The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a total distance of . About of the river lies in East Sussex, with the remainder being in Kent.
It has a catchment area of , the second largest in southern England after the Thames. The map opposite shows only the major tributaries: a more detailed map shows the extensive network of smaller streams feeding into the main river. Those tributaries rise from points along the North Downs, the Weald and Ashdown Forest.
Tributaries
The major tributaries are:
River Eden
River Bourne, known in the past as the Shode or Busty
River Teise, major sub-tributary River Bewl
River Beult
Loose Stream
River Len
Minor tributaries include: Wateringbury Stream East Malling Stream River Grom
Former minor tributaries include the Old Bourne River, which flowed through the Brook, Chatham (not to be confused with the main tributary River Bourne).
The river and its tributaries flow through largely rural areas, Tonbridge, Maidstone and Medway being the exceptions. The Medway itself initially flows in a west–east direction south of the North Downs; at the confluence of the River Beult, however, it turns north and breaks through the North Downs at the Medway Gap, a steep and narrow valley near Rochester, before its final section to the sea.
Until 1746 the river was not navigable above Maidstone. Below 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.
In 1746, improvements to the channel meant that barges of could reach East Farleigh, Yalding and even Tonbridge. In 1828, the channel was further improved up to Leigh. There are eleven locks on the river. The lowest, opened in 1792, is at Allington, and is the tidal limit. The others are at East Farleigh, Teston, Hampstead Lane, Stoneham Old Lock (disused), Sluice Weir Lock, Oak Weir Lock, East Lock, Porter's, Eldridge's and Town Lock in Tonbridge. The locks will take craft up to by , and vessels with a draft of can navigate the river. The shallowest point is just below Sluice Weir Lock, which is prone to silting after heavy rain.
Small craft such as canoes can sometimes travel as far as Penshurst. The stretch from Leigh to Allington is known as the Medway Navigation, and is in length. The Environment Agency is the navigation authority.
Estuary
Downstream of the Medway bridges (M2, HS1) the river comprises a sequence of tidal reaches:
Wickham Reach
Tower Reach
Bridge Reach
Limehouse Reach
Chatham Reach
Upnor Reach
Short Reach
Gillingham Reach
Pinup Reach
Long Reach
Kethole Reach
Saltpan Reach
Stangate Creek
One of the channels on the southern side of the estuary, Stangate Creek, is the subject of a painting by William Turner. In a location described as "opposite the Isle of Grain, Sharpfleet Creek, and the lower-end of the Hope", a quarantine site for ships was proclaimed on 16 September 1709, during an outbreak of the plague. The area had been leased to oyster fisherman, so compensation was paid to them. Nearly 150 ships quarantined there in the first six months of 1712, and the site was again used between 1721 and 1743.
In 1918 to 1920, damages were sought for damage done to an oyster fishery in Stangate Creek.