White Cliffs of Dover
Rank: 
Top 300
Top 300Wonder Type: Natural
Country: United Kingdom
Description:
The White Cliffs of Dover owe its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint. The cliffs have great symbolic value in Britain because they face towards continental Europe across the narrowest part of the English Channel, where invasions have historically threatened and against which the cliffs form a symbolic guard. The National Trust calls the cliffs "an icon of Britain", with "the white chalk face a symbol of home and war time defence." Because crossing at Dover was the primary route to the continent before the advent of air travel, the white line of cliffs also formed the first or last sight of Britain for travellers. In World War II, thousands of allied troops on the little ships in the Dunkirk evacuation saw the welcoming sight of the cliffs. [More Details]
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "White Cliffs of Dover", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike 3.0 License.