From Folkestone’s East Cliff on a sunny day many people enjoy the clear view of the French coastline across the Channel.
Now they can learn about how the district’s coastline was once connected to that distant landmass on a new information panel installed next to East Cliff Sports.
It has been put up by Kent Downs National Landscapes on the land owned by the Folkestone Parks and Pleasure Grounds charity, administered by Folkestone & Hythe District Council.
With an eye-catching illustration, the panel details the story of the huge megaflood around 450,000 years ago. It was one of the biggest floods ever identified to have happened on Earth and swept away the chalk ridge that once connected Kent to northern France.
Greg Taylor from Kent Downs National Landscapes explained: “When geologists were carrying out investigations for the Channel Tunnel, they were following a layer of 100-million-year-old rock called the 'chalk marl', but occasionally they would hit sections of much younger sediment, less than half a million years old.
“It was only in 2017 geologists finally established these sections of sediment were actually plunge pools. The flood waters were so powerful they had carved out pools up to 100-metres deep and hundreds of metres wide into what is now the sea floor. The Channel Tunnel course was diverted to avoid these plunge pools.”
Other panels have been installed at Farthing Common and elsewhere in Kent as part of the Kent Downs’ Geodiversity project. This is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs, to improve access and interpretation across the Kent Downs National Landscape.
Cllr Stephen Scoffham, Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment and Biodiversity said: “The story of the megaflood is truly fascinating and this interpretation panel really brings it alive. What happened here nearly half a million years ago has had a remarkable influence on the history of our country and indeed the rest of Europe.
“I hope that many of our residents will want to take a walk on our fabulous East Cliff to learn more about our heritage.
“As a council we are supporting an application for the Kent Downs to have UNESCO Global Geopark status with the Pas-de-Calais region of France, to celebrate our internationally important geology.”
For more information about the work to secure UNESCO Cross-Channel Global Geopark status go to Kent Downs National Landscape.
You can view a video on the council's YouTube channel which delves deeper into the megaflood's history.