Rivers in Kent, showing the Medway.

The River Medway in England flows for 112 km from Turners Hill, in West Sussex, through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, to the River Thames at Sheerness, where it share's latter's estuary. The mouth of the river is defined by Garrison Point, between the Isle of Sheppey and the Isle of Grain. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the  United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total 130... Turners Hill is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. ... West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex (with Brighton and Hove), Hampshire and Surrey. ... Statistics Population: 31,600 (2001) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ591468 Administration District: Tonbridge & Malling Shire county: Kent Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: Kent Police Ambulance service: South East Coast Post office and telephone... Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, halfway (30 miles) between the City of London and the English Channel. ... Medway is the name given to a conurbation in the north of Kent, England. ... coat of Arms of Kent For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ... The Thames (pronounced //) is a river flowing through southern England, and one of the major waterways in England. ... Map sources for Sheerness at grid reference TQ919749 Sheerness is a town on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, England. ... View towards Minster from Elmley Marshes The Isle of Sheppey is a small (36 square miles, 94 km²) island off the northern coast of Kent, England in the Thames Estuary, some 38 miles (62km) to the east of central London. ... Grain church The Isle of Grain, (OE Greon meaning gravel) is in north Kent, England at the eastern end of the Hoo peninsula. ...

It has a catchment area of 930 miles² (2408 km²): the largest in Southern England. Its tributaries have their headwaters on the North Downs to the north and the Weald to the south. This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The North Downs in England are a ridge of chalk hills that stretch about 100 mi (160 km) from Hampshire through Surrey and Kent. ... A weald once meant a dense forest, especially the famous great wood once stretching far beyond the ancient counties of Sussex and Kent, England, where this country of smaller woods is still called the Weald. ...

Tributaries

The major tributaries are:

• River Eden
• River Shode
• River Teise
• River Beult
• River Loose
• River Len

see Rivers of Kent The River Eden in West Kent is a tributary of the River Medway. ... There are four rivers draining the county of Kent, England. ... There are four rivers draining the county of Kent. ...

The river and its tributaries flow through largely rural areas, Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway Towns being the exceptions. The Medway itself initially flows in a west-east direction south of the North Downs; at the confluence of the River Beult, however, it turns northerly and breaks through the North Downs at the Medway Gap, a steep and narrow valley near Rochester, before its final section to the sea. Statistics Population: 31,600 (2001) Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ591468 Administration District: Tonbridge & Malling Shire county: Kent Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: Kent Police Ambulance service: South East Coast Post office and telephone... Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, halfway (30 miles) between the City of London and the English Channel. ... Medway is the name given to a conurbation in the north of Kent, England. ... The North Downs in England are a ridge of chalk hills that stretch about 100 mi (160 km) from Hampshire through Surrey and Kent. ... The Medway Gap is a topographic feature in the English county of Kent near Rochester. ... Rochester is a small town in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ...

The Medway Estuary at dusk at Lower Upnor in front of the London Stones, vista of mud and yachts, on the left bank is Chatham Dockyard, on the right the Royal Engineers Hard, with Upnor Castle on the treeline.

Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 594 pixelsFull resolution (1972 × 1463 pixel, file size: 314 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 594 pixelsFull resolution (1972 × 1463 pixel, file size: 314 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...

Navigation

Until 1746 the river was impassable above Maidstone. To that point each village on the river had its wharf or wharves: at Halling, Snodland, New Hythe and Aylesford. Cargoes included corn, fodder, fruit, stone and timber. // Events Catharine de Ricci (born 1522) canonized. ... Metung Wharf on Bancroft Bay, Gippsland Lakes, Victoria, Australia A wharf is a fixed platform, commonly on pilings, roughly parallel to and alongside navigable water, where ships are loaded and unloaded. ... Halling is a village on the North Downs in the Northern part of Kent covering 7. ... Snodland is a large village in the county of Kent, England, located on the River Medway between Rochester and Maidstone. ... Aylesford is a large village on the River Medway in Kent, 4 miles NW of Maidstone in England. ...

Allington Lock and Sluice, it is at this point that the river becomes tidal.

In 1746 improvements to the channel meant that barges of 40 tons (41000 kg) could reach East Farleigh, Yalding and even Tonbridge. In 1828 the channel was further improved to Leigh in 1828. There are eight locks on the river. The lowest, opened in 1792, is at Allington, and is the extent of tides. The others are Farleigh, Teston, Hampstead Lane, East Lock, Porter's, Eldridge's and Tonbridge Town. Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2016 × 1512 pixel, file size: 720 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Clem Rutter. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2016 × 1512 pixel, file size: 720 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Clem Rutter. ... East Farleigh is a village near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. ... Yalding is a village and part of Yalding Civil Parish in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. ... Statistics Population: Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ555465 Administration District: Sevenoaks Shire county: Kent Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: {{{Police}}} Ambulance service: South East Coast Post office and telephone Post town: TONBRIDGE Postal district... Year 1828 (MDCCCXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Canal locks in England. ... 1792 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Allington is an almost entirely modern village situated on either side of the A20 road west of Maidstone in Kent. ... Teston (pronounced ’’Teesun’’) is a village in the civil parish of Barming in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. ...

Small craft such as canoes can sometimes travel as far as Penshurst. The stretch from Leigh to Allington is known as the Medway Navigation, and is 19 miles (31 km) in length. Penshurst village is located some five miles south of Sevenoaks in Kent, England. ...

River crossings

The river breaches the North Downs upstream of Rochester, here above the A228, we see the M2 Motorway bridges, and the Raillink bridge, the motorway snakes up the Nashenden Valley, while the rail link tunnels into the Downs.

Until recently the lowest crossing of the Medway was at Rochester, where there has been a bridge since Roman times. In the 14th century, the Wardens and Commonalty of Rochester Bridge were instituted by Sir John de Cobham to pay for the rebuilding and upkeep of the bridge. Until 1963, the nearest crossing to Rochester Bridge was the 14th Century bridge at Aylesford, 12 miles (19 km) upstream. Since then the following additional crossings have come into use: Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2016 × 1512 pixel, file size: 826 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Attrib to Clem Rutter, Rochester,Kent. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2016 × 1512 pixel, file size: 826 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Attrib to Clem Rutter, Rochester,Kent. ... Rochester is a small town in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... John de Cobham, 3rd Baron (d. ...

• 1963 A viaduct over the river was built south of Rochester to carry the first section of the M2 motorway. In 2003 this was widened to two separate spans.
• Between 1963 and 1996 the M20 was built so a bridge by default was built over the Medway south of Aylesford.
• 1996 The Medway Tunnel became the river's lowest crossing, connecting Gillingham to Strood. The four-lane tunnel was constructed using the immersed tube method, and was partially paid for by Rochester Bridge Trust, the current form of the Wardens and Commonalty.
• 2003 A 1.3km railway bridge, with a central span of 152m, was constructed for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. The railway bridge lies parallel to the M2 motorway bridges.

Two other major crossings are at Tonbridge where two bridges carry the A227 road and a rail link over the river. There are also M2 motorways in Northern Ireland and Australia The M2 motorway is a motorway in England. ... Gillingham is a town in Kent, England, forming part of the Medway conurbation; it is a constituent of Medway unitary authority. ... Statistics Population: 33182 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ725695 Administration District: Medway Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: Kent Police Fire and rescue: {{{Fire}}} Ambulance: South East Coast Post office and telephone Post town: ROCHESTER... An Immersed tube is a kind of underwater tunnel constructed using segments built elsewhere, floated and sunk into place, then welded together to form the tunnel. ... A log bridge in the French Alps near Vallorcine. ... CTRL redirects here. ...

Flooding

The middle section of the Medway above Tonbridge, because of the many tributaries entering the river in this stretch, has always been subject to extensive flooding. The town itself has suffered frequent flooding over the centuries - so much so that the higher part of the town to north is called Dryhill. Flood protection measures have therefore had priority. In 1981, a flood barrier was constructed near Leigh to protect Tonbridge, which had been severely affected by the flooding of 1968. During periods of high flow, the downstream flow is controlled by allowing up to 2.78 square kilometres of farmland upstream of the barrier to flood. Tokyo floodgates to protect from typhoon surges. ... Statistics Population: Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: TQ555465 Administration District: Sevenoaks Shire county: Kent Region: South East England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Kent Historic county: Kent Services Police force: {{{Police}}} Ambulance service: South East Coast Post office and telephone Post town: TONBRIDGE Postal district... A flood (in Old English flod, a word common to Teutonic languages; compare German Flut, Dutch vloed from the same root as is seen in flow, float) is an overflow of water, an expanse of water submerging land, a deluge. ... Year 1968 (MCMLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display full calendar) of the 1968 Gregorian calendar. ...

History

• The Medway megaliths are a group of Neolithic chamber tombs including the Coldrum Stones and Kit's Coty House known in the valley.
• Two military actions are called the Battle of the Medway: one during the Roman invasion of Britain; the other, also known as the Raid on the Medway, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War.
• The Medway is said to divide the county of Kent into two parts. Traditionally, the western part, West Kent, was administered from Maidstone, while the eastern part, East Kent was administered from Canterbury, . The county was united in 1814, with Maidstone as the county town. The Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men continue the practice of labelling those living in West Kent Kentish Men (or Maids); Men of Kent (or Maids) those in East Kent.

Frindsbury Church above the former entrance to the Thames and Medway Canal. Before the bridge, the first railway ended here. Passengers from London, took the steamer from this pier to Chatham.

• In the early 1800s the Medway was linked to the Thames by the Thames and Medway Canal, which ran from Strood to Gravesend. The canal was not a commercial success, and by the 1850s the Strood end had been replaced by the railway line, which bought the canal tunnel between Strood and Higham. From Higham to Gravesend the canal remained in use until 1934, while the railway was laid on a slightly different route.
• In 1942 the world's first test of a submarine oil pipeline was conducted on a pipeline laid across the Medway in Operation Pluto.
• Every year a festival is held in Maidstone to celebrate the River Medway. Maidstone River Festival, which has been running since 1980, is held on the last Saturday of July. It features events on and around the river and attracts thousands to Kent's county town.

The Medway megaliths or Medway tombs are names given to a group of Neolithic chambered long barrows and other megaliths located in the lower valley of the River Medway in the English county of Kent. ... An array of Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets, axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools. ... A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. ... The Coldrum Stones are the remains of a Neolithic chambered long barrow near Trotiscliffe in the English county of Kent. ... Kits Coty House or Kits Coty is the name of the remains of a Neolithic chambered long barrow on Blue Bell Hill near Aylesford in the English county of Kent. ... Combatants Roman Empire British tribes Commanders Aulus Plautius Togodumnus, Caratacus Strength 4 legions, cavalry and auxiliaries Unknown The Battle of the Medway took place in 43 on the River Medway in the lands of the Iron Age tribe of the Cantiaci, now the English county of Kent. ... Roman invasion of Britain: Britain was the target of invasion by forces of the Roman Republic and Roman Empire several times during its history. ... Dutch Attack on the Medway, June 1667 by Pieter Cornelisz van Soest, painted c. ... The Royal Prince and other vessels at the Four Days Fight, 11–14 June 1666 by Abraham Storck depicts a battle of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. ... coat of Arms of Kent For other uses, see Kent (disambiguation). ... West Kent is a traditional subdivision of the English county of Kent. ... Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, halfway (30 miles) between the City of London and the English Channel. ... East Kent and West Kent are one-time traditional subdivisions of the English county of Kent, kept alive by the Association of the Men of Kent and Kentish Men: an organisation formed in 1913. ... Canterbury is a cathedral city in east Kent in South East England and is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of All England, head of the Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... Year 1814 (MDCCCXIV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar). ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2016 × 1512 pixel, file size: 669 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2016 × 1512 pixel, file size: 669 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Several places exist with the name Thames, and the word is also used as part of several brand and company names Most famous is the River Thames in England, on which the city of London stands Other Thames Rivers There is a Thames River in Canada There is a Thames... The Thames and Medway Canal is a now-disused canal in the south east of England, in Kent. ... Gravesend is a town in northwest Kent, England, on the south bank of the Thames, opposite Tilbury in Essex. ... Higham is a small village bordering the Hoo Peninsula, in Kent, between Gravesend and Rochester. ... 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... Operation Pluto (Pipe-Lines Under The Ocean) was a World War II operation by British scientists, oil companies and armed forces to construct undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France. ...

Literary references

Joseph Conrad describes the view up the Medway from the Thames Estuary in The Mirror of the Sea (1906). // Joseph Conrad (born Teodor Józef Konrad Korzeniowski, 3 December 1857 – 3 August 1924) was a Polish-born novelist. ... The Thames Estuary is a large estuary where the River Thames flows into the North Sea. ...

Uses in films

For the 1999 film The Mummy the river Medway was filmed outside the remainder (after its closure in 1984) of Chatham Dockyard and passed off as a port at Cairo. The scene is brief but involves the main protagonists departing on their mission to the city of the dead. The River Medway was used for this film as opposed to the River Nile itself (most likely for cost reasons) The Mummy is a film written and directed in 1999 by Stephen Sommers and starring Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, with Arnold Vosloo as the reanimated mummy of the title. ... Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar). ... Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway in Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, and thus requiring added defences. ... Nickname: Egypt: Site of Cairo (top center) Coordinates: Government  - Governor Dr. Abdul Azim Wazir Area  - City 214 km²  (82. ... For alternative meanings of Nile, see Nile (disambiguation) The Nile in Egypt Length 6 695 km Elevation of the source 1 134 m Average discharge 2 830 m³/s Area watershed 3 400 000 km² Origin Africa Mouth the Mediterranean Basin countries Uganda - Sudan - Egypt The Nile (Arabic: ا&#1604...

The Medway's 'marriage' to the Thames is given extensive treatment in Book IV, Canto xi of Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene. Several places exist with the name Thames, and the word is also used as part of several brand and company names Most famous is the River Thames in England, on which the city of London stands Other Thames Rivers There is a Thames River in Canada There is a Thames... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Una and the Lion by Briton Rivière The Faerie Queene is a poem by Edmund Spenser, first published in 1590 (the first half) with the more or less complete version being published in 1596. ...

See also

• Rivers of Great Britain
• Rivers of Kent
• Gillingham
• Chatham
• Rochester
• The London Stones in Upnor

This is a list of rivers of Great Britain. ... There are four rivers draining the county of Kent. ... Gillingham is a town in Kent, England, forming part of the Medway conurbation; it is a constituent of Medway unitary authority. ... Chatham is an English town that developed around an important naval dockyard on the east bank of the River Medway to the east of London in the county of Kent. ... Rochester is a small town in Kent, at the lowest bridging point of the River Medway about 30 miles (50 km) from London. ... London Stone is the name given to a number of boundary stones which stand beside rivers in south east England. ... Upnor is a small village on the western bank of the River Medway in England. ...

Further reading

• Hadfield, Charles (1969). The Canals of South and South East England. Newton Abbot, UK: David & Charles. ISBN 0-7153-4693-8. 

David & Charles (also David and Charles) is a publisher specialising in illustrated non-fiction books. ...

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Category:River Medway

• Map of the Medway catchment area
• Detailed navigation information
• Leigh Flood Barrier page from the EA
• Flood protection measures
• Medway Valley Countryside Partnership