681 



ENGLAND. 



The Downs. 



&tti*ki. the Rock of Hailing*. The port of tlii.s name fills a 

 ^~^(~~" hollow s|vu-f between two eliffs. At the eastern ex- 

 tremity of tliis county there is a \erv capacious bay, 

 or rather estuary, on which were anciently two goo.l 

 |H>rts, Rye and Winchclsea. The former is now so 

 coroplctr'.v choked with sand, that it can admit only 

 very small vessels ; and the latter is entirely deserted 

 by the sea. After passing Kye, the coast of Sussex 

 stretches out into a point, which is called Dunge Ness. 

 This is the extremity ft' Hoinney Marsh, in an eastern 

 direction. 



The coast of Kent, adjoining to Sussex, is flat, 

 abounding in sand and pebbles, and continues so till 

 we pass Sandgate. Here the hills close in ; a steep and 

 clownish tract succeeds, descending from the interior 

 of the county in a fine ridge, and terminating in abrupt 

 chalky dill's. In one of the hollows of this range, 

 Folk-tone stand- l>et\vecn Dover Castle and that cliff so 

 strikingly described by Shakespeare. A narrow semi- 

 circular range of cliffs is formed, that recedes a little 

 from the coast. Beneath this range the town of Do- 

 ver occupies all the space open to the sea. 



The coast of Kent continues formed of high chalk 

 cliffs, occKsioTially sinking into hollows, till we come 

 to the headland called the South Foreland : from this 

 point the shore fronts the east, receding, so as to sur- 

 round a large sandy area, which appears to have been 

 left by the sea. This flat tract is terminated in front 

 by the high grounds of the Isle of Thanet. 



Between the South and the North Foreland, are the 

 Downs, a greatly frequented road for shipping : they 

 extend about six miles. Off the Downs he the Good- 

 win Sands, distant from Deal five miles, extending 

 north-north-east and south-south-west about 12 miles. 

 They are supposed formerly to have made part of the 

 Kentish land, (though this is denied by some), and to 

 have been overflowed about the end of the reign of 

 William Kufus, or the beginning of that of Henry I. 

 These sands are very dangerous for vessels riding in 

 the Downs, which, in high winds, are frequently dri- 

 ven upon them. They are divided into two parts by a 

 very narrow channel : in many parts they are dry at 

 low water, and in some places even before that time. 

 The northern division is of a triangular form, lying 

 north and south towards the sea, and running away 

 south-east to meet the east side, while it tends on the 

 south-west towards the shore. This part of the sands 

 is about Si miles long, and 2i miles broad : the north 

 end, called the North Land Head, is about six miles 

 from the coast ; the west end, which is called Blunt 

 Head, is very dangerous. The largest place that dries 

 on this sand, is called by the seamen Jamaica Island. 

 The south part of the Goodwin Sands is 3 J miles in 

 length, and, at the north end, not above a mile in 

 breadth, from whence it gradually diminishes towards 

 the south-west, till it ends in a narrow point called 

 South Land Head, which is only three miles from the 

 coast These sands are altered more or less every year, 

 by storms and strong tides. 



.ornhFore- The South Foreland forms the eastern point of the 

 Kentish shore: two light-houses are erected on it, in 

 order to warn mariners who arrive from the west, of 

 North Fore- their approach to the Goodwin Sands. The North 

 ^"^ Foreland forms the north-east point of the Isle of Tha- 



net, and is, by act of parliament, ascertained to be the 

 most southern part of the port of London. This head- 

 land projects into the sea nearly in the form of a bas- 

 tion, and is somewhat higher than the adjoining coast: 

 a light-house is erected on tin's, as well as on the South 



Foreland, for the general safety of mariners, but more 

 particularly in order to enable them to avoid striking 

 o:i the Goodwin Sands. This light-house belongs to 

 wich Hospital; and every I!riti->h w-^el viiling 

 round this point pa\ s -jil. per ton, and every foreign 

 vessel 4d. per ton, towards its support. In "this part 

 of the c<n.-t of Kent, the sea gains so much upon the 

 land, that above 30 acres have been lost within the 

 memory of some now alive. All vessels passing on 

 the south side of this forela.id, arc -aid to enter the 

 Channel ; and all the towns and harlxmrs between Lon- 

 don and this place, whether on the Kentish or the Es- 

 sex shore, are called members of the port of London. 



No circumstance connected with the progressive geo- IsleofTli* 

 graphy of England is more interesting than that which ncl - 

 relates to the Isle of Thanet. We trust, therefore, we 

 shall lie excused for dwelling ratlier at length on it 

 ancient and present -tate. At this day, it is scarcely 

 a peninsula, and yet, in the time of the Uomans, it 

 was a complete island, nearly of a circular form. At 

 this period, the sea on the south-west side, between 

 the island and the main land of Kent, was at least four 

 miles broad, gradually decreasing as it passed along the 

 south side of the island, till at length its breadth con- 

 tracted to two miles ; and at Sar, which was the nar- 

 rowest part, it was not more than a mile and a half. 

 Thus far flowed the South, which there met the North 

 Sea : the latter entered at what was, from this circum- 

 stance, called Northmutha, or North-Mouth. The di- 

 rect and accustomed passage to London by sea, Lay 

 through the strait between the Isle of Thanet and the 

 main land of Kent, as late as the middle of the 4th cen- 

 tury. In the time of Bede, however, the breadth of 

 this passage was considerably diminished ; for he tells 

 us, it was then but three furlongs wide, and so shal- 

 low, that it was fordable in two places. It continued, 

 however, a passable strait for vessels of some size, till 

 about the time of the Norman Conquest, when the in- 

 habitants perceiving that the tide no longer flowed with 

 any considerable vigour, began to erect dykes to keep 

 it out, and thus brought about the present form and 

 condition of the island. Thus the Isle of Thanet, 

 which was formerly separated from the main land of 

 Kent by the entire channel of what was called the 

 Portus ilitupcnsis, and was then, in its natural state, 

 all high land, is now a peninsula, or at most a river- 

 isle only, with the Stour-wantsome on the south, the 

 Mill-stream on the south-west, and the Nethergong- 

 wantsome on the west. The other part of the island 

 fronts the E;ist and North Seas as before ; but the fi- 

 gure is altered from a circular to an irregular oval. Af- 

 ter the junction of the isle to Kent, the sea, which no 

 longer flowed with the same freedom, began to throw 

 up immense quantities of beach on the opposite shore, 

 which produced Estauore, that is, the East Stone Shore: 

 this was originally an island, but the monks united it 

 by a causeway to the Isle of Thanet. 



Below this island, the coast of Kent, which still fronts 

 the north, becomes marshy as it descends by Whit- 

 stable to the narrow arm of the sea called the Swale, 

 which flows along two sides of the isle of Shepey. After 

 this, the coast turns to the ea^t till it reaches the point 

 where the Medway terminates its course, by its junc- 

 tion with the Swale. Beyond this the fort of Sheer- 

 ness projects, and the mouth of the Thames open*. 



Of the rivers of England, the most celebrated and Rivers of 

 important are the Thames, the Severn, the Mersey, the I |' ng i! 

 Dee, the Tyne, the Tees, the Trent, and the Medway. 

 As most of these flow through more than one county, 



