1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



239 



stnicted on the eastern side, and emliankments have been thrown up on the 

 western side, leaving an entrance between of 160 feet in widtli. 



The average rise of springtides is about 17 feet, and during neap tides 

 from 9 to 12 feet at the pier-liead, whilst the lift in the bay is 22 feet. At 

 low water the liarljour is left dry. 



The deptli of the channel up the river decreases gradually to the town, 

 where tliere is 14 feet water at the top of spring tides, l)ut during neaps 

 seldom aliove nine feet. 



T!ie approach from the bay to the entrance of the harbour is veiy intricate 

 aiul difficult, especially to sailing vessels, arising from the sandbanks and the 

 tortuous course of the channel. 



The shingle, which extends on both sides of the harbour's moutli, is ac- 

 cumulated at the entrance with winds either fi-om the westward or eastward 

 of south, and forms banks on either side (according to the prevalence of the 

 wind), which, in combination with sand, serve to block out the sea, and ren- 

 der tlie channel crooked and uncertain. 



There can be no doubt that these natural causes have mainly contributed 

 (o the deterioration of this port, formerly of greater capacity, and a place of 

 importance ; but at the same time it should be observed, that the encroach- 

 ments which have been made fi'om time to time on tlie original extent of the 

 river, have proved a powerful cause of injuiT. Individuals interested in the 

 maintenance and improvement of the harboiu: are fully aware of this fact, and 

 the contests wliich arise on the subject of drainage, between the landowners 

 and those concerned in the navigation of the river, have become a fruitful 

 source of litigation. Extensive low lands over which the river formerly flowed 

 at high water, have been reclaimed for the puri)oses of agriculture, and the 

 powerful backwater which was thereby acquired, and operated as a scour dur- 

 ing the ebb to clear the channel and keep the entrance open, has been dimi- 

 nished, and at the present moment is almost destroyed, by the erection of 

 sluice-gates across the river, a little distance above the town, for the purposes 

 of draining the lands at low water, and of preventing the flow of water up its 

 natural channel, which, if not thus obstructed, would again inundate the lands 

 below the level of high water. 



No cause has operated more extensively to injure the entrances of harbours 

 of this country, than excluding the tidal waters from lands below the level of 

 high water, which served as natural reservoirs at flood tide, and were the 

 means of affording a powerful discharge during the ebb. The portion of the 

 river between the embankments formed for the purpose of excluding the high 

 water, is often benefited by the contraction of the channel, and the consequent 

 acceleration of the cmTcnt, but the communication with the sea below such 

 embankments is injured, and nothing more deserves the vigilant attention of 

 Gnvernnient, or of the parties entrusted with the conservancy of harboiu-s, 

 than tlie suliject of encroachments, which are usually made gradually and 

 silently, as dictated by private interest, and are diflicult afterwards to remove. 



At the present moment a stone wall is in progress of erection from the 

 eastern pier-head, and is intended to be carried out as far as low water, across 

 the extensive flats which form the bar at the entrance, in a south-half-east 

 direction, liy this means the water, which on its exit from the harbour 

 S])reads over the sandbanks and forms a crooked passage as it meets with 

 obstructions, and is deflected from side to side, will be directed in a straight 

 line ; and there can be no doubt that the continuation and completion of this 

 stone groin will render the navigation of the entrance less difficult, and at the 

 same time enable vessels of greater draught of water than at present to enter 

 at tide-time. 



By straightening and deepening the channel up to tlie wharfs or quays at 

 the town, a considerable improvement may also be eflteted ; but from the 

 limited means at the disposal of the commissioners, it will necessarily take a 

 long time to complete these works. 



Hastings. 



No harbour at present exists between Rye and Newhaven ; but the con- 

 struction of one at Hastings ha\ing been frequently contemplated, we visited 

 that town. The mayor and other gentlemen of the ))lace attended, and laid 

 before us several plans which had been prepared for the purpose; and Colonel 

 Williams, late of the Royal Engineers, afforded us much information, together 

 with his suggestions on the subject. 



^f e do not, however, consider it necessaiy to enter into the particulars of 

 these plans, as a few remarks will show the unfavourable nature of the situa- 

 tion for the objects of our inquiry. 



The coast runs, with little deviation, in a straight line, nearly east and by 

 south, and west and by north, and is entirely exposed to the prevailing 

 southerly and westerly winds. There is no natural backwater, northefaciUty 

 of making an artificial one to any useful extent ; the sliore composed of shingle, 

 and not above four fathoms water at a thstance of three quarters of a mile 

 from the beach, which would give but a limited area of 12 feet water (at low 

 water), in proportion to the size of the harbour, were piers to be carried out 

 to such an extent. 



A small tidal harbour for the use of trading vessels, &c. would, no doubt, 

 be a valuable adjunct to the town and neighbourhood, but we do not consider 

 the situation adapted for any national work. 



Cuxmere Haven, 



At Cuxmere Haven, which is situated on the western side of Beachy Head, 

 there is no artificial harbour. The shingle beach crosses the entrance and 

 rises several feet above low water, and the interior of the haven is ieft dry at 



tliree-quarters ebb. We did not consiilcr it necessarj' to land at this place, 

 but proceeded round the coast to Newhaven. 



NewJtaven. 



The harbour of Newhaven is formed in the channel of the river Ouse, at its 

 entrance into the sea, by wooden piers carried out in a southerly direction 

 across the beach. The river is navigable as far as the town of Lewes, and 

 open to the flow and ebb of the tide for four miles further up the stream, or 

 twelve miles altogether, and affords a powcrt'id backwater for scouring the 

 entrance. 



The average rise of spring tide at the harbour's month is from 1!) to 20 

 feet, and of neap tides about 1 4 to 15 feet. The bar, however, is left dry at 

 low water spring tides, but within the piers there is about two feet water at 

 such times, and this depth conttnues uniform for a mile up the channel. 



The distance between the jiicr-heads is only 106 feet. On the western 

 side of the liarbour, the wooden pier, which extends about 250 yards, lias 

 been continued inwards by a stone embankment nearly three-quarters of a 

 mile in a straight line ; and the bar, which formerly extended from the western 

 side nearly across the month of the harbour, has been considerably reduced 

 since the coin])letion of this work, the extension of the eastern pier, and other 

 improvements which have of late been made in straightening and deepening 

 the river above the town. 



During the flood-fide and fine weather the harbour is easy of access, from 

 the indraught and eddy-tide which set towards the mouth ; but from the 

 rapidity of the stream during the ebb, it is not considered safe for a sailing 

 vessel to enter, and the flag at the pier-head is in consequence lowered at 

 high water. 



This harbour appears to be one of considerable value, and to possess facili- 

 ties for further improvements ; and there can be little doubt that an additional 

 depth of water might be obtained by the adoption of judicious measures. 



The observations we had occasion to make on the subject of encroachments, 

 when treating of Rye, are equally applicable to this harbour ; but great care 

 should be obsened, in sfraightcning the river, to exclude the waters only 

 from such places as afford a loose soil and serve to slit up the channel. 



The piers at present only extend to the line of low water on the beach ; 

 and to render the harbour more availalile, it would be advisable to continue 

 them some distance into the sea, and at the same time, by deepening and en- 

 larging the river above the harbour, a larger body of water would flow up at 

 tide-time, and give a commensurate discharge on the ebb. A dock or pent 

 might be constructed on the low groninl on the western side, between tlie 

 entrance and the town, calleil Sleeper's Hole ; and a groin extended from 

 Burrow Head into the sea, would facilitate tlie ingress and egress of vessels, 

 by protecting the harbour's mouth from the swell occasioned by south-wes- 

 terly winds, and serve to keep oft" the approach of shingle to the entrance. 

 The expense, however, of these works cannot he stated without previous 

 minute surveys, &c. 



The harbour is managed hj trustees. 



Shoreham. 



Slioreham,at the mouth of the river Adur, was the next harbour we visited. 



The river, which formerly entered the sea nearly at right angles with the 

 line of coast, has been gradually diverted from its original exit by the shingle, 

 which constantly travels from the westward, and until a few years ago flowed 

 along the shore in an easterly direction for three or four miles, before it at 

 length found its way througli the shingle bank info the sea. 



■This accumulation of shingle, consolidated by the alluvial deposit from the 

 river, now forms an embankment between the river and the sea,'Tarying from 

 200 to upwards of .'500 yards in width ; and an area of considerable extent is 

 left within, into which the sea flows. 



The entrance which existed at the eastern extremity of this estuary, once 

 the river's month, has been blocked up, and an artificial channel has been cut 

 through the sliingle eniliankment about a mile from the town of Shoreham. 

 This opening is preserved by wooden jiiers (formed of piles), 218 feet apart, 

 which run in a south-south-west direction across the shingle into the sea. 

 Within this entrance a third jiicr has been built out from the shore nearly 

 across the harbour, for the purpose of directhig the waters on the ebb, from 

 the eastern and western sides of the inlet, directly to the mouth. The great 

 body of water which thus ebbs and flows through the entrance serves to keep 

 the channel open ; and though the width is so considerable, the stream nms 

 between the pier-heads at the rate of five or six miles an hour. The har- 

 bour's mouth is nevertheless subject to a hai-, which rises occasionally above 

 the low water level, and shifts its position from 60 to 160 feet from the pier- 

 heads. 



The lift of spring tides is about 15 feet, and neaps about nine feet. The 

 depth of water over the bar at high water is from 1 4 to 1 7 feet, according to 

 the tides and state of the bar. 



From its proximity to Brighton, this harbour is of importance to the local 

 trade. AVe were informed that upwards of a thousand vessels enter annually. 

 It is capable of improvements ; the most obvious of which are, the extension 

 of the present piers and the filling in of their centres with rubble, which are 

 now partly open, and admit the shingle into the entrance. 



The interior of the harbour might, at the same time, be deepened and gene- 

 rally improved, but we do not consider it capable of being converted into a 

 deep-water harbour for the purposes pointed out by their Lordships. 



The harbour is the property of a joint-stock company, established by Act 

 of Farliameut. 



