The Complete Guide to the Invasion Coast
Region: Kent, Medway and East Sussex
Beaches covered: 5
Coastlines: The Channel, the Thames Estuary and the River Medway
Every invasion of England came ashore here
The Romans built a fort at Pevensey. William landed there in 1066 and walked up the beach into English history. In 1667, a Dutch fleet sailed up the Medway, burned the Royal Navy at anchor and towed away the flagship the worst defeat in the Navy’s history- and it happened past Upnor Castle. Napoleon prompted a chain of seventy-four Martello towers along this coast. The Battle of Britain was fought in the sky above it.
This is the closest English coast to Europe, and for two thousand years everything has arrived here first: armies, trade, invasion scares, and the enormous military and naval apparatus built to meet them.
That’s where the glass comes from, and it’s why this small region punches above its size. Chatham Dockyard built and fitted Royal Navy ships on the Medway for four hundred years, including HMS Victory. Sheerness was a dockyard town at the mouth of the same river. Hastings has landed fish off an open beach since the medieval period and still does; the Stade is Europe’s largest beach-launched fishing fleet. Folkestone was a Victorian resort and a cross-Channel port. Four centuries of naval provisioning, dockyard communities and harbour traffic, feeding into a stretch of water barely fifty miles across.
There’s a second reason this coast works, and it’s terrain. Sussex and Kent are shingle coasts almost throughout, and shingle traps and tumbles glass in a way sand simply doesn’t.
And a third: the tides here are generous. The Dover Strait funnels water, and spring ranges run around six metres at Hastings and five to six up the Medway. After Dorset’s two metres and East Anglia’s two, that’s a serious amount of foreshore appearing twice a day.
One of these five beaches isn’t a beach in the usual sense. Upnor sits on a tidal river, not the open coast. It’s the most interesting entry on the page.
Kent and Sussex sea glass at a glance
Best overall: Hastings
The Stade and Rock-a-Nore, below the net shops of the Old Town a working fishing beach with centuries of material going into the same water, on a coast with a six-metre range. As of late 2024, both beaches are open to dogs all year, making the best hunt in the region one of the freest.
Best for beginners: Pevensey Bay
Flat, open shingle with no cliffs to worry about, no scrambling, and no crowds. Shingle is the most forgiving terrain for learning to spot glass; it concentrates material into the strandline for you. Quiet enough that you can take your time, and William the Conqueror came ashore here, which is a decent thing to think about while you’re crouched over the pebbles.
Best for colour variety: Upnor
Not the sea at all, a tidal river below Upnor Castle, opposite the site of Chatham Dockyard. Four hundred years of Royal Navy shipbuilding and the dockyard communities that served it, all draining into the same stretch of the Medway. The most unusual source material on the south coast.
Best for sea pottery: Minster Leas
The Isle of Sheppey, downstream of another Royal Dockyard at Sheerness, on a shore world-famous among fossil hunters for its London Clay. Pottery and glass alongside pyritised wood and sharks’ teeth.
Best without a car: Folkestone
High Speed 1 from St Pancras in about fifty-five minutes, and the beach a short walk from the station. There is no faster way to get from central London to a hunting beach anywhere in Britain.
Best dog-friendly: Hastings
Doubling up, and it’s recent news worth knowing: after a 2024 consultation drew more than 2,800 responses, the council removed the seasonal restrictions from Stade and Rock-a-Nore entirely. The two best hunting beaches in Hastings are now open all year.
Best right now
Estuary and open coast behave completely differently here. The Sea Glass Score updates daily.
Top 10 kent & sussex Sea Glass Beaches Right Now
- Folkestone Kent — 65/100 (Good) Sea settling Good day at a reliable beach best window 2026-10-28, 05:22–08:22
- Hastings Beach East Sussex — 61/100 (Good) Sea settling Good day at a reliable beach best window 2026-10-28, 12:49–13:49
- Pevensey Bay East Sussex — 55/100 (Fair) Fair — expectations lower at this beach best window 2026-10-28, 12:58–13:58
- Upnor Beach Kent — 44/100 (Limited) Limited — a modest beach on a quiet day best window 2026-10-27, 05:44–08:44
- Minster Leas Kent — 44/100 (Limited) Limited — better days ahead here best window 2026-10-27, 05:20–08:20
How the region divides
The Sussex coast: Hastings and Pevensey Bay are open-channel shingle with a big range, around six metres at spring tides, and soft cliffs at the Hastings end. Fishing history rather than industry, but a lot of it, and going back a long way.
The Kent coast: Folkestone faces the Strait at its narrowest point. Victorian resort and cross-Channel port history, chalk cliffs, and the Warren landslip east of the town.
The estuaries: Upnor and Minster Leas are a different proposition entirely. The Medway and the Thames, both with Royal Dockyards on them, both sheltered from open sea. Less wave energy means slower frosting, but far denser industrial and naval source material. Treat these the way you’d treat the Firth of Forth: more finds, lower average finish.
Every Kent and Sussex beach we’ve rated
East Sussex
Hastings: Good
The Stade: Europe’s largest beach-launched fishing fleet with the black net shops behind it, the Old Town above, and Rock-a-Nore to the east under the cliffs. Working shingle with centuries of material in it. Dogs all year on both beaches since 2024.
Pevensey Bay: Fair
Where William the Conqueror came ashore, and where the Romans built Anderitum before him. Quiet shingle backed by Martello towers, with far fewer people than the resort beaches either side.
Kent
Folkestone: Good
Harbour Arm, Sunny Sands and the pebble beaches, plus the Warren, a landslip zone reached by zigzag paths down through the cliffs, and one of the more atmospheric stretches on the Kent coast. Seasonal restrictions on the main beaches; the harbour-side stretches stay open.
Minster Leas: Good
On the Isle of Sheppey, looking north across the Thames Estuary. A Victorian promenade, London Clay cliffs behind, and the Sheerness dockyard legacy in the water. Restricted section in summer, but the grass expanse above the promenade is exempt.
Medway
Upnor
A single village street running down to the river, an Elizabethan castle built in 1559 to defend the fleet, and Chatham Dockyard opposite. The Dutch sailed past here in 1667 and burned the Navy at its moorings. Tidal river hunting rather than beach hunting, and utterly unlike anywhere else on this site.
What Kent and Sussex sea glass actually looks like
Common: Green, brown and white. Fishing town and resort stock on the coast, dockyard and naval material on the rivers.
Occasional: Aqua and pale blue, concentrating around Upnor and the older harbour areas.
Rare: Cobalt and purple. Uncommon, though the Medway’s density of naval and domestic history gives it slightly better odds than the open coast.
Estuary glass is a different animal. Upnor and Minster Leas both sit in sheltered water with low wave energy, which means a higher proportion of under-frosted, still-sharp pieces than you’d find at Hastings. The trade-off is volume and size; sheltered water leaves pieces larger.
Sheppey’s fossils are world-class and worth knowing about. The London Clay here produces pyritised wood, sharks’ teeth, crabs and fossil seeds, and collectors travel for it. Same tideline as the glass. Collect from the foreshore, not the cliff; the London Clay is unstable and the cliffs slump.
And clay pipes. Any tidal river with four centuries of settlement on it produces broken clay pipe stems, and the Medway is no exception. They’re not glass, but they’re common, they’re old, and once you start noticing them you can’t stop.
When to go
Winter, after a south-westerly or an easterly. The Channel coast responds to both.
Spring tides are genuinely worth timing here, unlike Dorset or Suffolk. With around six metres at Hastings and five to six on the Medway, the difference between a neap and a spring low is substantial.
Work an ebbing tide on the rivers. Upnor and the Medway foreshore expose progressively as the water drops, and river mud is easier and safer on the way down than on the way back up. Know your turn time: estuary tides come back faster than they look.
Watch the Warren at Folkestone. It’s an active landslip, which is what makes it interesting and also what makes it hazardous. Stay off the cliff bases.
And the Sheppey cliffs slump regularly. Same rule.
Dogs in Kent and Sussex
Four councils, and one genuinely good piece of recent news.
Hastings Borough Council removed the seasonal restrictions from Stade and Rock-a-Nore beaches in November 2024, after a consultation drew over 2,800 responses with 64% in favour of lifting them. Both are now open to dogs all year. Elsewhere in Hastings, restrictions run 1 April to 30 September, starting a month earlier than the standard pattern. Dogs must be on leads on the promenade, and no one person may walk more than six dogs at a time.
Folkestone & Hythe District Council restricts nine beaches from 1 May to 30 September, including Sunny Sands and Mermaid Beach at Folkestone. But the sandy stretch to the right of Sunny Sands by the harbour, and the pebble beach right of the Harbour Arm, are open all year, and so is Warren Beach. Those are the sections worth hunting anyway. The district’s PSPO was remade in 2025 following consultation, with restrictions removed at Greatstone, so check current signage rather than older guides.
Swale Borough Council covers Minster Leas on Sheppey, with three restricted coastal areas from 1 May to 30 September and leads required on promenades. At Minster, the restricted stretch runs from the east side of the Playa public house to the vehicle ramp opposite the Sea Side Avenue café, and the council is explicit that the grass expanse between the concrete promenade and the main road is not included. Swale enforces: thirteen penalty notices were issued across two recent summers. Fixed penalty £100, reduced to £75 if paid within ten days.
Medway Council covers Upnor, and Wealden District Council covers Pevensey Bay. Neither appears in the main restricted lists, but both are worth confirming on the signage.
Fines across the region top out at £1,000 at magistrates’ court.
For dog-friendly cafés and pubs, Yappy Places covers Hastings Old Town, Folkestone and the Medway villages and Hastings in particular is very well set up, especially now the beach rules have relaxed.
Worth the stop, but not for the glass
Chatham Historic Dockyard: the obvious pairing with Upnor. Four hundred years of naval shipbuilding, three historic warships, and the ropery where they still make rope by hand.
Upnor Castle: Elizabethan, on the riverbank, and the place that failed to stop the Dutch in 1667.
Dungeness: shingle desert, two lighthouses, a nuclear power station and Derek Jarman’s garden. Unlike anywhere else in England.
Rye and Camber: a medieval hill town and a sand dune system, twenty minutes apart.
Hastings Old Town: the net shops, the East Hill funicular, and one of the best-preserved fishing quarters in the country.
Planning a trip
A day: Hastings. The Stade, Rock-a-Nore, and the Old Town when the tide turns.
A weekend, Sussex and Kent: Hastings and Pevensey Bay on day one, Folkestone on day two. About an hour apart.
A Medway day: Upnor and the Historic Dockyard together, then Minster Leas across on Sheppey if the tide suits. Both estuary beaches, both naval, and a completely different day to the coast.
Getting here without a car: the best-connected region on this site after the North East. Folkestone is fifty-five minutes from St Pancras on HS1. Hastings is about ninety minutes from Charing Cross or Victoria, with the beach a short walk from the station. Strood serves Upnor, Sheerness-on-Sea serves Minster, and Pevensey & Westham has its own station. Every beach here is reachable by train.
From beach to jewellery
Medway glass comes up bigger and less finished than open-coast material; sheltered river water works slowly. Hastings shingle does the opposite. Between them, this region gives you two very different kinds of pieces within an hour’s drive. At Mermaid Tears, every piece of jewellery starts on a UK beach exactly like these, hand-hunted and handmade into something you’ll keep. Browse the collection.
Disclaimer: Tide times, dog restrictions, parking charges and beach conditions change regularly. This region spans Hastings Borough, Wealden, Folkestone & Hythe, Swale and Medway councils, each with separate orders on separate cycles. Note that Hastings restrictions begin on 1 April rather than 1 May, and that Folkestone & Hythe’s order was remade in 2025. Always check current signage. The cliffs at Folkestone Warren and on the Isle of Sheppey are actively slipping; stay off the cliff bases and collect fossils from the foreshore only. Estuary tides on the Medway return faster than they appear to; check your turn time before working down the foreshore.
Last updated: August 2026
Frequently asked questions
Where is the best place to find sea glass in Kent or Sussex?
Hastings. The Stade and Rock-a-Nore sit below the Old Town on working shingle, with Europe’s largest beach-launched fishing fleet still operating off the beach and centuries of material in the water. A six-metre spring range exposes a lot of ground, and both beaches now allow dogs all year.
Can you find sea glass on the River Medway?
Yes, and Upnor is one of the more unusual hunts in Britain. It sits opposite Chatham Dockyard, which built and fitted Royal Navy ships for four hundred years, including HMS Victory. Sheltered river water means glass frosts more slowly, so expect larger, less finished pieces, but the density of naval and dockyard material is exceptional.
Are Hastings beaches dog friendly?
Yes, and more so than they used to be. In November 2024 the council removed seasonal restrictions from Stade and Rock-a-Nore entirely after a public consultation, so both are open all year. Other Hastings beaches restrict dogs from 1 April to 30 September; note that April start.
When is the best time to hunt sea glass in Kent and Sussex?
Winter, on a falling spring tide, after a blow. Unlike much of southern England, spring tides genuinely matter here — the Dover Strait funnels water and ranges run to around six metres, so a spring low opens up substantially more ground than a neap.
Can you find fossils on the Isle of Sheppey?
Yes, the London Clay at Sheppey is world-famous among collectors, producing pyritised wood, sharks’ teeth, fossil crabs and seeds. They turn up on the same tideline as the glass. Collect from the foreshore rather than the cliffs, which slump frequently.
Can you get to the Kent and Sussex beaches by train?
Yes, all five. Folkestone is fifty-five minutes from St Pancras on High Speed 1. Hastings is around ninety minutes from central London. Strood serves Upnor, Sheerness-on-Sea serves Minster Leas, and Pevensey & Westham has its own station.
