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Once England’s most important
seaport (the town is now two miles inland),
Sandwich is one of the UK’s best-preserved
medieval towns. It was from here that Thomas
Becket fled to France and Richard I landed on his
return from the Crusades. The town was constantly
raided by the French who partly burned it down in
the 15th century. That gastronomic
delight ‘the sandwich’ owes its title to the Earl
of Sandwich, John Montagu, who liked cold roast
beef between two slices of toast at the gambling
tables. Royal St George’s Golf Course, where the
Open Championship has been held, lies between the
town and Sandwich Bay. One of its members was Ian
Fleming, creator of James Bond, who used it as a
setting in ‘Goldfinger’. English Heritage manages
Richborough Roman Fort which marks the point where
the Romans launched their successful invasion of
our shores in 43AD.
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