Reculver Church, in 1834.
Isle of Thanet.—The isle of Thanet was, in the time of the Romans, separated from the rest of Kent by a navigable channel, through which the Roman fleets sailed on their way to and from London. Bede describes this small estuary as being, in the beginning of the eighth century, three furlongs in breadth; and it is supposed that it began to grow shallow about the period of the Norman conquest. It was so far silted up in the year 1485, that an act was then obtained to build a bridge across it; and it has since become marsh land with small streams running through it. On the coast, Bedlam Farm, belonging to the hospital of that name, lost eight acres in the twenty years preceding 1830, the land being composed of chalk from forty to fifty feet above the level of the sea. It has been computed that the average waste of the cliff between the North Foreland and the Reculvers, a distance of about eleven miles, is not less than two feet per annum. The chalk cliffs on the south of Thanet, between Ramsgate and Pegwell Bay, have on an average lost three feet per annum for the last ten years (preceding 1830).
Goodwin Sands.—The Goodwin Sands lie opposite this part of the Kentish coast. They are about ten miles in length, and are in some parts three, and in others seven, miles distant from the shore; and, for a certain space, are laid bare at low water. That they are a remnant of land, and not "a mere accumulation of sea sand," as Rennell imagined,[415] may be presumed from the fact that, when the erection of a lighthouse on this shoal was in contemplation by the Trinity Board in the year 1817, it was found, by borings, that the bank consisted of fifteen feet of sand, resting on blue clay; and, by subsequent borings, the subjacent chalk has been reached. An obscure tradition has come down to us, that the estates of Earl Goodwin, the father of Harold, who died in the year 1053, were situated here, and some have conjectured that they were overwhelmed by the flood mentioned in the Saxon chronicle, sub anno 1099. The last remains of an island, consisting, like Sheppey, of clay, may perhaps have been carried away about that time.
Fig. 35.
Shakspeare's Cliff in 1836, seen from the northeast.
There are other records of waste in the county of Kent, as at Deal; and at Dover, where Shakspeare's Cliff, composed entirely of chalk, has suffered greatly, and continually diminishes in height, the slope of the hill being towards the land. (See [fig. 35].) There was an immense landslip from this cliff in 1810, by which Dover was shaken as if by an earthquake, and a still greater one in 1772.[416] We may suppose, therefore, that the view from the top of the precipice in the year 1600, when the tragedy of King Lear was written, was more "fearful and dizzy" than it is now. The best antiquarian authorities are agreed, that Dover Harbor was formerly an estuary, the sea flowing up a valley between the chalk hills. The remains found in different excavations confirm the description of the spot given by Cæsar and Antoninus, and there is clear historical evidence to prove that at an early period there was no shingle at all at Dover.[417]
Straits of Dover.—In proceeding from the northern parts of the German Ocean towards the Straits of Dover, the water becomes gradually more shallow, so that, in the distance of about two hundred leagues, we pass from a depth of 120 to that of 58, 38, 18, and even less than 2 fathoms. The shallowest part follows a line drawn between Romney Marsh and Boulogne. From this point the English Channel again deepens progressively as we proceed westward, so that the Straits of Dover may be said to part two seas.[418]