the west of Reculver, have a cap of London Clay, a fine silty clay of Eocene age. The surface consists mainly of flint gravel with some areas of brickearth, both of which are glacial deposits. Rocks such as these are easily washed away by the sea. It has been estimated that the Roman fort was originally about 1 mile (1.6 km) from the sea to the north, but the cliffs are eroding at a rate of approximately per year. Coastal erosion had washed away most of Reculver village by 1800, leading residents to re-locate to Hillborough, within Reculver parish. A plan is in place to manage this erosion whereby some parts of the coastline such as the country park will be allowed to continue eroding, and others – including the site of the Roman fort and the medieval church – will be protected from further erosion. New sea defences were built in the 1990s, including covering the beaches around the church with boulders. The warmest time of year in Kent is in July and August, with average maximum temperatures of around , and the coolest is in January and February, with average minimum temperatures of around . Average maximum and minimum temperatures are about 0.5 °C (0.3 °F) higher than they are nationally. Locations on the north coast of Kent, like Reculver, are sometimes warmer than areas further inland, owing to the influence of the North Downs to the south. Average annual rainfall in Kent is about , with the highest rainfall from October to January. This is lower than the national average annual rainfall of . Occasional drought conditions can lead to the imposition of Temporary Use Bans to conserve water supplies, and it was announced in 2013 that a water desalination plant was to be built at Reculver to increase supplies. Demography In the census of 1801 the number of people present in the parish of Reculver, enclosing an area of about and including the settlements of Hillborough, Bishopstone and part of Broomfield, was given as 252, and this figure remained roughly stable until the 20th century when a dramatic increase was recorded: in the census of 1931, the number was given as 829. But this included holidaymakers, and in 2005 the number of people at Reculver was estimated to increase to "over 1,000 at the height of the [summer] holiday season". In the 2001 census, conducted on