Medway Navigation

Medway Navigation
River Medway Tidal 0 Allington Lock Allington Marina Maidstone East Line  A229  St Peter's Bridge  A20  Maidstone Bridge River Len College Lock (removed) Millenium foot bridge Tovil Foot Bridge Loose Stream 7.2 East Farleigh Lock East Farleigh Bridge Kettle Bridge Barming Teston Bridge 10.4 Teston Lock Bow Bridge, Wateringbury Wateringbury Stream Hampstead Marina 15.2 Hampstead Lane Lock  B2162  Hampstead Lane Breden's Boatyard River Beult Twyford Bridge, Yalding River Teise 15.5 Automatic Sluice Hampstead Lane Canal Stoneham Old Lock (disused) Medway Valley Line  A228  East Peckham By-pass Branbridges 18.8 Sluice Wier Lock River Bourne Stilstead Bridge 20.8 Oak Weir Lock Ford Green Bridge 22.0 East Lock Hartlake Bridge 24.0 Porters Lock 25.6 Eldridge Lock Botany Stream  A26  Cannon Bridge 28 Town Lock  B2260  Big Bridge, Tonbridge Hilden Brook Gas Works Stream SE Main Line Lucifer Foot Bridge Sharpe's Bridge 31 Leigh Barrier  A21  Tonbridge By-pass River Medway Upstream

The River Medway in England flows for 70 miles (113 km) from Turners Hill, in West Sussex, through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway Towns conurbation in Kent, to the River Thames at Sheerness, where it shares the latter's estuary. The Medway Navigation runs from the Leigh Barrier south of Tonbridge to Allington just north of Maidstone. It is 19 miles (31 km) in length. The Environment Agency is the navigation authority responsible for the navigation.

The route

Until 1746 the river was impassable above Maidstone. To that point each village on the river had its wharf or wharves: at Halling, Snodland, New Hythe and Aylesford. Cargoes included corn, fodder, fruit, stone and timber.

Allington Lock and Sluice, it is at this point that the river becomes tidal.

In 1746 improvements to the channel meant that barges of 40 long tons (41 t) could reach East Farleigh, Yalding and even Tonbridge. The channel was further improved to Leigh in 1828. There are eleven locks on the river. The lowest, opened in 1792, is at Allington, and is the extent of tides. The others are East Farleigh, Teston, Hampstead Lane, Stoneham Old Lock (disused), Sluice Weir Lock, Oak Wier Lock East Lock, Porter's, Eldridge's and Town Lock in Tonbridge (see table). The locks will take craft up to 80 feet (24 m) by 18 feet (5.5 m), and vessels with a draft of 4 feet (1.2 m) can navigate the river. The shallowest point is just below Sluice Weir Lock which is prone to silting after heavy rain. The draughts along the navigation are: Tonbridge to Yalding 4 feet; Yalding to Maidstone 5 feet 6 inches; Maidstone to Allington Lock 6 feet 6 inches. Headroom is 8 feet 6 inches below Tonbridge. College Lock, in Maidstone, was removed in 1899. Stoneham Old Lock was dismantled in 1915 as part of a reconstruction of that section of the waterway.

The locks on the navigation are as follows.

Locks on the Medway Navigation

Lock name	Change in level	Distance
Allington Lock	12’ 6” (3.81 m)	0
East Farleigh Lock	5’ 3” (1.60 m)	7.2 km (4.5 mi)
Teston Lock	6’ 3” (1.90 m)	10.4 km (6.5 mi)
Hampstead Lane Lock	9’ 3” (2.82 m)	15.28 km (9.49 mi)
Stoneham Old Lock	Demolished	17.7 km (11.0 mi)
Sluice Weir Lock	9’ 0” (2.74 m)	18.8 km (11.7 mi)
Oak Weir Lock	6’ 3” (1.90 m)	20.8 km (12.9 mi)
East Lock	6’ 0” (1.82 m)	22.0 km (13.7 mi)
Porter’s Lock	4’ 3” (1.30 m)	24.0 km (14.9 mi)
Eldrige’s Lock	5’ 3” (1.60 m)	25.6 km (15.9 mi)
(Tonbridge) Town Lock	5’ 2” (1.57 m)	28 km (17 mi)

See also

• Canals of the United Kingdom
• History of the British canal system
• River Medway