Discover Samphire Hoe
The nature reserve of the group, owned by Eurotunnel, covers a 30-hectare area at the foot of the famous White Cliffs of Dover in England.
Created by Eurotunnel, The Samphire Hoe site was reclaimed from the sea using the 5 million tonnes of chalk marl extracted during the excavation of the Channel Tunnel and deposited behind a sea wall to form a new piece of land. Transformed from the beginning into a nature reserve, the Samphire Hoe site was opened to the public in July 1997, when plant and animal life had been established.
Each year Samphire Hoe welcomes more than 100,000 visitors including several hundreds of schoolchildren who attend thematic workshops in its education shelter.
This nature site is dominated by the Shakespeare Cliff on which William Shakespeare enjoyed a walk when he was staying in the Dover area.
A model of biodiversity
With respect to flora, the nature reserve harbours 200 species of different plants, including more than 6,000 orchids counted in 2019, of which 1,300 rare realy spider orchids. Regarding wildlife, there are around 180 species of butterflies and 143 species of birds. Since its opening, Samphire Hoe has already received 14 Green Flag Awards and 6 South and South east in Bloom awards, two distinctions awarded to the most outstanding green areas in the United Kingdom for their high environmental quality and their contribution to local communities.
Samphire Hoe in pictures
