A258

A258

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From:

Dover (TR321416)

To:

Sandwich (TR323566)

Via:

Deal

Length:

13.5 miles (21.7 km)

Meets:

A256, A2, B2056

Primary Destinations

Dover •

Highways Authorities

Kent

Traditional Counties

Kent

Route outline (key)

A258

Dover - Sandwich

Route

The A258 is a local road from Dover to Sandwich via Deal. Effectively it consists of two separate routes, as traffic going directly between its two endpoints takes the A256 instead.

Our route begins at traffic lights on the A256, 200 m northwest of that road's Townwall Street junction with the A20, and immediately begins climbing the steep tree-lined hill past Dover Castle using that old trick - sharp bends, to reach the summit. The site of this 12th century castle is also home to a vast network of Second World War tunnels, a Saxon church and a Roman lighthouse built in 46 AD.

After some open fields, we reach the roundabout with the A2 and continue straight ahead. This next section of road now has a fifty limit, which is strange as it seems devoid of habitation!

The pleasant village of St Margaret's (which has two lighthouses) is nearby, but we continue to Ringwould. There is a tree-lined dip before this village which merges seamlessly into Walmer and Deal.

There is a gentle descent to the seafront of this town which, in terms of population, is surprisingly as large as Dover. We pass Henry the Eighth's typically round castle and enter a brief one way system, TOTSOing right and then left to run along the seafront (note the lengthy pier).

Pedestrian crossing on High Street, Deal

Having bypassed Deal's High Street, we TOTSO left again and cross the railway as we leave the town. There are a couple of hamlets to punctuate the flat run to Sandwich. A more interesting route from Deal to Sandwich is a toll road via Sandwich Bay golf course - the British Open has been played here.

The A258 leads us out to the A256 bypass, but a look around this ancient and compact little town with its narrow bridge over the River Stour is well worth a detour.

Original Author(s): Adam Colton

History

The A258 originally ended on the then A256 Dover Road just south of Sandwich, and appears to have survived the construction of the Sandwich Bypass in 1981 by some years.

A258

Roads

NCN1 •

Related Pictures
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