River Dour
The River Dour is a chalk stream roughly two and a half miles long in eastern Kent, which runs down to the sea at Dover. It flows from a source between the villages of Temple Ewell, Ewell Minnis and River, through Kearsney and down to Dover.
Originally the Dour had a wide estuary on the site of modern Dover, but 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 of Dubris,as a natural harbour for the Roman fleet. However the estuary silted up in the Middle Ages, 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 eight Corn Mills and five paper mills. Buckland Mill near Buckland Bridge was one of the earliest corn mills, but has since been converted into flats. Crabble Mill is now a fully restored corn mill and museum, and the Old Mill in Kearsney is now a private house, the others have been converted for various uses.
Other industries on the river included, iron foundries, saw mills (demolished) and a tannery (also converted).
Kearsney Abbey (a former Grand House) stands beside the River.
Walking
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 four miles long and is reckoned to take two and a half hours at a leisurely pace to walk fully.[1]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about River Dour) |
- Location map: 51°7’25"N, 1°18’52"E
- Crabble Mill
- Buckland Mill