KENT. 



Itnt. land, is the south-east point of Kent. Between New 

 "V" 1 *' Romney and Hythe as Komney Marsh, a deposit from 

 the sea. Its soil and agriculture will be afterwards de- 

 scribed : At prvtrnt we shall confine ourselves to a 

 short notice of the embankment which preserves it 

 from the sea. This is a great dike, called Dyrnchurch 

 Wall. Its perpendicular height above the marsh, is 

 from 15 to 18, or 20 feet. On the side next the sea, 

 it shelves to the distance of upwards of 100 yards. The 

 width of the top of this embankment is from 15 to 30 

 feet ; its length nearly three miles. The drainage is 

 effected by sluices, passing under the banks, each ha- 

 ving two pair of flood-gates. These gates permit the wa- 

 ter in the marshes to pass off when the tide is low, and 

 prevent the sea-water from coming in when the tide 

 is flood. The management of the drainage is vested 

 in the lords of 23 adjoining manors. The expence is. 

 defrayed by a levy per acre: It 'amounts to about 

 4000 per annum. After passing Hythe and Folk- 

 stone, we come to Dover, where the chalk cliffs are of 

 > considerable height. The Straits of Dover, where nar- 

 rowest, between Dover and Cape Griznes. is 1 8| miles ; 

 and the distance between the piers of Dover and Ca- 

 lais, 23 miles. The depth, in the middle of the strait, 

 is from 18 to 24 fathoms. The shore, from Pepperness 

 to Deal, is composed of sand-downs, a quarter of a mile 

 in breadth : The South Foreland forms the east point of 

 the Kentish shore. Opposite to the town of Deal, and 

 four miles distant from it, are the Goodwin-sands, run- 

 ning parallel to the shore for the space of 10 miles. 

 The nature of these sands is singular : At low water, 

 those parts that are dry become so hard and firm that 

 they cannot be penetrated ; but, as soon as the tide co- 

 vers them, they become extremely soft and loose. They 

 are divided into two parts by a very narrow channel. 

 The form of the north part is triangular, and about 3{ 

 miles long, and 2^ broad : The north end of this part 

 is six miles from the coast. The south division is 3 

 miles long, but only about one mile broad in its broad- 

 est part At the other extremity it is a narrow point, 

 which is only three miles from the coast. The road- 

 stead between the Goodwin-sands and Deal, is called 

 the Downs. Its length is about eight miles ; its width 

 about six ; its general depth from eight to twelve fa- 

 thoms. As the Downs are sheltered by the Goodwin- 

 sands from the east winds, they form a grand rendez- 

 vous for convoys, and a station for the North Sea fleet 

 in time of war. Vessels also stop in this roadstead to 

 discharge, or take pilots to or from the Thames. Af- 

 ter passing Sandwich, we arrive at the isle of Thanet, 

 which forms the north-east land of Kent. The shores 

 of this isle are in general composed of chalk cliffs. It 

 is separated from the mainland by the Stoure, which 

 was formerly so wide and deep, that vessels passed by 

 means of it from the Downs into the Thames. At pre- 

 sent, Hichborough Castle, which formerly defended its 

 entrance, is considerably inland ; the sea having formed 

 new lands, or receded on this side of the island. On the 

 contrary, it is continually encroaching on the north 

 side towards Reculver. After passing Ramsgate, we 

 reach the North Foreland, about six miles distant from 

 the South Foreland. This is supposed to be the Can- 

 tmm of Ptolemy. It is the north-east promontory of 

 Kent, and forms the south point of the gulf of the 

 names. Round this foreland, to the west, lies Mar- 

 gate, of winch, it is observed, that it is so directly ex- 

 1 to the north, that a vessel sailing from it on a 

 north $ east course, would not strike the land till she 



reached the coast of Greenland, in latitude 75 ; a Knt. 

 distance of 1380 miles. The isle of Shepej forms the W "V" 1 '' 

 east side of the entrance of the river Meuway ; it is 

 separated from the mainland by the chaTHiel called the 

 Swale, which was formerly the passage into the 

 Thames, for vessels coming round the North Foreland. 

 Shepey is eight miles long, and three broad : the north 

 shore is composed of clay cliffs, 80 feet high. On the 

 north-west point is the town of Sheerness, at the en- 

 trance of the Medway. The roadstead, called the Nore, 

 lies opposite the north end of Shepey island. Pro- 

 ceeding up the Thames, the first place on the Kentish 

 bank of that river, is Gravesend, which is the termina- 

 tion of the port of London. Above Gsavesend are 

 Woolwich, Greenwich, and Deptford. 



The principal rivers which intersect or bound this Rivers, 

 county, are the Thames, Medway, the two Stoures, 

 the Darent, the Cray, and the Ravensbourne. The 

 Thames touches Kent first at Deptford ; below Erith, 

 it receives the Crag and Darent. The isle of Grain , 



bounds its entrance on the south, being separated 

 from the mainland by a boat channel, called the Scrag; 

 this island is composed of low marsh soil, embanked 

 from the sea. The Medway is more properly a Kent- 

 ish river ; it has four sources, only one, however, is in 

 this county: the united streams flow to Tunbridge, 

 near which place the river again divides ; but, again 

 uniting, it flows from Yalding, in a winding course to- 

 wards Maidstone, and thence to Rochester and Chat- 

 ham. Below Chatham it loses all its beauties, passing 

 through a flat, marshy, and unpicturesque county, but 

 still preserving its devious course. It falls into the 

 sea at Sheerness, near the exit of the Thames. The 

 tide flows nearly as high as Maidstone. From Sheer- 

 ness to Rochester, a distance of nearly 20 miles, it is 

 so deep, and the reaches so convenient, that many of 

 the largest line of battle ships, when out of commission, 

 are moored here. About the middle of the eighteenth 

 century, the Medway was made navigable to Tun- 

 bridge. The greater and lesser Stoure unite near Ash- 

 ford; they separate at Canterbury, and again unite 

 below that city, having formed three small islets : from 

 Canterbury its course is north-east, to the isle of Tha- 

 net ; it falls into the sea at Pepperness. 



There is only one canal in the county, the military ca- Military ca- 

 nal which begins near Sandgate. It extends from this nal. 

 place, nearly in a straight direction, along the coast, till 

 it passes Hythe, when it takes the course of the hills 

 which skirt the marshes, and terminates at Cliffend in 

 Sussex, a distance of about 23 miles. Its breadth is 

 about 30 yards, its depth 6 yards. It has also a raised 

 bank to protect the soldiers. As this canal was con- 

 structed entirely for military purposes, the martello 

 towers may be mentioned in connection with it. These 

 are built on the sea-beach, generally within half or 

 three-fourths of a mile from one another; They extend 

 from near East Wenbay to Dymchurch. The largest 

 is at the latter place. There are two wells in Kent de- Wells. 

 serving notice,, one at Sheerness, and the other at 

 Queensborough. The first is of the astonishing depth 

 of 328 feet, 1 50 feet of clay, &c. and the remainder 

 chalk. The water is so abundant, that it has never 

 been lowered more than 200 feet. Its quality is fine 

 and soft, and its temperature rather above that obtain- 

 ed from most wells. It is computed that the bottom of 

 this well' is 200 feet below the deepest part of the ad- 

 jacent sea. The bottom of the other well at Queensbo- 

 rough, is said to be 166 feet below the bottom of the 



