238 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[JULT 



could make use of one in this situation. Tliese reasons appear to us to 

 lender the plan ineligible. 



The situation to which we next directed our attention was the space 

 within the hreaksand, and the expediency of enclosing the "Small Downs" 

 and the area witliin, hy extending a hreakwater along the sand, and a pier 

 from the shore. Tlie magnitude aTuI extent, however, of such a work, 

 winch would n'i|uiro a breakwater and pier of upwards of five miles in length, 

 the small ileplb of water at the northern entrance, and the uncertain nature 

 of the foundation, induce us to abandon the idea of a harl)our of refuge at 

 this place. 



Dover. 



We next visilcd Dover. This harbour, from its itroximity to the French 

 coast, and as tlie principal port of communication between Great Britain and 

 tlie Continent, has been regarded at all times as a place of the greatest im- 

 portance. 



We sliall have occasion to refer to the situation in the latter i)art of this 

 Report ; and it will only be necessary in this place to give a brief description 

 of the harbour in its |ucsent state. 



It consists of an outer and an inner biisin, with a liackwater which opens 

 into the latter, called the Pent. 



The outer harbour contains an area of seven acres and a half, the inner 

 basin six acres and a (piarter, and the pent 11 acres and a half. A wet dock, 

 of an acre and a half, opens into the western side of the outer harbour, 

 which again comnuuiicates with a graving or repairing dock. 



The entrance between the pier-heads (which are partly formed of stone 

 and brickwork faced with wooden piles) is 110 feet in width, and opens to 

 the south-south-east. 



The rise of average spring tides is from 18 to 19 feet, and of neap tides 

 from 12 to 13 feet ; but the depth at high water in the harbour at spring 

 tides is only 17 to 18 feet, and in the basin 16 to 17 feet, and about three 

 feet less during the neaps. 



The harbour is therefore left dry at low water. 



The bottom consists of chalk, on which a deposit of mud in certain places 

 has accumulated, Ijut not of sufficient depth to enable heavily-laden vessels 

 to take the ground with safety, especially during easterly winds, when, from 

 the confined area of the outer harbour, and the rebound from the upright 

 waUs, there is a consideralile agitation in the water. 



During south-westcriy gales, vessels experience difficulty in entering, from 

 the heavy sea to which the harbour's mouth is exposed ; and another formi- 

 dable obstacle arises from the shingle bar, which winds from this quarter 

 throw up aeioss the entrance, and which at times has rendered the harbour 

 inaccessible for several weeks together. Numerous plans and suggestions 

 have been devised, and large sums of money expended for remedying this 

 evil. 



Fonuerly there were only three sluices or culverts, communicating by 

 means of a pipe with the inner basin ; but since 1837, a new and expensive 

 work has been completed, consisting of a brick reservoir in the western pier, 

 communicating, by means of a tunnel 30 feet in width and IG in height, with 

 the inner basin and pent. From this reservoir, five new sluices, seven feet 

 in diameter, lead to the extremity of the pier-head ; and from the powerful 

 volume of water thus discharged, and the impetus acquired by the proximity 

 of the reservoir, it has generally been found sufficient, with tlie assistance of 

 the sluices in the cross wall, between the basin and outer harbour, to remove 

 the shingle from the |)ier-head, and keep the channel clear to a level below 

 that of tlie harbour's Iiottom. 



We have been informed that since the constnietioii of this work until 

 January last, no instance occurred of Her Majesty's steam-packets being pre- 

 vented from entering the harboiu- at tide-time, in consequence of the bar. 

 But during the violent gales which took place in the latter end of the month 

 of January and beginning of February in this year (18J0), the Government 

 packets were ordereil to proceed to the Downs, to avoid the liability of being 

 shut into the biubour hy an accumulation of shingle and the heavy sea at 

 the entiaiice. 'i'hcie were, however, but three days during which vessels 

 were actually excluded. 



It should he observed that these sluices, though efficacious to a certain 

 extent, are not capable of removing the obstruction altogether. The force 

 of the water, which at its exit iroiii the culverts is very great, loses its im- 

 petus as it spreads over a larger surface, and forces the shingle to a com- 

 paratively small distance, where it is Uable to form banks beyond the power 

 of the sluices. 



With regard to the improvements ■which might be made to this harbour, it 

 apjicars to us that the general enlargement of the harbour, the inner basin 

 and pent, and the widening of the internal coninumications, would be most 

 desirable, as well as the extension of the stone groin, called Cheeseman's 

 Head, on the western side of the harbour's entrance. But these suggestions, 

 so far as reg.irds the entrances, will be much modified in the event of a har- 

 bour of refuge being constnicted at this place. 



\ arious plans and suggestions for the imjirovemcnt of the present, as well 

 as for the formation of a new harbour, were submitted to us by Colonel 

 Williams, lieutenant Wortliington, Mr. JetTcry, Mr. Stuart, Mr. Tait, Captain 

 Meriton, and several other gentlemen ; but as we shall have occasion to re- 

 Commend a ))lan for the atlainment of the objects of our inquiry, in the sub- 

 sequent part of this report, we do not consider it necessary to enter into the 

 details of these propositions. 



The liarbour-master and other officers gf Dover, and pilgts bclongius to 



this, as well as to the other Cinque Ports, waited upon us by order of his 

 Grace the Lord Warden, and gave us any information we required. 



The haliour is managed by commissioners, of whom the Lord Warden is 

 cbairnian, e.c officio. 



Foliatone. 



From Dover we proceeded to Folkstone. This harbour was constructed 

 under an Act of Parliament in 1809, by a joint-stock coiniiany, to whom the 

 projierty belongs, but at present it is in the hands of the Exchequer Bills Loan 

 Commissioners. 



The harbour, wliieh is entirely artificial, is formed by rubble-stone piers, 

 and encloses an area of 14 acres. The western arm extends in a south-south- 

 west direction 140 yards across the beach, and is united with the main pier, 

 which is carried in a straight line east and hy south about 317 yards. A 

 projecting pier has since been run out from the shore, on the eastern side, 

 towards the south-west, 230 yards, leaving an entrance of 123 feet in width, 

 open to the east and hy south. 



A groin has been constructed near the eastern extremity of the main pier, 

 which extends at right angles 130 feet seaward, for the purpose of preventing 

 the shingle from obstructing the harbour's mouth. This, however, has not 

 overcome the evil ; for the shingle having accumulated along the southern 

 side of the main pier to the Une of extension of the horn, finds its way round 

 the extremity, and creates a bar nearly across the entrance. 



The rise of spring tides averages about 18 to 20 feet, and neap tides from 

 12 to 14 feet, hut the harbour is left dry at low water; and the greater part 

 of the interior is blocked up by a bank of shingle rising to the height of 

 several {feet above high water, and leaving only a channel of inconsiderable 

 width along the side of the main pier. 



A small stream is pent up at the north-western side of the harbour, for the 

 purpose of scouring at low water; and with the assistance of manual labour, 

 in addition to this very inadequate backwater, the channel is kept open so as 

 to allow vessels of 10 to 12 feet draught to come alongside of the main pier 

 at the top of high water. 



This harbour, in its present form, is not capable by any improvements of 

 being made available for the purposes of our inquu'y, and we do not consider 

 the situation eligible for the construction of a deep-water harbour. 



From Folkstone we proceeded to Hytlie, and inspected the coast to Dunge- 

 ness. No barhoius at present exist between these places, and from the nature 

 of the coast, the situation is inapplicable for their formation ; but several 

 plans having been sulmiitted to us for the construction of a harbour at Dunge- 

 iiess, we landed for the purpose of examining the beach, and ascertaining the 

 practicabiUty or otherwise of the propositions. 



Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Owen, in a commimication which he subsequently 

 addressed to the Committee, stated, that " during the late war, when the 

 presence of the flotilla and the encampment of troops on the opposite coast 

 demanded unceasing vigilance, and the employment of many armed cruisers 

 of the smallest description, the ineonvenience of sending these vessels to 

 Sheerness for the piuposes of trivial rcjiairs, and payment of the men, &c., 

 was greatly felt, both in the loss of their immediate services, and from the 

 interruption to the more regular and important airangemcuts of defence ; and 

 Dimgeuess being then considered the rendezvous of greatest moment, lie con- 

 templated the formation of a basin within the shingle, in a position between 

 No. 2 battery on the east, and No. 4 battery on the west, with an outlet on 

 either side, by which vessels might enter or put to sea when their services 

 were required." 



The propositions submitted to us hy Mr. Potter and Mr. Douglass were of 

 a similar nature ; and there can be little doubt, from the prominent position 

 of this extensive point of land, and the anchorage it aflfords to vessels on either 

 side, according to the direction of the wind, that the situation is desuablefor 

 a harbour. 



The shore at the southern extremity is extremely steep, and descends at 

 once into deep water ; but the whole promontory consists of vast accunnUa- 

 tion of shingle, constantly increasing and extending scaw ard ; and were a 

 basin to be constnicted in the centre, the entrances on either side would 

 speedily he choked up, and, in our opinion, no scouring power would be able 

 to keep the channels clear below the level of low water. However desirable, 

 therefore, the construction of a deep-water harbour may be in this situation, 

 the physical obstacles to its formation and maintenance appear to us to render 

 the scheme impracticable. 



In corroboration of this opinion, and the constant motion and increase of 

 shingle, it is worthy of remark, that the site of the present lighthouse, when 

 first erected in 1792, was only 100 yards from the sea, and now, in the lapse 

 of 47 years, the beach has extended 118 yards to the southward, leaving the 

 lighthouse 218 yards inland. 



The former lighthouse, which was ])ulled down when the present one was 

 completed, was at that time upwards of 640 yai'ds from the extremity of the 

 Ness. 



liye. 



Rye, which Was the next harbour we visited in our progress round the 

 coast, is situated in the liight of the bay formed hy Fairlight Head, on the 

 western side, and Dungencss on the eastern. The harboiu' is formed in the 

 channel of the river Rother, at the point where it enters the sea, after re 

 eeiving the waters of the TilUngham and the Bride, two small rivers which 



uoite with it mk the tgwu of Bye. A wooden pier of piles Jias been con. 



