16 



Institute In 1875, on the subject of Caesar's Landing Place in 

 Britain, the author drew attention to the probability of the mouth 

 of the "Wantsum being then near Stonar, and gave a map 

 representing the probable state of the shore line at th&t time ; but 

 little notice has been taken of that map in dissei'tations written on 

 the subject of the early position of this mouth of the estuary. 

 Since that date Mr. Burrows, ia his book on the Cinque Ports, 

 goes back to the old theory of the wide mouth of the estuary. 

 The Stonar beach, as before stated, must have been very ancient, 

 such an accumulation of beach as there exists must have taken 

 many years to form, and as it was there in Roman times, we must 

 antidate it very many years before, and it could not have been the 

 sea line even in the Saxon period, as it travelled from North to 

 South, exactly in the opposite direction to all the more recent beaches 

 along this coast. We must also take into account the formation of 

 the sand hills beyond, which have accumulated since. 



We now come to another part of our subject, viz., the depth 

 and width of this estuary. Bcde has recorded that in his time it 

 was about three furlongs in breadth, and passable or fordable only 

 in two places. The name given it, " Wantsum," would indicate that 

 it was greatly decreasing, and we are not told where it measured 

 three furlongs in width. Also it must have varied greatly in depth 

 and width, according to the state of the tide. At the present time 

 the tide rises at the mouth of the Stour 15 to 16 feet at the full 

 and new moon. And the change from high and low water is con- 

 sequently very great. At neap tides the water does not come near 

 the shore at high water at Pegweli Bay or the high tide mark. 

 A difiference of 10 feet in the height of the tide would be sufficient 

 to cover all the marsh with water or leave it dry. xis T before 

 stated, the distance the water will have to travel, will make a 

 considerable difference in the height to which it would rise at 

 a remote part of the level. As, however, the mouth of the estuary 

 was much nearer the sea at the time of the Roman occupation of 

 Britain, and artificial embankments had not then been erected to 

 prevent the influx of the waters, it must have overflowed the level 

 on Wantsum estuary at that time to its maximum extent. 



Compared with the present state of the estuary, another factor 

 must be taken account of, for in those early days the sea flowed in 

 not only by the Eastern outlet near Bichborough, but likewise at 

 the J^orthern outlet near Reculvers. A careful examination of the 

 marsh has however proved to the author that there is no great 

 depth of the alluvial deposits over most of the marshes, and they 

 lie but a short space above the ancient beds of tertiary strata. 

 The subsoil in many parts is composed of the Woolwich and 

 Thanet beds of sand (which have been confounded by many 

 observers with alluvial sea deposits). Between St. Nicholas and 



