River Dour, Kent
| River Dour | |
|---|---|
 River Dour within Dover | |
| Origin | Temple Ewell |
| Mouth | Dover Harbour |
| Length | over 4 miles |
Coordinates: 51°07′25″N 1°18′52″E / 51.12350°N 1.31440°E
The River Dour is a river in the county of Kent, in England. It flows from the villages of Temple Ewell and River, through the village of Kearsney, to Dover. It is roughly 4 km long.
It originally had a wide estuary on the site of modern Dover, although today it flows into the Dover Harbour through a culvert. The estuary was a natural harbour for the Bronze Age settlers and traders in the area. The remains of a Bronze Age seagoing boat (from 3,500 years ago), was found in 1992, and it can be seen in Dover Museum.
The Dour Estuary was then used as a port for the Roman town,as a natural harbour for the Roman fleet. But this was silted up in the medieval period, necessitating the construction of various artificial harbours for Dover instead.
The river has been used since AD 762 to power various watermills along its route. These included 8 Corn Mills and 5 paper mills. Buckland Mill (near Buckland Bridge) was one of the first corn mills, it has now been converted into flats. Crabble Mill (is now a restaurant), Old Mill (in Kearsney - is now a private house) and others (also converted into various uses).
Other industries on the river included, iron foundries, saw mills (demolished) and a tannery (also converted). [1]
Kearsney, Kent and Kearsney Abbey (a former Grand House) is also beside the River.
The River Dour Trail is a new walking trail (set up by the White Cliffs Countryside Project). It follows the Dour from Temple Ewell to Wellington Dock on the seafront. The trail is about 4miles long and takes 2.5 hours to walk fully.[2]
External links
- http://www.ccmt.org.uk/ Crabble Mill page
- http://www.bucklandmill.co.uk/ Buckland Mill page