River Stour in Thanington Without

The River Stour is Kent's second longest river (after the Medway) it is 21.5 miles long. One of its sources rises at Postling near Hythe and becomes the River East Stour. Another rises at Lenham near Maidstone and becomes the River West Stour. They join at Ashford to become the River Great Stour. Some parts of the river in Ashford flood (heavy rainfall) and have made walkways and roads unusable in the past. The Great Stour flows through Canterbury and Plucks Gutter. The River Little Stour then joins the Great Stour to become the River Stour. The River Wantsum joins here, too, and the Stour flows through Sandwich and into the English Channel at Ramsgate.
Historically, the River Stour's mouth was at Stourmouth, near Preston, Kent where it emptied into the Wantsum Channel, dividing mainland Kent from the Isle of Thanet. The Channel has since silted up, becoming the River Wantsum to the north and the Stour from the Wantsum's confluence to the new mouth at Ebbsfleet. The River Stour enters the Parish just before Milton Manor Farm where it becomes the Parish boundary up until Milton Bridge. It winds its way past the Milton Fishing Lakes, then onto the Tonford Lane ford and footbridge and alongside the new Hambrook marsh area where it leaves the Parish by going under the A2 Road Bridge and on to Canterbury.