Styles oppose making Medway navigable (1627)

Post date: Dec 11, 2011 8:52:35 PM

This snippet is based on C.W. Chaklin's article, 'Navigation Schemes on the Upper Medway, 1600-1665' in the Journal of Transport History, 1961.

During the seventeenth century there were many attempts to extend the navigability of the Medway past Maidstone; these attempts failed and this section of the river, including Wateringbury, remained essentially unnavigable until 1740. At this time it was very difficult to transport overland iron and timber from the Weald to Chatham dockyards and London, given poor road conditions. The river was clogged with weirs, trees and logs. The issue of floods at Yalding and what was their cause was a further issue.

So making the Medway navigable as far as Tonbridge or Penshurst would be economically good for landowners in the Weald. The level of the support they obtained from the government tended to vary with the prospects for war (because of transporting supplies for the navy to Chatham.)

Opposed to the schemes were the landowners adjoining the river who regarded the river as their private property, given that it was non-tidal and not affected by any statute. Navigation would involve the creation of tow paths and the loss of land and nuisance from watermen.

The opposition to the first scheme proposed in 1600 was led by Sir John Scott of Scott's Hall (now Nettlestead Place), Nettlestead. The opposition to a second scheme proposed in 1627 involved a flurry of lawsuits and was led by Augustine Skinner of West Farleigh, together with Sir Edward Scott of Nettlestead and Sir Thomas Style of Wateringbury. Some small improvements to the river seem to have arisen from the 1627 scheme.

A third scheme had much more authority as it was authorised by an Act of Parliament passed in 1665. In modern parlance it was a PFI initiative with the promoters responsible for financing the necessary improvements in return for a monopoly of carriage. It failed probably because of a lack of finance.

Sir Thomas Style was the second Style to own Wateringbury Place, after his father Oliver, and was raised to the baronetcy in 1627 (an order created by King James in 1611 conditional on the grantee paying for 30 soldiers for 3 years). There is still a Style baronet of Wateringbury ranking 59th in order of precedence of the English order. Sir Thomas, the first baronet, served as High sheriff of Kent in 1634 and died in 1637. He is buried in Wateringbury church.

The following is believed to be a copy of his portrait, previously held in Wateringbury Place, by an artist of the English School and dated about 1630

For other snippets on the Medway see Bow Bridge past effectual repair, New Bridge across the Medway, Russian national anthem marks opening of Bow Bridge and Drunk hopper drowns in Medway.