The Thames Estuary

Abstract

ALTHOUGH it is not practicable to say precisely where the river ends and the estuary commences, it will be sufficient for general purposes if the westward, or inner, boundary of the Thames estuary is assumed to be a line from Southend to Sheerness, the northern boundary as the coast of Essex, and the southern the coast of Kent; and it may be said to extend eastward to the meridian of the Kentish Knock light-vessel. The area inclosed between these lines is upwards of 800 square nautical miles, and the whole of the space is encumbered with banks, between which are the several channels leading to the river.