Thames Estuary
The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain.
Limits
An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salinity). For this reason the limits of the Thames Estuary have been defined differently at different times and for different purposes.
Western
This limit of the estuary has been defined in two main ways:[1]
- The narrow estuary is strongly tidal and is known as the Richmond Lock which only keeps back a few miles of human-made head (stasis) of water during low tide and the extreme modern-era head at Thames Ditton Island on Kingston reach where slack water occurs at maximal high tide in times of rainfall-caused flooded banks. In terms of salinity the transition from freshwater to estuarine occurs around Battersea;[2] east of the Thames Barrier the water is of notable brackishnesswhere fish, particularly in dry summers on the flood (the incoming) tide, are estuarine.
- The head of Sea Reach – the Kent / Essex Strait – south of silting).
Eastern
The transition between the Thames Estuary and the North Sea has been located at various notional boundaries, including:[1]
- The Westcliffe-on-Sea and another London Stone off the Isle of Grain, to the south. (This marked the seaward limit of the river jurisdiction successively of the City of London and the Thames Conservancy).
- A line between Havengore Creek, Essex (to the north), and Warden Point, east Sheppey, Kent (to the south), tallying with the easternmost hazardous point of the Nore sandbank. (This formed the seaward limit of the Port of London Authority on its establishment in 1908).[3]
- A line between
Tides
The estuary just east of the
Economy
Shipping
The estuary is one of the largest of 170 such inlets on the coast of
The traditional Thames sailing barge worked in this area, designed to be suitable for the shallow waters in the smaller ports.
Wind farms
A 2000s-decade-built
The much larger 630 MW London Array was inaugurated in 2013.
Greater Thames Estuary
The term Greater Thames Estuary
There are many smaller estuaries in Essex, including the rivers Colne, Blackwater and Crouch. Small coastal villages depend on an economy of fishing, boat-building, and yachting.[7] The Isle of Sheppey, the Isle of Grain, Canvey Island, Two Tree Island, Havengore Island, New England Island, Rushley Island, Potton Island, Foulness Island and Mersea Island are part of the coastline.[8]
Where higher land reaches the coast, there are some larger settlements, such as
The Thames Estuary is the focal part of the 21st-century toponym, the "Thames Gateway", designated as one of the principal development areas in Southern England.
The Thames Estuary 2050 Growth Commission report published in June 2018 identified the economic potential of the region. In 2020 the Thames Estuary Growth Board[9] was appointed, led by government-appointed Envoy Kate Willard OBE, to unlock the potential of the UK's number one green growth opportunity.
Entrepreneurs and investors have looked at the greater estuary as a possible place for
Salinity
Designations | |
---|---|
Official name | Thames Estuary and Marshes |
Designated | 5 May 2000 |
Reference no. | 1025[11] |
The
Cultural references
Joseph Conrad lived in Stanford-le-Hope close to the Essex marshes. His The Mirror of the Sea (1906) contains a memorable description of the area as seen from the Thames. He refers to this area in the first pages of his novel Heart of Darkness, describing it as both the launching place of England's great ships of exploration and colonization and, in ancient times, the site of colonization of the British Isles by the Roman Empire.
- Accent
The form of speech of many of the people of the area, principally the accents of those from Kent and Essex, is often known as
Channels
For commercial shipping rounding the
Shallow-bottomed barges and coasters would navigate the
Recreational craft are expected use channels most suited to the size of their vessel. Their main guide says to use when navigating to or from:
- the north: the Middle Deep, Swin, Warp and Barrow Deep.[15]
- the south/due east: the Horse and Gore and Four Fathom Channels.[15]
To cross the south-east quarter of the estuary large vessels use Fisherman's Gat, and small vessels to were expected to use Foulger's Gat.[15]
History
Provision of
In his coastal survey of 1682-93, Greenvile Collins records five buoys around the Narrows, just north of Reculver, on the southern approach to the Thames. The Swin (the northern approach) was marked with buoys at the easternmost points of the Gunfleet, Middle and Buxey sands, and by beacons on the Whitaker, Shoe and Blacktail spits. A buoy marked the easternmost point of the Nore sandbank at this time, and three more buoys marked sandbanks in the middle part of the estuary (Spaniard, Red Sand and the Oaze).[16]
The
Prior to 1684 beacons were set up on the mudflats north of the Swin channel, to help vessels approaching the Thames from the north to navigate the sands. Pan-sand Beacon was set up by Trinity House in 1774 to mark a dangerous sandbank on the southern approach.[20] Similar daymarks were set up on other nearby sandbanks in later years, including on Margate Hook (1843), Middle Ground (1844) and Shingles (1846).[20] Trinity House also maintained beacons further upriver, including at Broadness (established in 1821), Stoneness (1839), Erith (1830) and Tripcock (1832).
In 1864 responsibility for maintaining the navigation lights of the River Thames between London Bridge and
Today the Port of London Authority's Thames Navigation Service (established in 1959) is responsible for buoyage, beaconage and bridge lights on the Tideway.[23] Trinity House remains responsible for aids to navigation in the wider estuary (and beyond).
This table shows, from west to east, the principal navigation lights, buoys and other marks to the north (port) and south (starboard) of the main deep-water channels of the River Thames from Gallions Reach to the Sunk Light Float.[24][25][26][27][28] The Thames is in IALA region A so port buoys are red and starboard buoys are green.
Name of navigational mark | South of channel | Channel | North of channel | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Type | Light | Location coordinate | Type | Light | Location coordinate | ||
Margaretness Point (or Tripcock Ness) Light | Lighthouse | Group flashing (2) white 5s | 51°30.662′N 0°05.766′E / 51.511033°N 0.096100°E | Gallions Reach / Barking Reach | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ |
Crossness Point Light | Lighthouse | Flashing white 5s | 51°30.920′N 0°07.990′E / 51.515333°N 0.133167°E | Barking Reach / Halfway Reach | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ |
Crayfordness Point Light | Lighthouse | Flashing white 5s + fixed | 51°28.689′N 0°13.000′E / 51.478150°N 0.216667°E | Erith Rands / Long Reach | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ |
Stone Ness Light | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Long Reach / St Clement's Reach | Lighthouse | Flashing green 2.5s | 51°27.9167′N 0°16.8231′E / 51.4652783°N 0.2803850°E |
Broadness Point Light | Lighthouse | Occulting red 5s | 51°27.878′N 0°18.900′E / 51.464633°N 0.315000°E | St Clement's or Fiddler's Reach / Northfleet Hope | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ |
Tilbury Warning Light | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Gravesend Reach | Warning light, vessels manoeuvring at Tilbury | Isophase 6s | 51°27.000′N 0°21.340′E / 51.450000°N 0.355667°E |
Shornmead Light | Lighthouse | Group flashing (2) white, red 10s | 51°26.983′N 0°26.533′E / 51.449717°N 0.442217°E | Gravesend Reach / The Lower Hope | ̶ | ̶ | |
Ovens | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | The Lower Hope | Quick flashing green | 51°27.493′N 0°26.355′E / 51.458217°N 0.439250°E | |
Haven Traffic Warning Lights | Warning light, vessels manoeuvring at Coryton | E | 51°27.90′N 0°30.10′E / 51.46500°N 0.50167°E | The Lower Hope / Sea Reach | Warning light, vessels manoeuvring at Coryton | White | 51°30.50′N 0°31.65′E / 51.50833°N 0.52750°E |
London Gateway | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Sea Reach | Buoy | 51°30.30′N 0°28.20′E / 51.50500°N 0.47000°E | |
Sea Reach № 7 | Port buoy
Racon T |
Flashing Red 2.5s | 51°30.011′N 0°36.908′E / 51.500183°N 0.615133°E | The Yantlet Channel | Yellow pillar buoy | Flashing yellow 2.5s | 51°30.206′N 0°36.938′E / 51.503433°N 0.615633°E |
Sea Reach № 6 | Port buoy | Flashing red 5s | 51°29.932′N 0°39.839′E / 51.498867°N 0.663983°E | Starboard buoy | Flashing green 5s | 51°30.126′N 0°39.867′E / 51.502100°N 0.664450°E | |
Sea Reach № 5 | Port buoy | Very quick flashing red | 51°29.848′N 0°41.426′E / 51.497467°N 0.690433°E | Starboard buoy | Very quick flashing Green | 51°30.041′N 0°41.473′E / 51.500683°N 0.691217°E | |
Sea Reach № 4 | Port buoy | Group flashing (2) red 5s | 51°29.504′N 0°44.121′E / 51.491733°N 0.735350°E | Starboard buoy | Group flashing (2) green 5s | 51°29.694′N 0°44.193′E / 51.494900°N 0.736550°E | |
Sea Reach № 3 | Port buoy | Quick flashing red | 51°29.221′N 0°46.707′E / 51.487017°N 0.778450°E | Starboard buoy | Quick flashing green | 51°29.410′N 0°47.061′E / 51.490167°N 0.784350°E | |
Sea Reach № 2 | Port buoy | Flashing red 5s | 51°29.296′N 0°49.754′E / 51.488267°N 0.829233°E | Starboard buoy | Flashing green 5s | 51°29.493′N 0°49.726′E / 51.491550°N 0.828767°E | |
Sea Reach № 1 | Port buoy | Flashing red 2.5s | 51°29.368′N 0°52.445′E / 51.489467°N 0.874083°E | Yellow pillar buoy
Racon T |
Flashing yellow 2.5s | 51°29.586′N 0°52.710′E / 51.493100°N 0.878500°E | |
West Oaze | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | The Oaze Deep | Red & white buoy | Isophase 5s | 51°28.975′N 0°55.413′E / 51.482917°N 0.923550°E |
Oaze Bank | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Starboard buoy | Quick flashing green | ||
Oaze | Yellow pillar buoy | Group flashing (4) Yellow 10s | 51°28.977′N 0°56.917′E / 51.482950°N 0.948617°E | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | |
Argus | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Yellow pillar buoy yellow ‘X’ topmark | Flashing yellow 2.5s | 51°29.297′N 0°58.715′E / 51.488283°N 0.978583°E | |
Oaze Deep | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Starboard buoy | Group flashing (2) green 5s | 51°30.000′N 1°0.000′E / 51.500000°N 1.000000°E | |
Knob | Red & white buoy | Isophase 5s | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | ||
SE Mouse | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Starboard buoy | Quick flashing green | ||
Knock John № 7 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | The Knock John Channel | Starboard buoy | Group flashing (4) green 15s | 51°31.956′N 1°06.406′E / 51.532600°N 1.106767°E |
Knock John № 5 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Starboard buoy | Group flashing (3) green 10s | 51°32.490′N 1°07.750′E / 51.541500°N 1.129167°E | |
Knock John № 4 | Port buoy | Group flashing (3) red 10s | 51°32.323′N 1°07.906′E / 51.538717°N 1.131767°E | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | |
Knock John № 3 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Starboard buoy | Flashing green 5s | 51°33.278′N 1°09.692′E / 51.554633°N 1.161533°E | |
Knock John № 2 | Port buoy | Flashing red 5s | 51°33.112′N 1°09.847′E / 51.551867°N 1.164117°E | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | |
Knock John № 1 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | South cardinal buoy | Quick flashing white (6) + long flash 15s | 51°33.717′N 1°10.833′E / 51.561950°N 1.180550°E | |
Knock John | Port buoy | Group flashing (2) red 5s | 51°33.661′N 1°11.357′E / 51.561017°N 1.189283°E | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | |
Black Deep № 12 | Port buoy | Group flashing (4) red 15s | 51°33.661′N 1°13.511′E / 51.561017°N 1.225183°E | The Black Deep Channel | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ |
Black Deep № 11 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Starboard buoy | Group flashing (3) green 10s | 51°34.250′N 1°13.475′E / 51.570833°N 1.224583°E | |
Black Deep № 10 | Port buoy | Group flashing (3) red 10s | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | ||
Black Deep № 9 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | South cardinal buoy | Quick flashing white (6) + long flash | ||
Inner Fisherman | Port buoy | Quick flashing red | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | ||
Black Deep № 7 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Starboard buoy | Quick flashing green | ||
Black Deep № 8 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | West cardinal buoy | Quick flashing white (9) 15s | ||
BDM2 | Yellow pillar buoy (mid-channel) | Flashing yellow 2.5s | 51°37.370′N 1°20.040′E / 51.622833°N 1.334000°E | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | |
Black Deep № 6 | Port buoy | Flashing red 2.5s | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | ||
Black Deep № 5 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | East cardinal buoy | Very quick flashing white (3) 5s | ||
Black Deep № 4 | Port buoy | Group flashing (2) red 5s | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | ||
BDM1 | Yellow pillar buoy (mid-channel) yellow ‘X’ topmark | Flashing yellow 2.5s | 51°41.960′N 1°27.590′E / 51.699333°N 1.459833°E | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | |
Black Deep № 3 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Starboard buoy | Group flashing (3) green 15s | ||
Black Deep № 1 | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Starboard buoy | Flashing green 5s | ||
Black Deep № 2 | Port buoy | Group flashing (4) red 15s | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | ||
SHM | Yellow pillar buoy (mid-channel) yellow ‘X’ topmark Racon T | Flashing yellow 2.5s | 51°46.050′N 1°31.540′E / 51.767500°N 1.525667°E | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | |
Sunk Head Tower | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | North cardinal buoy | Quick flashing white | ||
Black Deep | Port buoy | Quick flashing red | 51°48.10′N 1°36.60′E / 51.80167°N 1.61000°E | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | |
Trinity | South cardinal buoy | Quick flashing (6) + long flash 15s | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | ||
Dynamo | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Yellow pillar buoy yellow ‘X’ topmark | Flashing yellow 2.5s | 51°50.060′N 1°33.880′E / 51.834333°N 1.564667°E | |
Sunk Inner | ̶ | ̶ | ̶ | Light float | Isophase 3s | 51°51.170′N 1°34.400′E / 51.852833°N 1.573333°E |
References
Notes
- ^ a b "81. Greater Thames Estuary". Countryside Agency. Archived from the original on 27 February 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ "River Thames". Britannica. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ a b "Port of London Act 1968 (as amended)" (PDF). Port of London Authority. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ "Thames Estuary Passages" (PDF). the Cruising Almanac. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 February 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2013.
- ^ 2100.1 Thames Estuary South (chart), St Ives: Imray, Laurie, Norie & Wilson Ltd, February 2018. Tidal diamond "F" in West Swin
- ^ "The Thames Estuary Partnership". Thamesweb.com. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
- ^ "English Nature and the Greater Thames Estuary". English-nature.org.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
- ^ Ordnance Survey, Landranger map 178: The Thames Estuary (2016)
- ^ "Home". Thames Estuary. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ "The Thames Estuary Airport Ltd". Teaco.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
- ^ "Thames Estuary and Marshes". Ramsar Sites Information Service. Retrieved 25 April 2018.
- ^ The River Thames – its geology, geography and vital statistics from source to sea Archived 16 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine, The-River-Thames.co.uk
- ^ The River Thames – its natural history Archived 18 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine The-River-Thames.co.uk
- ^ Eade, John. "Estuary – Where Thames Smooth Waters Glide". thames.me.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2018.
- ^ a b c "Recreational Users Guide" (PDF). Retrieved 27 June 2018.
- ^ a b c Naish, John (1985). Seamarks: their History and Development. London: Stanford Maritime.
- ^ "History of the Corporation". Trinity House. Retrieved 26 February 2022.
- ^ "Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2". 1861. pp. 116–119.
- ^ "Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2". 1861. pp. 77–78.
- ^ a b "Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2". 1861. pp. 133–135.
- ^ Report of the Royal Commission on Lighthouse Administration. London: Wyman & Sons. 1908. p. 202.
- ^ a b Ayres, Arthur (10 April 1888). "Compressed Oil-Gas and its applications". XCIII: 306–310.
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(help) - ^ Stone, Peter (2017). The History of the Port of London: A Vast Emporium of All Nations. Barnsley, S. Yorks.: Pen & Sword Books Ltd.
- ^ Admiralty Chart 2484 - River Thames Hole Haven to London Bridge (2013)
- ^ Admiralty Chart 1185 - River Thames Sea Reach (2017)
- ^ Admiralty Chart 1183 - Thames Estuary (2017)
- ^ Crossing the Thames Estuary by Roger Gaspar (Imray)
- ^ "Mariners' passage planning and routeing guide" (PDF).