Editing River Stour, Kent (section)

==Course==
[[Image:Great Stour near Hubbards Farm.jpg|thumb|The Great Stour near its source]]
[[Image:Great Stour at Wye.jpg|thumb|The Great Stour at [[Wye, Kent|Wye]]]]
[[Image:Canterbury - Kloster der Blackfriars und Stour.jpg|thumb|A branch of the Stour passes Blackfriars in Canterbury]]
[[File:Stonar Cut and the A256 crossing - geograph.org.uk - 454853.jpg|thumb|Stonar Cut and the A256 crossing]]
[[Image:Westgate Gardens 5.JPG|thumb|A branch of the Great Stour in Westgate Gardens, outside the Canterbury city walls]]
[[Image:Bridge over the Stour at Fordwich.jpg|thumb|The Great Stour in Fordwich]]
[[Image:Boats on the River Stour at Sandwich.jpg|thumb|Boats on the River Stour at Sandwich]]
[[Image:Near the mouth of the River Stour - geograph.org.uk - 1298941.jpg|thumb|The River Stour near to its mouth]]

===Upper Great Stour===
The source, of what is known at that point as the Great Stour, is near the village of [[Lenham]], within a short distance of the [[River Len]], a tributary of the [[River Medway|Medway]]. The source is at a high elevation close to the [[North Downs]] escarpment. At first, the river flows south east in a narrow valley parallel to the [[escarpment]] and the [[Greensand Ridge|Greensand ridge]] to the south, before breaking through the ridge near [[Hothfield]] into a broad valley. Three small streams enter from the north, having their headwaters on the close to Downs escarpment. Flood defences can turn this valley into a large lake and an embankment has had to be built to prevent overflow into the Medway catchment barely {{Convert|100|m|ft}} away to the south. The river turns north east by the village of [[Great Chart]] in the direction of its outlet to the sea.

The confluence with the [[East Stour, Kent|East Stour]], flowing from its source near [[Hythe, Kent|Hythe]], is to be found at Pledge's Mill at the bottom of East Hill in Ashford.

===Lower Great Stour===
The town of [[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]] marks the start of the middle section of the river, sited at a crossing point of the river and on ancient track ways. In Ashford, the river helps form part of the [[Ashford Green Corridor]].

After Ashford, the Stour breaches the North Downs; for most of this distance there are no tributaries. After the [[Brook Stream|Brook stream]] enters from the right, there are now {{convert|15|mi}} to Canterbury. In this stretch the river flows through the villages of [[Wye, Kent|Wye]], [[Chilham]] and [[Chartham]], with Wye being a fordable crossing.

The historic city of [[Canterbury]] lies at the junction of four branches of the [[Roman road]] [[Watling Street]] which connected Canterbury with ports around the Kent coast – [[Lympne]], [[Dover]], [[Richborough]] and [[Reculver]]. Within the city, the river flows in two channels, one through the centre of the city, and the other to the north of the city walls. The two channels rejoin to the east of Canterbury, before the river reaches [[Fordwich]], a former [[outport]] of Canterbury and the current tidal limit of the river.

Beyond Fordwich, the river passes between several former [[gravel pit]]s and through the [[reed bed]]s of the [[Stodmarsh National Nature Reserve]]. Beyond the nature reserve lies the open farmland on the reclaimed marshes surrounding the river crossing at [[Grove Ferry Picnic Area]], near the hamlet of [[Upstreet]].<ref name=svw>{{cite web | title = Stour Valley Walk | publisher = Kent County Council | access-date = 15 March 2010 | url = http://www.kent.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/countryside_and_coast/walking/stour_valley_walk.aspx | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101126112437/http://kent.gov.uk/leisure_and_culture/countryside_and_coast/walking/stour_valley_walk.aspx | archive-date = 26 November 2010 | df = dmy-all }}</ref>

At the hamlet of [[Plucks Gutter]], the second of the large tributaries enters the main river: the {{convert|18.9|mi}} long [[Little Stour]], which begins life as a spring stream in [[Bekesbourne]]. From here on, the river is normally known as the River Stour.

===River Stour===
The twin villages in the parish of [[Stourmouth]] (West and East) mark the original point where the Stour entered the erstwhile [[Wantsum Channel]], a [[strait]] used for hundreds of years until silting and land reclamation turned the sea channel into a large drainage ditch. At this point the third large tributary, the 8.4-mile (13.4&nbsp;km) [[Sarre Penn]] (named locally as the "Fishbourne Stream") enters with the Wantsum Channel.

Here the river turns southwards to the once-thriving port of [[Sandwich, Kent|Sandwich]], after which it loops back on itself to the north before entering the [[Strait of Dover]] at [[Pegwell Bay]]. The ''Stonar Cut'' obviates the need for seagoing craft to take the longer route around the loop at Sandwich.<ref name=usecut>{{Cite web |url=http://www.wantsumangling.co.uk/stour.htm |title=Wantsum angling association river wantsum kent fishing club river stour |access-date=18 July 2011 |archive-date=3 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203033702/http://www.wantsumangling.co.uk/stour.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

From the tidal limit at Fordwich to the sea, the river is fringed with [[Marsh|marshes]]. Most of them are located on what was the floor of the Wantsum Channel, whilst those to the south lie behind the sand dunes of the Sandwich Flats. These marshes are criss-crossed with drainage ditches. The principal marshes are those of [[Chislet]], within the ancient [[estuary]] of the river; Wade, west of [[Birchington]]; and Ash Level.

===Stonar Cut===
In the mid-18th century, it became necessary to alleviate the problem of flooding along the lower course of the Stour.  The action of tidal drift of shingle along the coast had resulted in the huge loop at the estuary end of the river, and on 29 November 1774 an [[Act of Parliament]] was enacted to bypass the loop at the narrowest end, at [[Stonar]]. The works, to become known as the ''Stonar Cut'', made use of an existing sluice to cut across the neck of the loop, and were completed in 1776.

During [[World War I]], huge volumes of both troops and supplies were needed on the Continent and, in the utmost secrecy, a new port was built at Richborough.  Landing facilities along the Cut were built, and the [[East Kent Light Railway]] was extended to service the port. Nothing now remains of much of those works, and the Cut has been allowed to return to its natural state.<ref>{{cite web | location = UK | url = http://www.thanetarch.co.uk/Virtual%20Museum/2_Galleries/G11%20Content/Virtual_Museum_Gallery_11_Display_1.html | work = Stonar Cut | title = Introduction | publisher = Trust for Thanet Archaeology | access-date = 15 March 2010}}</ref>

===Tributaries===
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"
|-
!Tributary
!Length
! Source
! Confluence
|-
|'''[[East Stour, Kent|East Stour]]'''
|{{convert|10.3|mi|km}}
|[[Postling]]
|[[Ashford, Kent|Ashford]]
|-
|[[Aylesford Stream]]
|{{convert|3.4|mi|km}}
|[[Sevington]]
|Ashford
|-
|[[Ruckinge Dyke]]{{efn|name=TES|Tributaries of the East Stour.}}
|{{convert|4.9|mi|km}}
|[[Hamstreet]]
|[[Willesborough]]
|-
|[[Whitewater Dyke]]{{efn|name=TES}}
|{{convert|3.5|mi|km}}
|[[Shadoxhurst]]
|Ashford
|-
|[[Kennington Stream]]
|{{convert|1.1|mi|km}}
|[[Kennington, Kent|Kennington]]
|Ashford
|-
|[[Brook Stream]]{{efn|Also known as ''Spiders Castle Dyke''.}}
|{{convert|3.8|mi|km}}
|[[Brook, Kent|Brook]]
|Ashford
|-
|[[Kennington Stream]]{{efn|Also known as ''Pen Lee''.}}
|{{convert|1.4|mi|km}}
|Kennington
|Ashford
|-
|'''[[Little Stour]]'''
|{{convert|9|mi|km}}
|[[Bekesbourne]]
|[[Plucks Gutter]]
|-
|[[Little Stour|Nailbourne]]{{efn|The upper reaches of the Little Stour; some sections dry much of the time.}}
|{{convert|9|mi|km}}
|[[Lyminge]]
|Bekesbourne
|-
|[[River Wingham]]{{efn|Tributary of the Little Stour.}}
|{{convert|5|mi|km}}
|[[Ash (near Sandwich)]]
|[[Wickhambreaux]]
|-
|[[River Wantsum]]
|{{convert|6.7|mi|km}}
|[[Reculver]]
|[[Stourmouth]]
|-
|'''[[Sarre Penn]]'''
|{{convert|8.4|mi|km}}
|[[Dunkirk, Kent|Dunkirk]]
|[[Sarre, Kent|Sarre]]
|-
|North Stream, Chislet{{efn|Flows into River Wantsum.}}
|{{convert|5.4|mi|km}}
|[[Herne, Kent|Herne]]
|[[Reculver]]
|-
|North and South Streams
|{{convert|6.1|mi|km}}
|[[Hacklinge]] area
|Sandwich
|}

;Notes
{{notelist}}