View source for The Swale

{{Short description|Channel of the Thames Estuary in Kent, UK}}
{{distinguish|River Swale}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox SSSI
|image=  Groynes towards Seasalter - geograph.org.uk - 1033231.jpg
|image_caption =  
|name=  The Swale
|aos=  Kent
|interest=Biological
|gridref={{gbmappingsmall|TR 001 665}}<ref name=dsv/>
|area=                    {{convert|6,509.4|ha|acre|abbr=off}}<ref name=dsv/>
|notifydate=                           1990<ref name=dsv/>
|map=[http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271003678%27  ''Magic Map''] 
}}
{{Designation list
 | designation1 = Ramsar
 | designation1_offname = The Swale
 | designation1_date = 17 July 1985
 | designation1_number = 299<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Swale|website=[[Ramsar Convention|Ramsar]] Sites Information Service|url=https://rsis.ramsar.org/ris/299|access-date=25 April 2018}}</ref>
}}
'''The Swale''' is a [[tidal channel]] of the [[Thames estuary]] that separates the [[Isle of Sheppey]] from the rest of [[Kent]].  On its banks is a {{convert| 6,509.4 |ha|acre|abbr=off|adj=on}} biological [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] which stretches from [[Sittingbourne]] to [[Whitstable]] in Kent.<ref name=dsv>{{cite web|url=  https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteDetail.aspx?SiteCode=S1003678&SiteName=swale&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |title=Designated Sites View: The Swale | series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|access-date =28 February 2018}}</ref><ref name=map>{{cite web|url= http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271003678%27|title=Map of The Swale|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|access-date=  28 February 2018}}</ref> It is also a [[Ramsar site|Ramsar]] internationally important wetland site<ref>{{cite web|url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=UK11071&SiteName=swale&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=  |title=Designated Sites View: The Swale | series= Ramsar Site|publisher=Natural England|access-date =  22 January 2018}}</ref> and a [[Special Protection Area]] under the [[European Union]] [[Birds Directive|Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=UK9012011&SiteName=swale&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=   |title=Designated Sites View: The Swale | series= Special Protection Area|publisher=Natural England|access-date = 22 January 2018}}</ref> Parts of it are a  [[Nature Conservation Review]] site, Grade I,<ref>{{cite book|editor-first=Derek |editor-last=Ratcliffe  |title=A Nature Conservation Review|volume=2 |page= 4|publisher= Cambridge University Press|location =Cambridge, UK  |year=1977|isbn= 0521-21403-3 }}</ref> [[National Nature Reserve]]s,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/kents-national-nature-reserves/kents-national-nature-reserves|title=Kent's National Nature Reserves|publisher=Natural England|date=2 August 2014|access-date=23 January 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124072455/https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/kents-national-nature-reserves/kents-national-nature-reserves|archive-date=24 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=1006143&SiteName=swale&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=  |title=Designated Sites View: The Swale| series= National Nature Reserves|publisher=Natural England|access-date = 22 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=  https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteGeneralDetail.aspx?SiteCode=1007024&SiteName=elmley&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea= |title=Designated Sites View: Elmley | series= National Nature Reserves|publisher=Natural England|access-date = 23 January 2018}}</ref> a [[Kent Wildlife Trust]] nature reserve<ref>{{cite web  |url= http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/reserves/oare-marshes  |title= Oare Marshes  |publisher= Kent Wildlife Trust  |access-date= 22 January 2018  |url-status= dead  |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180123073208/http://www.wildlifetrusts.org/reserves/oare-marshes  |archive-date= 2018-01-23  }}</ref> and a [[Local Nature Reserve]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteLNRDetail.aspx?SiteCode=L1009146&SiteName=swale&countyCode=&responsiblePerson=&SeaArea=&IFCAArea=  |title= Designated Sites View: South Bank of the Swale  |series=Local Nature Reserves|publisher=Natural England |access-date=  22 January 2018}}</ref>

== History ==
[[File:Oare4387e.JPG|thumb|A distance shot of the two Swale crossings.]]
The name "Swale" is [[Old English]] in origin, and is believed to mean "swirling, rushing river", or "rushing water".<ref>{{Citation
  | last = Ekwall
  | first = Eilert
  | author-link = Eilert Ekwall
  | title = The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names
  | place = Oxford
  | publisher = [[Oxford University Press|OUP]]
  | year = 1960
  | edition = 4th
  | page = 455
  | isbn = 978-0-19-869103-7}}. {{Citation
  | last = Mills
  | first = A. D.
  | title = A Dictionary of English Place-Names
  | place = Oxford
  | publisher = OUP
  | year = 1998
  | edition = 2nd
  | page = 335 }}. While Ekwall takes the origin of this name to be identical with that of the [[River Swale|Yorkshire river]], Mills says it is "probably identical".</ref>

===Peri-glacial period===
At these times the Swale was a gully from what had been a sea channel in very warm periods. Namely before the [[Strait of Dover]] had swept away so much swampy land, accentuated by sea levels being lower, even to beyond the end of the ice age, i.e. in the mid seventh millennium BC, the coasts of [[Essex]] and [[Kent]] stretched much further into the [[North Sea]]. Sheppey formed part of mainland Britain. The Swale was a valley opening eastwards. As sea-levels rose again, water occupied its whole length. It and the very mouth of the [[River Medway|Medway]] divide the Isle of Sheppey from the mainland.

===Roman Warm Period===
When the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] arrived in Britain, the Swale was much wider, with one part of the Isle of Sheppey &mdash; now called the [[Harty, Swale|Isle of Harty]] or Harty &mdash; a separate island.

===Former ferries===
Two {{circa|1600 to 1900}} public ferries crossed the Swale. One operated between [[Oare, Kent|Oare]] and Harty, and the other between [[Murston]] (near Sittingbourne) and [[Elmley]] (another former hamlet and essentially attached islet). Harty is no longer separate but the marshlands gradually encroaching delineate it.

==Dredging and channel traffic==
The channel needs constant dredging for busy recreational and light vessel use.

==Bridges==
The Swale is crossed at its western end by two bridges: the [[Kingsferry Bridge]] and the later [[Sheppey Crossing]].

== Nature ==
[[File:Oare4381e.JPG|thumb|Birdwatching [[Bird hide|hide]] on the [[Kent Wildlife Trust]] reserve at [[Oare Marshes]]]]
[[File:Longest Day3 over the Swale.jpg|thumb|The northernmost position of a sunset over the Swale (approximately north-west as on the longest day of the year)]]
The Swale forms both a [[National Nature Reserve]] and a [[Special Protection Area]]: the [[Zostera|eel grass]], [[Polygonum|Ray's knotgrass]], white [[seakale]], [[glasswort]]s and [[golden samphire]] support rare and uncommon migrant [[butterfly|butterflies]] and [[moth]]s, including the [[Essex emerald]], the [[ground lackey]], the [[clouded yellow butterfly]] and rare [[hawk-moth]]s.
Since 1968, it has also been a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003678.pdf |title=SSSI The Swale| publisher=www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk |year=1968 |access-date=12 November 2013 }}</ref>

=== Birds ===
The Swale provides habitats for the following birds:
* [[Pied avocet]] at least 17 percent of Great Britain's breeding population
* [[Marsh harrier]] at least 15 percent of Great Britain's breeding population
* [[Mediterranean gull]]
* [[Bar-tailed godwit]]
* [[Eurasian golden plover]]
* [[Hen harrier]]
* [[Ringed plover]]
* [[Black-tailed godwit]]
* [[Grey plover]]
* [[Red knot|knot]]
* [[Northern pintail|pintail]]
* [[Common redshank]]
* [[Northern shoveler]]

==See also==
*[[Borough of Swale|Swale]] (local government district)

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category|The Swale}}
*[http://www.english-nature.org.uk/special/nnr/nnr_details.asp?NNR_ID=149 English Nature page]
*[http://www.jncc.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2041 Description of Special Protection Area]
*Map sources for {{gbmapping|TQ999666}}
{{coord| 51.362|0.873   |type:landmark_region:GB-BNE|display=title}}
{{SSSIs Kent }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swale, The}}
[[Category:Thames Estuary]]
[[Category:Channels of England]]
[[Category:Special Protection Areas in England]]
[[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Kent]]
[[Category:Nature Conservation Review sites]]
[[Category:Borough of Swale|The Swale]]
[[Category:Ramsar sites in England]]
[[Category:Straits of England]]
[[Category:National nature reserves in England]]