a well-preserved medieval town with the town walls and period houses still laid out in the original street plan.
Golf Courses
The flat coastal strip around Sandwich Bay boasts three first-class golf courses where the British Open Championship takes place in some years.
Richborough Castle
Not to be missed is a visit to Richborough Castle, 1.5mi/2km north of Sandwich, one of the most important Roman sites in Britain. From this site, called Rutupiae by the Romans, an important channel led to the Regulbium camp at Reculver. The channel entrance (Wantsum) guarded Richborough Fort. In the third century the fort became part of the defenses of the "Saxon Shore". Within the fort is a huge platform which seems to have supported some massive monument. The foundations of a Roman amphitheater and a pre-Norman chapel have been excavated; finds from the site are exhibited in a small museum.
Historic Buildings
Several 18th century houses can be seen in Sandwich's Delft Street and King Street. The Guildhall, built at the end of the 16th century and restored at the beginning of the 20th century, bears the coat of arms of the Cinque Ports: three halved ships and three halved lions. Opposite St Clement's, an Early English church with a Norman tower, stands the Queen Ann palace The Salution (1911). It is also worth viewing the half-timbered house The King's Arms (1592), 17th century St Peter's Church in Market Street, Manwood Court (1564) and the Old Customs House with its 18th century brick facade, and St Bartholomew's Hospital with an Early English choir.
Town Walls
The charming old town of Sandwich contains the remains of the 14th century medieval town walls, narrow alleyways and a selection of historical buildings. The last of the town's gates stands at the end of Fisher Gate, which dates from 1384.
