River Medway: Source to Mouth in Southeast England

The River Medway flows entirely through Kent and East Sussex in southeast England.

Course

• Source: Ashdown Forest, East Sussex (High Weald AONB), near Turners Hill.
• Direction: Northeast, then north, then east.
• Major Towns: Forest Row, Hartfield, Tonbridge, Maidstone, Rochester, Chatham.
• Mouth: Thames Estuary at Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey, Kent.
• Length: ~113 km (70 mi).

Key Features

• Medway Gap: Cuts through North Downs at Maidstone.
• Tidal: Up to Allington Lock (near Maidstone).
• Navigation: Historically vital for gunpowder, paper, hops, timber; now leisure craft.
• Dockyard: Chatham Historic Dockyard (Royal Navy, 1567–1984).

Environmental Status

Water quality improved post-1990s; supports brown trout, eels, kingfishers. Challenges: urban runoff, abstraction, invasive species (signal crayfish).