Goodwin Sands

For the film sometimes known as Goodwin Sands, see The Lady from the Sea (1929 film).

51°16′25″N 1°30′30″E / 51.27361°N 1.50833°E / 51.27361; 1.50833

Goodwin Sands is located in England
Goodwin Sands
class=notpageimage|
The Goodwin Sands
A draught of the Goodwin Sands Pl.XXII P169 RMG A8031-D (printed chart from 1750)

Goodwin Sands is a 10-mile-long (16 km) sandbank at the southern end of the North Sea lying 6 miles (10 km) off the Deal coast in Kent, England.[1] The area consists of a layer of approximately 25 m (82 ft) depth of fine sand resting on an Upper Chalk platform belonging to the same geological feature that incorporates the White Cliffs of Dover. The banks lie between 0.5 m (1 ft 8 in) above the low water mark to around 3 m (10 ft) below low water, except for one channel that drops to around 20 m (66 ft) below.[2] Tides and currents are constantly shifting the shoals.

More than 2,000 ships are believed to have been wrecked upon the Goodwin Sands because they lie close to the major shipping lanes through the Straits of Dover. The few miles between the sands and the coast is also a safe anchorage, known as The Downs, used as a refuge from foul weather. Due to the dangers, the area—which also includes Brake Bank[3][4]—is marked by numerous lightvessels and buoys.

Notable shipwrecks include HMS Stirling Castle in 1703, VOC ship Rooswijk in 1740, the SS Montrose in 1914, and the South Goodwin Lightship, which broke free from its anchor moorings during a storm in 1954.[5] Several naval battles have been fought nearby, including the Battles of the Goodwin Sands (Battle of the Narrow Seas) in 1602 and the Battle of Dover in 1652, and the Battle of Dover Strait in 1917.

When hovercraft ran from Pegwell Bay, Ramsgate, they made occasional voyages over the Sands, where boats could not go safely.

Southeast from Goodwin Sands lies the Sandettie Bank.

  1. ^ Cloet, R. L. (1954). "Hydrographic Analysis of the Goodwin Sands and the Brake Bank". The Geographical Journal. 120 (2): 203–215. Bibcode:1954GeogJ.120..203C. doi:10.2307/1791536. JSTOR 1791536.
  2. ^ Imray Laurie Norie & Wilson, North Foreland to Dover & Calais, chart number 2100.6, published January 2015 as updated to 13 April 2017.
  3. ^ R. L. Cloet, "Hydrographic Analysis of the Goodwin Sands and the Brake Bank", The Geographical Journal, 120.2 (June 1954:203–215). Cloet demolished the story that the Goodwin Sands had been a low-lying island, identifying its hydrofoil shape formed by currents, and charting its anti-clockwise drift.
  4. ^ Cloet, R. L. (1961). "Development of the Brake Bank". The Geographical Journal. 127 (3): 335–339. Bibcode:1961GeogJ.127..335C. doi:10.2307/1794954. JSTOR 1794954.
  5. ^ "Crew of the South Goodwin light vessel". www.portcities.org.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2013.