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KENT. 



KENT. 



German Ocean and by the Straits of Dover ; S. by the county of 

 Sussex ; AV. the county is bounded by Surrey. A detached portion of 

 the parish of Woolwich in Kent lies on the left bank of the Thames. 

 The form of the county is irregular. Its principal dimensions are as 

 follows : length of the northern boundary, from the neighbourhood of 

 London to the North Foreland, 64 miles in a straight line ; of the 

 southern boundary, from the junction of the three counties, Kent, 

 Surrey, and Sussex, to Dungeness, 43 miles ; of the eastern boundary, 

 from the North Foreland to Dungenoss, 3S miles ; and of the western 

 boundary, from the neighbourhood of London to the junction of the 

 above counties, 24 miles. The area is estimated at 1627 square statute 

 miles, or 1,041,479 acres. The population in 1841 was 649,853; in 

 1851 it was 815,766. 



CoaH-line, I»land-», (be. — The northern part of the county, along the 

 EDstuary of the Thames, is skii'ted by a line of marshes extending 

 inland a distance varying from a few yards to two miles. At the 

 junction of the aestuarie't of the Thames and the Medway the marshes 

 occupy a large portion of the tongue of land between these rivers, the 

 extremity of which is termed the Isle of Grain. Eastward of the Isle of 

 Grain, the Swale, an arm of the oeatuary of the Medway, cuts off from the 

 mainland the hie of She/ipe;/, of which the isles of Elmley and Harty 

 are subordinate portions. The northern side of the Isle of Sheppey 

 is upland ; the cliffs rise about 90 feet above the river. The southern 

 part of the island is a low flat. Its area is nearly 33 square miles ; 

 it includes the decayed borough of Queenborough, and the royal 

 dockyard and town of Sbeemess at its north-western point. The 

 population of the liberty of Sheppey Island (which does not include 

 Harty Island) was 13,136 in 1851. The surface is laid down for the 

 most part in grass ; but the upland part on the northern aide produces 

 good oom. The marshes terminate east of the Swale, and the coast 

 again rises to some height in clayey cliffy, which extend to Recnlver 

 and the flats which form the western limit of the Isle of Thanet. In 

 the Jiile of Thanet, which occupies the north-eastern comer of the 

 county, the cliffs again commence, and continue along the coast to 

 Pegwell Bay, the boundary of the isle to the southeast. The North 

 Foreland is on the Isle of Thanet, east of Margate. The Isle of 

 Thanet contains about 40 square miles, with a population in 1851 of 

 31,793, and includes the well-known watering places, Margate, 

 Kamsgate, and Broadstairs. It is separated from the mainland by 

 the narrow channels of the Stour. The coast from the Isle of 

 Sheppey to the North Foreland is skirted by sands which extend from 

 a quarter of a mile to a mile from high-water mark ; and for some 

 miles farther out by 'the flats,' which, except in Margate Roads, 

 rarely afford, when the tide is out, more than two fathoms water. 

 Margate Roads are sheltered to seaward by Margate Sands, which are 

 dry at low water. 



The chalk cliffii of the Isle of Thanet are succeeded by the low 

 coast of Pegwell Bay, which continues to Walmer Castle, near Deal. 

 Here the chalk cli£& recommence, and continue round the South 

 Foreland (a headland bearing 14 miles nearly due S. from the 

 North Foreland), to Sandgate, between Folkestone and Hythe. 

 Between Dover and Folkestone a portion of the chalk cliffs has fallen 

 forwards towards the sea, so as to present an under cliff somewhat 

 similar to that at the back of the Isle of Wight. The works of the 

 South-Extern railway are carried along here, partly in tunnels, in 

 cuttings, and on an embankment close to the bieach. From the neigh- 

 bourhood of Folkestone the coast declines until it forms the extensive 

 tract of Romney Marsh, the coast-line of which extends south-west to 

 Dungeness, a point 19 miles in a straight line south-west of the South 

 Foreland, and thence westward 6 or 7 miles to the border of the 

 county of Sussex. Romney Marah is in one part protected against 

 the sea by an embankment called Dymchurch Wall. There are 

 lighthouses at the North and South Forelands, and on Dungeness, and 

 beacons in various other places. Opposite to the coast which extends 

 from the Isle of Thanet to the South Foreland, lies the Goodwin Sand, 

 the channel between which and tht! Kentish coast is the well-known 

 roadstead of the Downs. The Goodwin Sand is about 10 or 11 miles 

 long from north to south ; its greatest breadth is 3 or 4 miles. It is 

 divided into two parts by a narrow channel called 'the Swatch,' 

 navigable by small boats. Another sand bank, called the Brake, lies 

 between the north-eastern extremity of the Goodwin Sand and the 

 shore ; it is about 5 miles long with a depth upon it, at low water, of 

 from 3 to 12 feet 



The Downs, which are about 8 miles in length and 6 miles in width, 

 »l»j» safe anchorage, and are the general rendezvous of shipping 

 leaving the Thame* for the Channel, or returning homeward. To the 

 north of the Downs are ' the Small Downs,' a roadstead immediately 

 contiguous to the Downs properly so called, and sheltered by the 

 Brake, as the Downs are by the Goodwin Sand. 



Surface and GaUogy.— Kent is on the whole a hilly county. The 

 chalk range of the North Downs enters the county on the west side 

 from Surrey, not far from Westerham, and runs east-northeast to 

 the valley of the Medway between Maidstone and Rochester. On the 

 eastern side of the Medway, which completely interrupts the chalk 

 range, the Downs rise again, and run to the east-south-east to the 

 coast near Folkestone. This part of the range is divided into two 

 parts br tho valley of the Stour. On the north side the Downs 

 gndoally subside towards the lestuary of the Thames. 



The breadth of the chalk formation varies ; west of the Stour it is 

 from 3 to 6 miles ; east of the Stour it occupies the whole extent of 

 the county north of a line drawn from Folkestone to Wye, except 

 where it is interrupted by the marshy valley that surrounds the Isle 

 of Thanet The height of the chalk hills reaches in some instances 

 an elevation of 642 feet above the sea. The cliffs near Dover are 

 about 400 feet high ; Dover Castle hill is 469 feet 



The district between the chalk range and the sestuary of the Thames 

 is, for the most part, occupied by the plastic clay which immediately 

 overlies the chalk. The tongue of land between the Medway and 

 the Thames, including the Isle of Grain and the Isle of Sheppey, 

 is formed of the London clay, which overlies the plastic clay. This 

 formation also occupies a considerable district north and north-west 

 of Canterbury, extending to the shore between Whitstable and 

 ReciJver. The London clay also covers a small tract near Pegwell 

 Bay. Shooter's Hill, near Woolwich, which is an insulated mass of 

 London clay, is about 446 feet high. 



In the valleys of the Darent and its feeder the Cray the strata 

 above the chalk have been washed away, and the chalk is covered 

 only by the vegetable soil. Another strip of chalk, denuded of the 

 superior strata, runs along the bank of the Thames from the valley 

 of the Darent to below Gravesend. South of the North Downs the 

 chalk marl and greensand crop out, and cover a belt of land skirting 

 the chalk throughout the whole extent of the county from west to 

 east. The breadth of this belt varies from 2 to 7 miles. Its 

 southern slope, which is the steepest, forms what is designated ' the 

 ragstone range ' of hills, the higher points of which are from 600 to 

 800 feet high, and overlook the valley watered by the Eden, tho 

 Medway (from Peushurst to Yalding), and the Beult The valley 

 just referred to is occupied by the Weald clay, and foi-ms another 

 belt extending throughout the county from the border of Surrey to 

 the edge of Romney Marsh, having an average breadth of 5 miles. 



The remaining portion of the coimty, which forms a narrow belt 

 or strip of land along the Sussex border, is occupied by the iron- 

 sand, which forms the nucleus of the great Wenld district of the 

 southeastern part of England. This formation constitutes a range 

 of bills, amid which the upper watereof the Medway and its tributary 

 the Teyse have their sources : and extends far into Sussex. It rises 

 in some parts of the Weald clay district through the overlying strata 

 of that formation. 



The county thus appean, when Tiewed with reference to its 

 geology, to consist of five parallel belts, extending nearly in the direc- 

 tion of its length, and occupied by different formations, occurring in 

 regular order : — 1, The London and plastic clays ; 2, the chalk ; 3, 

 the chalk marl and greensand ; 4, the Weald clay ; 6, the iron-sand. 

 The southern border of the chalk and greensand formations, and the 

 iron-sand district, form three parallel ranges of hills separated from 

 each other by the Helmsdale and Weald clay valleys. 



What is termed the Wealii (Saxon ' weald,' a forest, or perhaps 

 generally, a wild uncultivated tract) was anciently an immense forest, 

 inhabited only by deer and hogs, but hus been gradually cleared and 

 brought into cultivation. Iron-works were formerly numerous and 

 important, but the introduction of coal in the manufactuie of iron 

 has caused this branch of industry to be transferred to other parts of 

 the island where fuel is more abundant 



Beds of limestone occur in the greensand formation, and are 

 quarried near Maidstone for common purposes of building, for road- 

 making, and for burning into lime, which is used for stucco, or 

 exported to the West Indies for refining sugar. 



Hydrography and Communication: — Nearly the whole county 

 belongs to the basin of the Thames. This river affords a ready 

 means of communication with the metropolis and with other parts. 

 The royal dockyards of Deptford and Woolwich are upon it 



The other principal rivers are the Ravensboume, the Darent, and 

 the Medway, which flow into the scstuary of the 'Thames ; and the 

 Stour and the Rother, which flow into the sea. 



The Rarenibourne rises on Keston Common, near the border of 

 Surrey, and flows northward past the town of Bromley and the village 

 of Lewisham, and between the towns of Greenwich and Deptford, 

 into the Thames. It is navigable to Deptford bridge for lighters and 

 other small craft The Darent rises in Squirries park, near Wester- 

 ham, close to the border of Surrey. Its course is first east-north-east, 

 parallel to the course of the North Downs, to Riverhead near Seven- 

 oaks, where it turns north and passes through a depression in the 

 Downs by Otford, and other villages, to the town of Dartford, below 

 which it is called Dartford Creek, and becoming navigable, flows 

 through the marshes into the Thames. Just before joining tho 

 Thames it receives the Cray, which rises near Orpington, and has a 

 course of about 9 miles. The Medway rises in Sussex, near the 

 northern border between East Orinstead and Crawley, and flows east- 

 ward into Kent, which it enters near Ashurst lu this part of its 

 course the Medway is swelled by many brooks, which draiu the 

 higher districts of the Weald of Sussex. At Penshurst, iu Keut, the 

 Medway is joins I by the Eden, which rises about Godstone in Surrey. 

 From Peuauurst, where the navigation of the river commences, it 

 flows east-north-east to Tonbridge, forming in its way two or three 

 islands. From Tonbridge the Medway flows east by north to Yalding, 

 in the Weald, near which it is joined by the Teyse or Teise and the 



