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Home , Canterbury, Chartham, Fordwich, Godmersham, Plucks Gutter, Stourmouth

NRA Southern 35

THE KENTISH STOUR

NRA 3l Rivers Author, ation Centre National Rivers Authority Offici Southern Region

' ass No Guardians of the Water Environment ^ -jpn No RCUP .... HISTORY ducking stool is displayed in the THE medieval court hall. The widening There are several mills on the river o f the river valley below course, the majority no longer in suggests that in Prehistoric times KENTISH use and some totally derelict. Most this was the tidal limit of the river. o f the Stour water mills have been The apocryphal reports of a find of STOUR used since records began: Hippopotamus bones at “Little m ill that clacks would lend support to the theory. So busy by the brook In those remote times, as its name Ground its com and paid its tax suggests, marked the Ever since Domesday Book ” point where the river reached the sea. Thanet was then truly an island When the Romans constructed separated from the mainland by a COURSE AND GEOLOGY between and tidal strait known as the Wantsum they made a ford across the Channel. The Kentish Stour is the major River Stour at what was then The Romans guarded this watercourse in East , which in perhaps the upper limit o f strategic channel at both ends by its various guises originates above navigation. A settlement grew up at forts, at the North end Ashford 75 metres above sea level the intersection o f the two routes; and or “Portus and enters the sea at Fegwell Bay. it prospered and with the passage Rutupis” (itself a small island) There are two main tributaries, o f time and the spread of where the channel reached the East the Great Stour itself, which rises to Christianity it developed into the coast. This site is now inland of the North West of Ashford close to ecclesiastical capital o f . Sandwich. the small village o f , and the Becket’s shrine was the source of Longshore drift, the process by East Stour, which rises close to ’s medieval wealth, but which sand and shingle are moved Racecourse, to the the river continued to mould the by the action of wind and tides, South East o f Ashford. Minor physical shape o f the city. Though operated in those days from North tributaries issuing from the Lower the channel was gradually silting up to South. As new material was Greensand and the chalk and shrinking, the water continued deposited across the outlet o f the contribute to the two streams to power mills, some industry and river to the , the which come together in Ashford. mefct the daily needs o f citizens, river mouth was turned The river then flows in a north­ supplying their washing water and progressively southwards, easterly direction through Wye, and sewerage system as well as a ready accounting for the first part o f the U through the chalk of the North made moat for the city defences. bend which the tidal river makes Downs to Canterbury. Below Most o f the substantial buildings of today. It was on this spit that Canterbury, the river passes medieval date that have survived, landed in through younger rocks such as apart from the Churches, are to be AD 449 and where Augustine first Brickearth and Thanet Beds. Valley found on or near the river. These brought Christianity to England in deposits are largely alluvial, include the castle, the Franciscan AD 597. In the ensuing period, or comprising fine marine and river and Dominican Priories, the perhaps before, the direction of the alluvium around the old Wantsum charitable hospital foundation longshore drift reversed, possibly Channel, and clay with flints on the called St. Thomas’s Hospital (which due to the disappearance of an chalk dip slopes. Some fifteen is actually built across the river on a island in the vicinity o f the kilometres downstream of Gothic tunnel) and the noble Goodwin Sands. A new shingle Canterbury, the Great Stour is towers o f the Westgate. bank began to form, this time joined by the Little or Lesser Stour The original name o f the turning the river northwards and at . This drains water downstream settlement, is believed completing the U bend around from the South via the Wingham to have been Estura, probably which the river now flows. River and the Nailbourne Stream. derived from the old name of the By 600 AD the deposits had Below Plucks Gutter the river is river AEstur. blocked the port of Richborough known simply as the River Stour By the ninth century and around this time a settlement and flows South towards Sandwich was the navigable limit of the river appeared on the newly accreted through a large loop before for trading vessels and enjoyed sandbank appropriately named entering the sea back to the North supremacy as a port until modern Sandwic or Sandwich. Its strategic at . times when the creation of the position in relation to the continent The Kentish Stour is a fairly Canterbury to railway in destined Sandwich to become one modest sized river with a tidal 1830 put river transport into of the five great English ports, reach of 35 km extending upstream decline. known as the . to Fordwich Bridge. The non-tidal In its heyday, Fordwich was Around the same time the Great Stour measures 58 km and granted the privilege of a Gylda accretion o f material which had the East Stour 16 km. In the upper Mercatoria ( Merchants Guild) by eroded from the North shore of the reaches both the East Stour and the Henry II and by the early thirteenth blocked the northern Great Stour are about 2—3 m wide, century' became a member of the end of the . increasing to 5 m at Ashford, 10 m Cinque Ports confederacy. The Sandwich reached its zenith in the to Canterbury and 20—30 m in the ancient crane still stands on the thirteenth century, but with tidal reaches. river bank whilst the ancillary »ROM VUSSINGEN Cartography prepared and published by ESTATE PUBLICATIONS continued siltation due to the with the editorial assistance of the SOUTHERN TOURIST BOARD longshore drift was in decline hy Based upon the ORDNANCE SURVEY maps with the the sixteenth century’. The last sanction of the controller of HM Stationery Office. straw for the port was the wrecking Crown copyright reserved in 1561 o f a large ship belonging to the Pope in the entrance to the Stour. She defied all efforts to remove her and trapped the drifting sands, creating a dangerous bar across the estuary. Today Sandwich lies some two miles from the sea and four by the windings of the river. The tortuous route by which the tidal Stour found its way to the sea aggravated the discharge of floodwater to the sea and in 1776 a flood relief channel known as the Stonar Cut was made across the neck of the hairpin bend. HYDROLOGY the water table is sufficiently high Above Canterbury the river delivered to whoever “owned the to supply them, and which fade Both the Great Stour and the hast receives a number of small dis­ turn”. The dignitaries sharing the Stour originate on the Weald C.lay when the water table falls. In other charges o f sewage effluent and a privilege included the Mayor, the which is the oldest geological form­ parts o f the region, and because of substantial discharge of treated Lord Warden, the Archbishop of ation in the catchment. In con­ their seasonal nature, such streams papermill effluent. The water Canterbury and various members sequence, the upper reaches are are known as winterbournes. quality objective through Canter­ of the aristocracy and officialdom. In addition to measuring river characteristically flashy; run-off is bury is set at Class 2. The high The Stour is still widely acknow­ flows, the Resources Department rapid with high peak flows, rhe quality and large volume of sewage ledged as a quality fishery for both o f the NRA measures rainfall and NRA measures flows on both tribut­ effluent from the modern sewage coarse and game fish, especially in the levels o f underground waters. aries and measures main river flow treatment works (16,000 mVd) the reaches above Canterbury There are twenty-six rain gauges seven km below Ashford at t allows the river to exceed its objec­ where the river passes through the in the catchment and three Gauging Station where the flow tive and Class IB is achieved for chalk. The NRA has a programme weather stations. The groundwater most o f the year. from the Weald Clay and Lower to install fish passes to help sea lays in three principal aquifers; the Greensand is reinforced by the The tidal Stour receives addi­ trout and the occasional salmon Lower Greensand, the Chalk and discharge from Ashford Sewage tional quantities of sewage effluent past obstructions on the river. the Lower London Tertiaries. Treatment Works. and a substantial discharge of Passes due for completion include The flow characteristics change industrial effluent from the pharm­ those at Barton Mill and Kingsmead WATER QUALITY aceutical industry. Water quality in Canterbury. Future passes are as the river enters the North in the estuary as far as Sandwich is Downs where recharge from the The character and quality of the planned for ’s Mill (also in good, and thereafter fair down to Canterbury) and for Chartham chalk springs gives the middle non-tidal reaches o f the Stour the sea at Pegwell Bay. reaches typical chalk stream char­ catchment are largely dictated by Mill. In the future, additional sewage Coarse fishing is concentrated acteristics. Summer and winter the underlying geology and by the effluent from , Sandwich below Canterbury and Fordwich flows are less extreme and water amount and quality of sewage and and Heme Bay could be diverted where the major species include temperatures less variable between industrial effluents discharged to to the river. The additional flow roach, bream and pike. In the past the seasons. The chalk flow contrib­ them. ution is measured at Horton The populations of Ashford and could be of great benefit to the fish biomasses below Canterbury Gauging Station. Canterbury have increased in river and increase the amounts of were artificially high due to the water available for abstraction to Three kilometers below Canter recent years as have those of the fertilising effects of the sewage bury an electro-magnetic gauging smaller towns and villages. This has potable supply. The NRA will deter­ effluent. Extensive improvements mine consent conditions for these to the treatment of the City’s station at Vauxhall Bridge resulted in discharges o f sewage discharges to ensure that river sewage have resulted in a greatly measures the combined flow o f the being concentrated at a number of water quality is preserved and that main river and the discharge from points in the catchment. The NRA improved effluent. Fish stocks have Canterbury Sewage Treatment sets stringent limits on the strength the effluents are used to the benefit since stabilised at a more natural Works. and quantity o f these discharges of the river and the community. level with the appearance of some The main abstraction from the to ensure that river water quality Sea Trout o f the more sensitive species such Great Stour is at Plucks Gutter is maintained. as dace and chub. where Southern Water Services Ltd Above Ashford the resilient takes river water for public supply. springs o f the Greensand and Chalk FLOOD DEFENCE Recent proposals for a reservoir in enhance the river’s ability to absorb The NRA is responsible for protect­ the Broad Oak Valley have been sewage effluents, resulting in a ing people and property from under consideration since 1978, quality suitable for high class game flooding. It’s responsibilities start the site having originally been and coarse fisheries (Class IB). In downstream of Burnt Mill on the identified as suitable for a reservoir Ashford, some 16,000 m3/d of Great Stour and downstream of the in 1945. The NRA is the licensing sewage effluent are discharged to A20 trunk road on the East Stour authority for impoundments and the river. For 6 km below the town and continue through the tidal abstractions associated with reser­ the river quality objective is Class reaches to Pegwell Bay. Annual voir schemes. In considering 2 (suitable for reasonably good maintenance comprises weedcut- applications the NRA takes into coarse fisheries). ting and debris removal from the account the effects on the aquatic Once the Great Stour enters the river bed. At intervals between 1 environment and whether existing near Wye its quality FISHERIES in 10 to 1 in 25 years the river bed resources are being used effectively immediately improves as the cool, is dredged to remove silt. This is and w ith minimum wastage. clear waters o f the chalk springs Fishing rights on the river have usually done by hydraulic excav­ Nearly sixty agricultural users augment the river. Between Wye been jealously protected since time ator and the spoil is left on the are licensed by the NRA to take and the river quality immemorial and the rights enjoyed banks of the river for about a year water from the river, mainly on objective is Class IB and thereafter today by the Canterbury and Dis­ to dry out. The spoil is then spread the Stour Marshes. Most licences Class 1A (water of high quality, trict Angling Association, under the thinly by a bulldozer over the are conditional and specify that suitable for potable supply abstrac­ terms of a lease from the Fordwich adjacent fields. The whole dredging w ater may only be taken when tion, game and other high class United Charities, date back to a river flows at Plucks Gutter are fisheries ). Charter o f King Canute o f 1023- A — L *9 adequate. As flows fall below 170 *4 Godmersham church copy of this can still be found in Ml/d, progressively more licence Canterbury’ Cathedral Library’. As holders are required to stop recently as 1984, these exclusive abstracting, until at 145 Ml/d all rights to the fishery between Ford­ conditional licence holders must wich and Plucks Gutter were cease taking water. The NRA con­ upheld in the County Court. The siders this to be the minimum right extends over bankside prop­ desirable flow for the protection erties as well as the mooring of o f w ater quality and aquatic w ild­ boats. life. The excellence of the “Fordwich T h e which enters the trouts” is acclaimed in documents main river at Plucks Gutter is in its from the thirteenth century and upper reaches an ephemeral from the description o f the fish, stream, known as the Nailbourne they were undoubtedly sea trout. St Radigans Stream. Folklore is quite categorical In the seventeenth century’ a fish and weedcutting process is done on the subject o f such Bournes; weir was operated at Fordwich. in liaison with various conservation they rise to pressage a year of woe! The town sergeant placed fixed bodies to preserve wildlife and the In reality these are chalk streams nets across the river attached to flora and fauna associated with the fed by springs which flow when piles. The fish taken each day were On a number o f occasions in The only other river control to allow flows to pass through the cultural land. Various pumping recent years, heavy rainfall in the structure on the Stour which the “short cut” to the sea instead of stations at Minster, Plucks Gutter, Ashford area has caused wide­ NRA maintains and operates is on having to pass through the Sand­ Sarre, West Stourmouth, Gosshall spread flooding o f both rural and the Stonar Cut. This structure was wich loop. The effect of opening and North Poulders lift water from urban areas. Flood water from the built in 1776 to control flows the Cut is to improve the flood the drained marshes into the tidal East Stour and to a lesser extent through a man-made river bed cut protection and land drainage of the Stour. In summer months however the Great Stour, has resulted in between the River Stour at Rich- lands known as General Valleys most of the NRA work is feeding flooding of industrial premises as borough and Sandwich Haven. The which abut the tidal reaches of the water from the Stour through well as residential ones in Ashford. work was done under an Act of river. sluices into the marshes to irrigate To alleviate these problems, Rofe Parliament and enacted by King In the alluvial plain, agriculture crops. Kennard and Lapworth, who are George III. It made provision that is particularly important and since A speed limit of 6 knots along the National Rivers Authority’s under circumstances of high flows the various land drainage the tidal section is enforced by the Consulting Engineers, have de­ in the River Stour, the Stonar Cut schemes have been designed to NRA although it is not the Navig­ signed flood storage reservoirs for control structure can be opened improve the productivity of agri­ ation Authority for the Stour. both the East Stour and the Great Stour. A new earthen barrier across each river now regulates the amount o f floodwater passing downstream to Ashford. Some of the run-off from heavy rainfall is held back in temporary lakes be­ hind the barriers whenever the flows exceed the channel capacities through the town. A “hydrobrake” on each stream outlet releases the water from the temporary lakes at a controlled rate.

Installing the Hydro-Brake at the Aldington flood alleviation reservoir. On the East Stour at Aldington, the scheme will give particular benefit to the new road system in the South East sector of the town and to the village o f . The flood storage area is sufficiently large to allow for the possible widening of the Ashford-Folkestone railway in connection with the Channel link To the V West o f Ashford the storage area for the Great Stour is sited at Hoth- References field. The £4 million scheme was Goodsall, R H (1953) “The Ministry of Housing and Local McKenzie, M “An Act to enable jointly financed by the National Kentish Stour” Rochester Press. Government (1964) “Kent the Commissioners of Sewers Rivers Authority, Kent County Goodsall, R H ( 1968) “A Second Rivers — Hydrological Survey” for several limits in the Eastern Council, Kentish Patchwork” Stedehill HMSO. Parts of the County of Kent, and the Ministry o f Agriculture, Publications. St John Parker, M “A River Plan more effectually to drain and improve the lands and Grounds Fisheries and Food. McKenzie, M “An Account of for Canterbury” Country Life, the River Stour in Kent” 1776. 31st August 1967. with the General Vallies”.

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

099911 NRA National Rivers Authority Southern Region Headquarters Gwldboume House Chatsworth Rood Worthing West Sussex BN 11 1LD (0903)820692 July 1990