Whiteness Arch

Whiteness Arch is located in Kingsgate Bay in Broadstairs, Kent, England.  We visited it in early December 2024.  This arch is featured at the beginning of the movie "Sulfur and White" and the surrounding areas of these white cliffs at Kingsgate Bay and Botany Bay are featured in "The Electrical Life of Louis Wain."

Kingsgate Bay Sea Arch

There is not a parking lot at the arch, but we went early enough in the day that there was open parking across the street from the stairs that lead down to Kingsgate Beach.  If you look closely at the above photo you can see me standing as close to the arch as I was able to get on this day.  The tide was too high for me to venture much farther than this.

We parked our red car across the street in an empty spot that is meant for those apartments.  We arrived at about 8:30 in the morning. 

There also would have been parking at Captain Digby just a few yards down the street, although there is a fee to park there.

Parking fees at Captain Digby

It is only half a mile walk from where we parked to the closest we could get to the arch that day.

View of the arch from the road.  You can walk along this bridge and admire the arch.  In the far left of this photo you can see the Captain Digby

On the edge of the bridge you can head down stairs to the beach towards the arch

You'll find this warning on the way down the stairs to the beach

The stairs with warning signs

I didn't notice the warning about jellyfish...  I might not have ventured into the water if I had...

Whiteness Arch

The sand on the beach is very nice, although full of seaweed

There is a lot of seaweed in the sand, but the sand is soft

Kingsgate Castle, which dates back to 1760, sits atop the cliff on the right side of the beach.

This cave in the cliff wall looks as if it might be accessible when the water is higher

This is Keyhole Cave, on the beach at Kingsgate Bay

The tide was high, but I rolled up my jeans and took off my socks and shoes and waded into the dark water in an attempt to get underneath the arch.  The rocks were covered with moss and were very slippery, and after the water got deep enough and dark enough that I couldn't see where I was stepping, I gave up.  At other times of year the arch is accessible, and actually when we were leaving a local was walking on the bridge and we asked him if the tide goes down enough to get under the arch in the winter.  He said that every day the tide goes down enough in the afternoon to go stand under the arch.

I waded through the dark water trying to get around that turn in the cliff wall.  Later on when I was above I would soon realize that these are two separate cliffs that are only connected on the bottom.

The waves were strong and I was afraid of falling in since I couldn't see what was beneath me.

There was lots of seaweed on the beach

This is how it looked to walk through the water - I literally could not see my feet!

It looks like the water gets quite a bit higher on a regular basis, based on the marks on the cliff walls.  In researching about the area, I learned that there used to be a second arch, Botany Bay Arch, that collapsed in 1966.  Erosion is very prevalent in this sea area.

The turning-around point for me when the water was too dark to see through and the rocks to slippery to keep my footing

After enjoying our view of the arch from the beach, we went back up the stairs and walked along the bridge trying to figure out how to get above the arch.  We went to Captain Digby's and found a trail that appeared to lead to the top of the cliff.  Along the way, we found a side trail that went down to the beach on the other side of the arch.  Still hoping to get under the arch, I followed the trail down, but unfortunately the tide was too high on that side as well!

view from the road above

View of the arch from above

Behind the Captain Digby there is a fenced trail that you can follow to the cliffs above the beach.  It is very short and easy to walk on at first.

the ivy-covered fence bordering the trail

We soon saw a side trail off to the left that went down to the beach, and we were hoping to get under the arch from the back-side.  It was only slightly tricky to climb down to the sand, although the tide was still too high to get under the arch from this side either.

The steep trail that we climbed down to get to the beach

This sign was posted at the bottom of this little side trail

We also saw this little side trail, which has since been fenced off because it's a sheer drop-off

This interesting hole in the rock wall is on that side trail as well

We went back up and continued to follow the trail to try to get above the arch.  A man was stretching up on top of the cliff.

The skinny trail that we followed up on the cliff top - the bent-down fence has obviously been climbed by countless people.

View from up on top of the cliff

view towards the castle from up top

view towards the arch from up top

As we walked towards the edge of the cliff where the arch is, we could begin to tell that these were two separate cliffs, joined at the bottom but separate up top.

This is where our disappointment really set in, because the bridge that used to stand between these two cliffs has been destroyed.  This spot is actually right above where my husband had climbed up to the sheer drop-off during our venture down to the beach behind the arch.

The other side of the demolished bridge

It was definitely too wide of a gap for me to jump, unfortunately.

Hopefully nobody was standing on the bridge when it collapsed!

My daughter caught this photos of us on top of the cliff from back where we parked

And we caught this photo of her taking our photo as we stood on top of the cliff

We had a mixture of emotions as we left the arch, without having gotten under it or over it.  We had definitely seen it, and its surroundings from a variety of perspectives.  It was well worth the trip!  If I happen to ever visit England again, I would like to visit this arch in the afternoon so that I may fully explore underneath it.  I'm not sure if the bridge will ever be repaired, so getting above the arch may be something that only birds can do!

My daughter, husband, and I at Kingsgate Bay

What a beautiful arch!