.=--Varies between 1-3/4 to 3 hours.

1st 2nd 3rd
=Fares.=--Single 10s. 6d. 6s. 6d. 5s. 2-1/2d.
Return 18s. 5d. 13s. 0d. 10s. 5d.

=Accommodation Obtainable.=--At Herne Bay--"The Dolphin Hotel,"
"The Connaught," "The Grand," "St. George's Cliff," "Pier
Hotel," "Herne Bay Hotel," etc.; also the "Bungalow Hotel,"
etc., at Birchington.

About 3 miles to the east of Herne Bay, the twin towers of an old Roman
church stand prominently out from the flat marsh-land which stretches
between the villages of Herne and Birchington, some 5 miles from the
well-known health resort of Margate. Regulbium, now known as Reculver,
and Rutupium, or Richborough, near Sandwich, were two Roman stations
guarding the entrances to the estuary which formerly separated the Isle
of Thanet from the mainland. Regulbium was also used as a lighthouse and
watch-tower, because of its commanding position near the mouths of both
the Thames and Medway.

After the Roman occupation, Regulbium became one of the chief seats of
the Saxon kings, and when, after his conversion to Christianity by St.
Augustine, King Ethelbert gave up his palace at Canterbury, he lived
there with his court, and his remains were interred in the first church
erected on the spot. In the ninth century a Benedictine abbey was
founded at Regulbium by a priest named Bapa. A few years after, King
Edred granted the abbey to the Monastery of Christchurch at Canterbury,
but the society was either removed or dissolved before the Norman
Conquest. This practically ends the history of Regulbium, for owing to
the steady encroachments of the sea, and to the fact that the estuary
continued to fill up, the once populous Roman city was gradually
deserted. The present remains consist of parts of the earth-works of the
Roman station, and the twin towers and ruined walls of the church.
Though the church formerly occupied the centre of the Roman city, the
sea has now reached the base of the bank on which the towers stand. In
his famous "Brothers of Birchington," Thomas Ingoldsby says of the twin
towers--

They were tall and upright
And just equal in height.

Reculvers and the neighbourhood were at one time a favourite resort for
smugglers.

[Illustration: RECULVERS FROM THE EAST.]

OXFORD

=How to get there=.--Train from Paddington. Great Western Railway.
=Nearest Station=.--Oxford.
=Distance from London=.--63-1/2 miles.
=Avera