Ричборо: История порта и римского вторжения в Британию.

Harbour in Kent, England

Richborough ('/r//ɪ//tʃ//b//ər//ə/) is a settlement north of Sandwich on the east coast of the county of Kent, England. Richborough lies close to the Isle of Thanet. The population of the settlement is included in the civil parish of Ash. Although now some distance from the sea, Richborough stood at the southern end of the Wantsum Channel from prehistory to the early medieval period. The channel provided a safe searoute from the continent to the Thames estuary and separated the Isle of Thanet from the mainland. The channel has now silted up, but prior to this, Richborough was an important natural harbour and was the landing place of the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43. Until October 2008 there was uncertainty whether this was the site of the Claudian invasion of Britain; two ditches at the site which have been dated to the Roman period were interpreted as defensive structures; however, some archaeologists had favoured the theory that the landing took place in the vicinity of modern day Chichester. The 2008 discovery proved that this was a defensive site of a Roman beachhead, protecting of coast. The suffragan bishop of Richborough, in the Diocese of Canterbury, was created in 1995 to provide a second provincial episcopal visitor (after Ebbsfleet) for the Province of Canterbury.

The Romans founded the site and, after their withdrawal, the site was occupied by a Saxon religious settlement (since St Augustine landed in 597 at nearby Ebbsfleet). The site is managed by English Heritage who run historical events on the site throughout the summer.

During the First World War the capacity of Dover and other nearby ports was found to be inadequate, and a major harbour was constructed at Richborough. Its purpose was to provide the British Expeditionary Force with its heavy equipment (tanks, guns, railway locomotives, ammunition, horses and fuel). In 1917, the British Government began to look into the possibility of installing a cross Channel train ferry at Richborough to allow roll on/roll off transportation of railway rolling stock, artillery and supplies to the allied Front Lines. This was the first time that sea going roll on/roll off ferries had been used from Britain. Three new train ferries were built , and and operations began on 10 February 1918, conveying nearly 900 tons of cargo at a time between Richborough and Calais and Dunkirk. Although existing barge services were still in operation across the Channel from Richborough, the use of train ferries was more practical for larger and heavier cargos, such as tanks. The use of train ferries greatly reduced the amount of labour required in the transport of these items. It took only 30 to 40 minutes to load or unload the 54 railway wagons and fifty or sixty motor vehicles that could be carried by these train ferries. An analysis done at the time found that to transport 1,000 tons of war material from the point of manufacture to the front by conventional means involved the use of 1,500 labourers, whereas when using train ferries that number decreased to around 100 labourers. To accommodate the train ferries, a new type of terminal had to be designed and built at Richbrough, Calais and Dunkirk. Adjustable steel bridges with two sets of railway lines, spanning between 80 and 100 feet depending on the local conditions at the each port, were installed at each of the three ports to allow a true connection between railway lines on shore and the tracks on the ferry.