Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/154

132  'the River at Canterbury,'  but whether it was the one under which the river was originally made navigable, is a question we have not the means of deciding upon. The act above-recited is, however, the act under which the navigation has been managed, until the early part of the present reign, though the royal assent was given to an act, on the 10th of June, 1811, (51 George III.) for the purpose of superseding the upper portion of this navigation, which is entitled,  'An Act for making a Harbour and Wet Dock, at or near St. Nicholas' Bay, in the parish of St. Nicholas, and all-Saints, in the Isle of Thanet, in the county of Kent, and for making a navigable Canal,from the said Harbour, to the City of Canterbury,'  but, of these proposed works, no portion has ever been carried into execution.

As this river, in its present state, and the haven of Sandwich, had become very inadequate to the trade of Canterbury and Sandwich, a company, consisting of four hundred and forty-nine persons, amongst whom were the Earl of Darnley, Lord Viscount Teynham, and Sir E. W. Campbell Rich Owen, Sir Gerard Noel, Sir William Kay, Admiral Sir John Knight, and Sir Robert Farquhar, obtained an act, entitled,  'An Act for improving the Navigation of the River Stour, and Sandwich Haven,from the City of Canterbury to the Town and Port of Sandwich, in the county of Kent; and for making and maintaining a New Haven from the said Town and Port of Sandwich to the Sea, and a Harbour on the Sea Shore;'  by which the above persons were incorporated under the name of "The Canterbury Navigation and Sandwich Harbour Company."

The improvements contemplated under this act consist chiefly of a canal or harbour, 8 feet deep, from the Small Downs, commencing between the Batteries, Nos. 1 and 2, to the River Stour, at Sandwich, which is in length, from the end of the proposed jetty, two miles, four furlongs and five chains; from thence the navigation is continued in the old course of the river, sixteen miles and five chains, to Fordwich, where there is a lock rising 6 feet; from hence to the tail of Abbott's Mill, Canterbury, the length is two miles and a quarter, including three short cuts, together amounting in length, to one mile, one furlong and seven chains; half a mile from Canterbury there is another lock of 6 feet rise.

At the end of the canal, in the Downs, where the spring