68 



of things. If you remember I showed how small a change in 

 the conteur of the coast had, by changing the direction of the 

 tide, made great accumulations of beach to disappear ; and that 

 at present a great part of Romney INIarsh might be laid under 

 water by the destruction of the D3-mchurch wall. You will 

 realise the fact that tidal action has played a great part in these 

 changes. In a paper on Caesar's Landing-place, which I read 

 before the Royal Archaeological Institute, I pointed out what 

 an important influence coast changes must have had on the 

 tide, and that it was useless to take the data of the present tide- 

 tables as our guide when speaking of events that occurred 2000 

 years ago. By the wear of the sea on the coast of the Straits 

 of Dover, the Channel must have been considerably widened 

 during so long a period. If we assume the Straits are now one 

 mile wider than when Caesar visited our shores, the tide which 

 runs with a velocity of about three miles an hour up Channel, 

 would carry more water into the German Ocean than a river a 

 mile wide and 15 feet deep — such a current infringing on any 

 part of the coast would make great changes. There are other 

 changes also that have taken place in the German Ocean, which 

 must have exerted immense influence on the tides when we 

 remember that a north-east wind will materially highten the 

 tidal lever by forcing up the water of the North Sea. The 

 travelling of beach in an eastwatd direction, shows that the set 

 of the tide is more strong in that direction now on some part of 

 the coast than formerly. At present the tide of Dover runs up 

 Channel E.N.E. from about 1^ hours before to 4 hours after 

 high tides, and then turns to the westward to W.S.W. and 

 runs nearly seven hours in this direction, and at an average of 

 three knots at spring and two at neap tides. The tidal action 

 governs the deposit of shingle on the shore, and thus we have 

 in the former, elements that will change our coast-line, which, 

 reacting on the tide, will cause an amount of change during the 

 last 2000 years quite sufficient to account for these alterations we 

 see. It is also reasonable to conclude like changes took place pre- 

 vious to the historical dates mentioned, but we are not at liberty 

 to conclude those mutations were more rapid than those at 

 present — and avoid the popular notion, that sudden and violent 

 changes were the rule, not the exception. Archaeologists are 

 apt to overlook the element of time required, and thus conclude 

 that the changes from what was at one period the state of the 

 country, have all been brought about since the Romans came to 

 Britain. 



