Great Stone, as it was known in c1800, was just a shingle headland, being the land point that marked the southern entrance to the bay that extended almost as far west as New Romney. The sea had been retreating from New Romney, once a harbour and port, ever since the 13th century.
The village lies between farm land and a nature reserve to the west and the English Channel to the east. It has a fine sandy beach, popular with bathers and wind surfers alike. Greatstone is centred around Dunes Road, extending, generally parallel to the coast, to Clark Road to the north, adjacent to Littlestone. To the south it extends to the south end of Leonard Road, adjacent to Lydd-on-Sea (see map link)
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Nearly all its properties are residential with a few shops, local pubs, restaurants, holiday homes and two holiday parks. The sandy beach at Greatstone is quite flat and stretches from north to south for over two miles and is frequently ‘washed’ by the tide of the English Channel.
Greatstone has a bus service which goes to New Romney, Ashford and Folkestone and is served by the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway with a station at Romney Sands at the Romney Sands holiday park. https://www.rhdr.org.uk .The nearest mainline stations are at Appledore and Ashford International which is provides fast train services to London St Pancras (37 minutes) as well as Eurostar Services to the continent.
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A town plan regulates Greatstone’s development so that instead of developing into a haphazard and ramshackle collection of beach huts, they are well laid out. During WW2, the army requisitioned some of the bungalows and holiday camp as camouflage for the pumps of the PLUTO (Petrol Line Under the Ocean) installation that supplied fuel to forces taking part in the Normandy landings in 1944. After the war, they returned all to residents and holidaymakers
© Kent Past.
