Varne Bank

The Varne Bank is a five and three quarter mile long sand bank in the Dover Straits, lying nine miles southwest of Dover in Kent, England. [cite book
last=Chandler
first=John
coauthors=et al
title=The new seaman's guide and coaster's companion, improved from the original
url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=xT4IAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA22&dq=varne&lr=#PPA21,M1
accessdate=2008-01-03
year=1809
publisher=P. Mason
location=London
pages=p21 ] [cite map
publisher=Sayer, London
title=An actual survey of the Varne & Ridge; taken by order of John MacBride, Esqr, Rear Admiral of the Blue and Commander in Chief in the Downs &c.
url=http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/explore/object.cfm?ID=GREN3%2F5
year=1793
accessdate=2008-01-03]

Lying almost in the middle of the south/west international traffic English-side channel of the English Channel, the Varne Bank is a constant concern for both Her Majesty's Coastguard and shipping. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4948642.stm Cargo ship rescued by high tide] BBC News - 27 April 2006] [ [http://www.chirp.co.uk/main/downloads/html/MFB11.htm MV Lowlands Maine] Maritime - 26 April, 2006] [ [http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-newsroom/mcga-press-releases.htm?id=39DA3DEED38895BE&m=1&y=2008 Container Vessel "LT Cortesia" aground in Dover Strait] Maritime & Coastguard Agency - January 02, 2008] Due to its heightened risk, there is still a Trinity House manned Lightvessel placed on the Varne Bank. [ [http://www.cruising.org.uk/info/Varne.pdf Varne Light ship] Cruising.co.uk - 5th June, 2007]

Less well known than its close northerly neighbour the Goodwin Sands, ships that founder on the Varne Bank are often stated as being lost on the Goodwin Sands in error. Due to the volume increase in shipping through the world's busiest channel, several proposals have been made to eliminate the Varne Bank through dredging. [Commodore David Squire - "The Hazards of Navigating The Dover Strait (Pas-de-Calais) Traffic Separation Scheme" - Cambridge Journal, 2003] However, also due to its shallow depth the Varne Bank is a productive location for fishing, especially for cod and scallops. [ [http://www.thisisfolkestone.co.uk/home2.htm Folkestone Harbour] thisisfolkestone.co.uk]

In 1802, mining engineer Albert Mathieu made proposals to Napoleon in line with the aims of the 1751 Treaty of Amiens, for turning the Varne Bank into an island staging point for the Channel Tunnel. The proposal would have seen railway tunnels reaching north to various parts of England, and south into France and Belgium. [ [http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/arts/334796/the-age-of-the-train.thtml The age of the train] The Spectator - 7 November 2007] In the twentieth century, a proposal was made for a Channel bridge, which would have used the Varne Bank as a staging post for a support structure. [ [https://www.istructe.org/thestructuralengineer/HC/Abstract.asp?PID=2830 AR Flint - Paper: The Proposed Bridge over the English Channel] Structural Engineer magazine]

Several naval battles have been fought nearby, including the Battle of Goodwin Sands in 1652 and the Battle of Dover Strait in 1917. [ [http://www.folkestoneharbour.com/pages/history.html History of Folkestone Harbour and Cross Channel Links] ]

References