While the weather isn’t always great, the UK is known for its beautiful and often rugged coastline, complete with beautiful sandy beaches.In fact, some 1,000 beaches are dotted across these isles, meaning that wherever you are in the UK, you’re never far from the coast.

Many Britons won’t have visited many of these places, however, keeping to what they know and flocking to Cornwall or a local shore every year. Because of this, beaches up and down the country are going largely unvisited, hidden gems only known within the communities they serve.

Harwich, Essex, is one such town, whose picturesque sandy shores combine with a rich history to make for one of the country’s best-kept secrets — and one that the experts believe will become seriously popular in the coming years.

The pretty port town has many surprises, despite parts of it having become run down, as well as lorries having previously crammed its entry road. It is filled with 17th and 18th centuries buildings complete with the fetching Guildhall.

Then there’s the Electric Palace Cinema, an establishment which dates back to 1911 and recently underwent renovations to restore it to its former glory.

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Dovercourt Bay Beach has bagged itself a blue flag, meaning the Foundation for Environmental Education recognises that it meets the environmental standards of the organisation.

And there’s no wonder, a tranquil seaside resort, Dovecourt Bay boasts both sand and shingle and is one of the region’s most beautiful spots in the summer months.

So much so that The Times previously ranked it as one of the six best places along Britain’s coast. Harwich’s interests extend far beyond its beach.

It is a town with a rich maritime history from the 13th century when the Earl of Norfolk founded it in a grid-shaped pattern.

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Its pavements have made way for scores of famous seafarers, including the likes of the Elizabethan sailor Francis Drake, and Christopher Jones, the captain of the Mayflower which took the first pilgrims to America.

The town would go on to play an integral part in Britain’s history, seeing many wars, including the Hundred Years’ War, when it was the target of a French raid.

Later, in the late 17th century, Harwich almost became a victim of William of Orange’s invasion of Britain, however, his sailors misjudged the winds and ended up at Torbay in Devon instead.

There was then the Napoleonic Wars, and crucially World War 1 and World War 2, in which Harwich acted as a naval base where German U-boats surrendered, and also a minesweeping and destroying base for allied forces against Nazi Germany.

Despite, or perhaps because of, its small size, Harwich is highly regarded on the architecture front, its old town listed as a conservation area.

Today, medieval structures are mostly private homes and buildings, while the Grade-listed Harwich Guildhall of 1769 is open to the public.

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