The Downs

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For other uses of the term, see Downs.

The Downs was a roadstead or area of sea in the English Channel off the east Kent coast, between the North and the South Foreland. The Downs served as a permanent base for warships patrolling the North Sea and a gathering point for refitted or newly-built ships coming out of Chatham Dockyard, such as HMS Bellerophon, and formed a favourite anchorage during heavy weather, protected on the east by the Goodwin Sands and on the north and west by the coast. It has depths down to 12 fathoms (22 m). Even during southerly gales some shelter was afforded, though under this condition wrecks were not infrequent. The Downs lie between the Strait of Dover and the Thames Estuary, so both merchant ships awaiting an easterly wind to take them down the English Channel and those going up to London gathered there, often for quite long periods.

In the present day, with the English Channel still the busiest shipping lane in the world, cross-channel ferries and other ships still seek shelter here.

It could be quite a dangerous area. The Goodwin Sands were constantly shifting, and were not always adequately marked. Storms could also drive ships onto the shore or onto the sands.