Foreness Point is a low headland on the coast of Kent

Kent

Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 in England. It extends a short distance into the entrance of the Thames Estuary

Thames Estuary

The Thames Mouth is the estuary in which the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea.It is not easy to define the limits of the estuary, although physically the head of Sea Reach, near Canvey Island on the Essex shore is probably the western boundary...

, on the north coast of Thanet

Thanet

Thanet is a local government district of Kent, England which was formed under the Local Government Act 1972, and came into being on 1 April 1974...

, between Palm Bay in Cliftonville

Cliftonville

Cliftonville is a coastal area of the town of Margate, situated to the east of the main town, in the Thanet district of Kent, South East England, United Kingdom. It also contains the area known as Palm Bay....

 and Botany Bay

Botany Bay, Kent

Botany Bay is a bay in Broadstairs, Kent on the south east coast of England.Botany Bay is the northern most of seven bays in Broadstairs. It features chalk cliffs and is a popular tourist location...

 in Broadstairs

Broadstairs

Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about south-east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St. Peter's and had a population in 2001 of about 24,000. Situated between Margate and...

. Off the point there is a reef, exposed at low tide, known as Long Nose Spit, where common periwinkle

Common Periwinkle

The common periwinkle or winkle, scientific name Littorina littorea, is a species of small edible sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk which has gills and an operculum, and is classified within the family Littorinidae, the periwinkles....

s are collected by the public as a food item. There is a water treatment plant on the headland.

There have been a number of shipwrecks in this location. In 1857 the transatlantic passenger ship Northern Belle

Northern Belle

Northern Belle was an American transatlantic ship which ran aground near Thanet, England on January 5, 1857. No lives were lost, thanks to heroic rescue efforts, in blizzard conditions...

was wrecked off the point. In 1907 the Norwegian ship Coronel ran aground: it was later refloated and returned to service. In 1934 the British ship Orchis ran aground, and was also later refloated and returned to service.

During the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 there was a Chain Home Low

Chain Home Low

Chain Home Low was the name of a British radar early warning system, detecting enemy aircraft movement at lower altitudes than and summarily used with the fixed Chain Home system which was operated by the RAF during World War II...

radar station at Foreness.