Beyond Bishopstone Glen, to the east, lies Reculver. Now just a small collection of houses and caravans, Reculver takes her place in history as the site of the official birthplace of Christianity in England. The shoreline was also one of the testing areas for the famous Barnes Wallis "Dambuster" bouncing bombs in April 1943. If you look south, towards the Thanet Way, you can see a windmill without sails. This was the building used by Barnes Wallis, Guy Gibson et al, as their headquarters during the tests. It can be reached if you follow the Saxon Shore Way towards Chislet. Two of the bouncing bombs were discovered in the late 1990's in the marshes nearby and taken to the museum at Kent International (formerly Manston) Airport.

Reculver is the site of a Roman fort, nearly all of which has been lost to the sea. All that remains now is the southernmost wall foundation. Investigations in the 50's suggest the fort was built in about 210AD and was about 600 feet long. When it was built, the north coast was about a mile away, so to find the towers and fort now precariously balanced on the cliff edge gives a stark indication of how much our coastline has changed. The grounds are now in the care of English Heritage.

The site of Reculver Towers is adjacent to the now silted up river Wantsum, which once separated the Isle of Thanet from the rest of Kent. As can be seen from the map, in Roman times, the Isle of Thanet was just that and even in Ethelbert's time, Reculver was on the corner of two coastlines, north and east. After the Romans came King Ethelbert, who greeted Augustine (according to records, only after being persuaded by queen Bertha, a christian) in 597AD and created a retreat on the site. Augustine had actually arrived in England at Ebbsfleet, near Pegwell Bay, Ramsgate. He would have come up the Wantsum Channel in order to get to Reculver. There is no evidence of Ethelbert's retreat any more, nor of his burial place. Both have presumably been lost to the ravages of the North Sea.

The first religious building at Reculver was a church and monastery built in the grounds of the Roman fort by Bassa in about 670AD. Permission for this building was granted by King Egbert, who followed after Ethelbert. The church stood for nearly 300 years, until it was all but destroyed by the Vikings during one of their UK tours. The church is long-gone, although the outline is marked out in the grounds today. The only remaining evidence of the original church is a pair of columns which were moved to the crypt in Canterbury Cathedral.

The towers are the remains of the Medieval church of St. Mary's. The tide had been eroding the cliffs here and the coastline been moving steadily southwards, threatening to topple the towers. However, major strengthening construction work during the 1970's stemmed the collapse. The risk had been considered great enough in 1809 to actually relocate the church, which was demolished (apart from the towers) and relocated to Hillborough. The move was carried out under the direction of the incumbent priest, the Reverend Nailor, although it was partly because he wanted a new vicarage built in Hoath. Records of this sanctioned act of vandalism show that much of the church ended up as hardcore for Margate pier foundations. A pair of pillars were saved and now stand in Canterbury Cathedral crypt, along with a celtic cross, although even they didn't go directly to the Cathedral. For many years, they were used as garden ornaments by a Canterbury resident before being recognised and taken to the crypt.

The towers are known as the "Two Sisters", after Frances and Isabella St Clare, members of Faversham Abbey. Frances, who was the Abbess, became ill and vowed to go on a pilgramage to the Shrine of St Mary at Bradstowe in Broadstairs if she recovered. This she did and she and Isabella set off by sea. When off Reculver, their ship was driven onto a sandbank. Frances was rescued but Isabella stayed on board until light. However, she died of exposure once she was brought ashore. Frances continued to Broadstairs but restored the church in Isabella's memory and erected the towers' wooden spires, thus the "Two Sisters". The spires almost doubled the height of the towers but they were removed, presumably soon after the church was moved inland. The towers (minus the spires) are now all that remain of that original church.

The towers now act as a landmark for shipping, having been saved by Trinity House, the organisation responsible for all the UK lighthouses. Canterbury City Council has now made plans to install floodlights at the site, so their importance as landmarks will be underlined all the more.

As has been mentioned earlier, the North Sea and it's sister the North Wind, have provided a severe challenge for shipping, particularly in the days of sail. Many ships have been wrecked off Reculver and have provided plunder for the thriving smuggling trade of the 18th and 19th centuries. Five ships were lost in a single storm in 1810, on a stretch of water between Whitstable and Margate. One, the American ship "Sheperdess" was eventually driven onto the sands half a mile north of the church at Reculver. The smugglers didn't have to work too hard here, as much of the cargo washed onto the beach. It didn't always go the smugglers way, of course. In 1788, a boat set off from Reculver to reclaim some previously sunken kegs. Whilst there was a severe gale, the crew of three were all experienced but were all lost when a wave washed them all overboard.

The King Ethelbert pub, in the shadow of the towers, is Herne Bay's easternmost watering hole. The surrounding area is a nature reserve and home to a number of indigenous wildlife, including the largest single group of Sandmartins in Kent. Next to the towers is the Interpretation Centre (free entry), which has a great deal of information about the history of the area. There is also a free car park and the Blue Dolphin caravan park.