River Stour, Kent
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The River Stour is a river in Kent, in the United Kingdom. It is Kent's second longest river (after the Medway) it is 21.5 miles long, running from Canterbury to the sea at Pegwell Bay, describing a huge southwards arc through east Kent.[1]
One of its sources rises at Postling near Hythe and becomes the River East Stour. Another rises at Lenham near Maidstone and becomes the River Upper Great Stour. They join at Ashford to become the River Great Stour. Some parts of the river in Ashford flood (heavy rainfall) and have made walkways and roads unusable in the past.
The Great Stour flows through Canterbury and Plucks Gutter. The River Little Stour then joins the Great Stour to become the River Stour. The River Wantsum joins here, too, and the Stour flows through Sandwich and into the English Channel at Ramsgate.
Historically, the River Stour's mouth was at Stourmouth, near Preston, Kent where it emptied into the Wantsum Channel, dividing mainland Kent from the Isle of Thanet. The Channel has since silted up, becoming the River Wantsum to the north and the Stour from the Wantsum's confluence to the new mouth at Ebbsfleet.
The river is tidal for some 19 miles from Fordwich and navigable for about the same distance, albeit to sail further up river than Sandwich means coping with bridges and mean depths varying between about 2m down to 0.8m between Grove Ferry and Fordwich.[2]
The route of the Stour Valley Walk follows the river.
[edit] Distances
It is 19 miles from the fixed sluice at Fordwich to Pepperness where the river enters Pegwell Bay and thence the English Channel. Another 3 miles across the bay is the Port of Ramsgate.[3]
| Place of Interest | Distance (miles from Fordwich) | Notes |
| Fordwich Mill | 0.0 | Fixed Sluice |
| Stodmarsh | 2.6 | |
| Grove Ferry | 5.1 | Rail Station |
| Sarre Channel | 8.3 | (Not navigable) |
| Little Stour | 8.4 | River Junction |
| Pluck's Gutter | 8.5 | Road Bridge |
| Red House Marsh | 9.5 | Picnic site |
| Railway Bridge | 11.9 | |
| Richborough Castle | 13.8 | Roman Fort |
| Sandwich Bridge | 15.3 | Swing Bridge |
| Stonar Cut | 18.4 | (not navigable) |
| Pegwell Bay | 19.3 | Pepperness River mouth |
| Royal Harbour | 22.1 | Ramsgate |
