Welcome to the Cross-Channel Geopark

Around 450,000 years ago, during one of the coldest periods in Earth’s history, the Cross-Channel Geopark was frozen and covered in snow. A massive lake had formed in the southern North Sea and a ridge of chalk hills connected Britain and France. The hills were a land bridge, allowing early humans and animals to move freely back and forth.

As the planet warmed up and the ice melted, the lake got full and a catastrophic megaflood burst through the land bridge, carving out the Channel and separating our two nations. The force was so powerful, plunge pools more than 80 metres deep formed in the chalk rock that is now the seabed!

This extraordinary event reshaped the landscape, leaving behind awe-inspiring white cliffs and valleys that tell the story of our geological heritage. Explore the Cross-Channel Geopark and discover how more than 400 million years of shared history unites us across the Channel today.

Discover our Geosites

Geosites are sites of geological interest across the aspiring UNESCO Cross-Channel Global Geopark, where you can visit and interact with our geological heritage. These unique places show the incredible variety found in our landscape, based on their geological, educational, or cultural importance.

Together the Geosites of the Cross-Channel Geopark tell the story of the whole territory, across Kent and and northern France, and are destinations you can visit to learn all about the aspiring UNESCO Cross-Channel Global Geopark.

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Discover our Geosites

Pano Banc Nez 2020 Resize Scaled Aspect Ratio 1152 480Cap Blanc NezNatural tagsCoastal tagsOpen Spaces tagsThe white cliffs that you can see when you look across the Channel from England are known as Cap Blanc Nez (‘White Nose Cape’)
Cap Gris Nez © Eden 62 Fabien COISY Aspect Ratio 1152 480Cap Gris NezNatural tagsJurassic tagsOpen Spaces tagsOne half of the ‘Grand Site des Deux Caps’, Cap Gris Nez is the closest point to England in France.
4400484997 4281d10346 K 2 Aspect Ratio 1152 480Chalk MonumentsGeological tagsOpen Spaces tagsWalking & Cycling tagsOn the chalk hills of the Kent Downs there are four ‘hill figures’ carved into the slopes of the hills themselves.
8147375917 9454311ca4 K 1 Aspect Ratio 1152 480Shorne Woods Country ParkNatural tagsFamily Friendly tagsOpen Spaces tagsShorne Woods is a 300 acre country park between Gravesend and Strood with an interesting geological heritage. Gravesend, Shorne
52665015580 Daba3554da K 1 Aspect Ratio 1152 480Blue Bell Hill and Culand PitsIndustrial tagsFamily Friendly tagsOpen Spaces tagsBlue Bell Hill picnic site is a stunning viewpoint that looks out across the Medway valley and to the Weald. Maidstone

Map showing the geopark boundary and key sites

Visit and explore Kent DownsSt Margarets Bay, Cross-Channel Geopark_John MillerSt Margarets Bay, Cross-Channel Geopark_John Miller
Visit and explore Parc OpaleLe Cap Blan NezLe Cap Blan Nez