Wantsum Channel

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The Wantsum Channel is the name given to a now silted-up watercourse in the English county of Kent. The "river" Wantsum is now little more than a drainage ditch flowing from Reculver to the River Stour.

[edit] History

From prehistory until the Middle Ages, the channel separated the island of Thanet at the north eastern edge of Kent from the mainland. The Channel was emptied into by the River Stour, which was a wide strait fed by the North Sea that was around two miles wide during the Roman period. The southern end of the channel met into the sea at Richborough, Roman name Rutupiae, near Sandwich, and the northern end at Reculver, Roman name Regulbium. Both sites were chosen by the Romans for forts, which indicates the significance of the route. It was also commonly used by merchants travelling between London and the continent.

In time coastal erosion washed away most of the fort at Reculver, but parts of the western wall can still be seen close to the church towers. This church was founded in A.D. 699 after the Romans departed, the two towers being added in the 12th century. Inexplicably, the church was demolished in the early 19th century, leaving just the towers as an aid to shipping. The towers and the remains of the fort are an essential port of call for the tourist.

Deposition of shingle from the North Sea began closing the channel in the early medieval period and land reclamation by the local monasteries also contributed to reducing the channel to a stream. A dense bank of shingle had begun to appear during the Roman occupation at the southern end of the channel at Stonar, forcing the waters to meander and slow down, accelerating the silting process. By the 16th century it was no longer navigable but the River Stour continues to follow its course. During the 18th century, the silting then threatened the rich port of Sandwich and efforts were made to create sluices and channels to control the waters. These ultimately failed however and as a result Sandwich is now some distance from the sea.