The Great Stour is the second longest river in Kent and is the major watercourse in the east of the county. Rising 75 metres above sea level near the village of Lenham, to the east of Maidstone, the Great Stour joins the East Stour at Ashford and continues along to Canterbury. Here, the river splits into two main channels, creating several islands before continuing on its course and flowing out to sea at Pegwell Bay. Its overall catchment area is 1,080.77 km² with great landscape, wildlife and historic interest.

The Canterbury section has arguably the greatest mix of these characteristics. In fact, the earliest records of the city’s name date back to AD 150 when it was called ‘Davovernon’ from the British words duro (fort) and verno (swamp). This clearly demonstrates that characteristics of the land at the time from the influence of the Stour were so great they were included in the city’s name. Later, the Romans adopted this name and called it ‘Durovernum Cantiacorum’. When the Romans built Watling Street between Dover and London they forded the river here (which was perhaps at the time the upper limit of navigation) and so the settlement grew and prospered. By 754 it had became ‘Cantwaraburg’ the Stronghold of the ‘Cantware’ (the people of Kent) and with the spread of Christianity it grew to be the ecclesiastical capital of England.

By following the course of the Great Stour through Canterbury it is possible to see a huge variety of different areas of both historical and wildlife interest. As you come into Canterbury from Ashford on the A28 you will notice a large complex of lakes from previous gravel extraction by Brett. These run from Chilham through to Thanington Without and provide a rich wetland habitat next to the river for a variety of different plants, birds and animals. Next you come to meadows, running from Tonford almost to the city walls. This area includes Hambrook Marshes, recently acquired by The Canterbury and District Enterprise Trust to turn into a wildlife area and Whitehall Meadows LNR, owned by Canterbury City Council and managed with the assistance of the KSCP. The area once offered an important ford for the ancient trackways used to transport salt from the coast inland. It is believed that names with ‘white’ in indicate the presence of a salt pan or track, hence the name ‘Whitehall Meadows’. This area also has a significant cultural interest as the setting for many of the Victorian artist Thomas Sydney Cooper’s paintings. The Canterbury based artist painted a whole series of cattle scenes in the water meadows adjoining the Stour. In November 2004, students from Canterbury High School and artist Martin Brockman, with the help of the KSCP, constructed life size willow sculptures of one of these famous scenes.

It is at this point the river divides into two, creating Bingley’s Island (where the cattle sculptures are located), part of the LNR and the first in a series of islands. The next of these river islands is actually the whole of the Westgate area, including the gardens, St. Peters Street, part of Rheims Way, the bottom of the High Street and the Marlowe Theatre.

Following along the left-hand branch of the river, you pass Toddlers Cove Play area before reaching the picturesque Westgate Gardens on the right. To the left is what remains of an ancient mill. During the reign of King Stephen, the city had 11 mills but gradually, as the river silted up, the mills reduced in number. By the beginning of the 19^th century there were five, and today, there are none left operating. Historically most were owned by the monks of Christ Church, and with so many there were often difficulties when an upstream mill altered water levels, affecting those downstream.

A short distance further on the right is the impressive Westgate Towers. Once there were eight in the city: Westgate, Northgate, Quenin-gate, Burgate, St. George’s Gate, Riding Gate, Wincheap Gate and Worthgate, and twenty one watch towers. The Westgate was erected in 1380 and guarded over the road to London. Thousands of pilgrims on their way to visit Saint Thomas Becket's shrine, passed through this gateway into the city, and for many years it was used as the city’s gaol.

The river then continues flowing between buildings and the remaining city wall, until it branches again at Pound Lane Car Park. The right hand branch then rejoins with the split off back at Bingley’s Island. The left leads on past what was one of the city’s last working flour mills, Deans Mill. Here, another island has been created by the river: Bus Company Island, bought by the City Council in 1994 and designated a LNR. The 1.7ha site was once an orchard, but had lain disused until the Council bought it. Work was carried out with KSCP volunteers to clear scrub, dig a pond, sow wildflowers and plant trees. It is now a vital area of habitat for a huge variety of species, right within the heart of the city.

Going back to where the river first split into two, at Bingley’s Island, we will now follow the right hand fork through the city; past where the old BT building was recently demolished for housing development, under Rheims Way and on the right is St. Mildred’s Church. Before the dissolution of the monasteries, Canterbury had twenty-two parish churches! It is believed that St. Mildred’s is the oldest in the city, having been there before the Normans arrived and built the adjacent castle. Churchyards often provide vital areas of habitat in towns and cities, and can support an interesting array of wild flowers as they often have had little or no improvement (i.e. fertilisers, re-sown grass).

To the left is St. Mildred’s Tannery, which started in 1860 preparing and tanning imported hides. From 1988 it concentrated on the dressing, softening and dying of hides and has recently closed. During its early years, the site polluted the Great Stour with chloride, sulphate, ammonium, phenols, hydrocarbons and land gases. There was also the potential of heavy metal spills, such as lead, mercury, cadmium and copper, which is extremely toxic to aquatic life. Water was sometimes used in the cooling process, which lead to warm water being released into the river which has a low dissolved oxygen content - again very bad for aquatic invertebrates. However, it wasn’t just industries that polluted the Great Stour. Raw sewage and drainage systems used to flow directly into the river too, meaning little could survive in such conditions. Now, however, water quality and inflows are strictly monitored by the Environment Agency to ensure the Great Stour remains clean.

Next on the left are two more islands as the river splits again, which are the grounds of what remains of the Grey Friars or Franciscans land. They came here from France in 1224, and one of the remaining buildings is built across the river itself. Not only do the remaining grounds provide a public amenity but they are excellent for garden bird species, such as blackbirds, robins and sparrows, which thrive here.

Just after the river rejoins after its split around these last two islands, it flows under St. Thomas’s, or Eastbridge Hospital. Originally founded as a hospital for wayfarers and injured folk in the reign of Henry II, it later became a hostel for pilgrims.

We now come to the part of the river that anyone who has walked up Canterbury High Street and over King’s Bridge will have seen. Below the bridge on the right is where King’s Mill once stood, one of the city’s earliest and most important mills. Owned by the King, city residents could have their corn ground there. The city’s first public lavatory was here, and the city's swans were kept near and fattened up for banquets. To the left is the Weavers. In 1575 a hundred Flemish refugee families came to Canterbury and were granted a license to establish themselves in the city. At one time, 2,900 people were employed here hand weaving cloth.

Next are the remains of another Friary, that of the Dominicans (or Blackfriars, because of the black coat they wore over their white habits) who came to Canterbury in 1221. The Rectory on the right is now part of the Kings School, and the guesthouse on the left was granted to the friars by King Henry III in 1237.

The Great Stour then splits again at what used to be Abbot’s Mill, until 1933 when it was burnt down. Six stories high, it dominated the city’s skyline for 140 years. Further along the river is Barton Mill, which was again ravaged by fire only a year ago. Although brown field sites like these and the now disused tannery are often re-developed as housing, they can potentially provide a good habitat for a wide range of plant and animal species. After just a few years, such a site can easily become covered in hawthorn and birch scrub, with shrubs such as buddleia and plants like bramble, stinging nettle and rose- bay willowherb. This is brilliant not only for birds and butterflies but small mammals, including wood mice and rabbits and reptiles such as slow worms. Next to the river, you also often find grass snakes that swim and hunt amphibians in the water.

After this, the two main branches of the Great Stour then rejoin as they reach Vauxhall Lakes, now Broad Oak Nature Reserve. These were previously gravel extraction works, and now support a wide range of bird species and the endangered great crested newt, amongst other things. The reserve is an excellent demonstration of how old industrial works can be taken over very effectively by nature in a short space of time.

Canterbury has grown up because of the Great Stour- many of its industries and therefore its wealth have depended upon it, and now by taking a trip along the river you can see a rich mix of heritage and wildlife, right through the city’s heart. There are boat trips leaving from both the Weavers on the High Street and outside of Westgate, so why not see for yourself?