There has been a port at Richborough since Roman times at least but I am focussing on its importance during the First World War. When the British Expeditionary force went to France and Belgium in 1914, they needed tons of supplies and this challenged the existing ports of Dover and Folkestone.
By 1916, the British Expeditionary Force had grown from a small professional army of 150,000 men to a mass force of roughly two million soldiers on the Western Front. Supplying such a vast army demanded new logistical solutions, leading to the development of major supply hubs such as Richborough Port in Kent.
The river Stour was dredged and widened and a series of channels were dug all along the river bank, mainly where the Pfizer’s site sits today. Barges were used to move materiel across the channel, many were used in the canals of Belgium to deliver supplies direct to the rear areas thus avoiding the use of road transport.
A substantial barracks was built to house the thousands of Royal Engineers who built and manned the port, at one point, estimates suggest upwards of 20,000 men and women worked there including hundreds of civilians. Most of the Mark 1 tanks that were introduced in 1916 were moved across the channel from Richborough.
Very little remains of this infrastructure, but recently I obtained permission from the owners of A-Skips the recycling company, Mario and Ben Campion who now own a portion of the land adjacent to the river to look around and see if there is evidence of this once busy port. Firstly, I climbed the viewing platform which looks over the salt marshes and about 300 metres away there are random wooden structures sinking and slowly rotting over time, these are the remains of some of the barges used to make the crossing sometimes daily subject to the tide and weather conditions. The seals which line the tidal river banks can be seen basking in the summer on the tidal banks all along the river, completely oblivious to the industry opposite.
Looking along the Stour, the bank is lined with various pleasure craft and lighters, tugs and other vessels all looking sad and unused, probably as the winter is coming, they have been laid up for the colder months, looking to the right towards Sandwich town there is the remains of a jetty which was used for the first roll on-roll off ferry taking railway wagons across to France. By 1918 there were 4 operational ferries and around 242 barges operating from Richborough moving around 30,000 tons of military associated supplies a week, a phenomenal amount compared to the size of the organisation.
All along the jetty there is evidence of the many railway lines that crisscrossed the area, all filled in level with concrete now but shiny due to vehicle traffic from the recycling plant on the site now. In the main building is where the most evidence is available, the runners for the gigantic gantry cranes are still there and the railway lines where the trains were unloaded are still there, again, filled in level with concrete.
The port operated in plain sight, the only threat came from Zeppelin airships because the aircraft of the day couldn’t reach England, it was often referred to as the ‘secret port’ but it provided much needed employment during the latter part of the war. I had a unique look around the area today on a private tour, even today you get a sense of what happened there over 100 years ago, the smells and sensory experience is unchanged and if you close your eyes and stand still you can sense the frantic but well organised activity that was happening during that time.
After the war the site wound down but the infrastructure remained, it was used to some extend during the post war era and during the Second World war, but it was exposed to German air attack so its usefulness was diminished. More on this in due course.
