Goodwin Sands
The Goodwin Sands are a ten mile long sand bank in the English Channel, lying six miles east of Deal in Kent, England. The sands are known for the large number of shipwrecks which have occurred on them, estimated at over 2,000. As a result, they are marked by numerous lightships and buoys. Notable shipwrecks include the Stirling Castle and the South Goodwin Lightship.
An annual cricket match is played on the sands at low tide, and the Battle of Goodwin Sands was fought near them.
Legend holds that the sands were once the fertile, low-lying island of Lomea. This, it is said, was once owned by Godwin, Earl of Wessex, after whom they are named. When he fell from favour, the land was given to St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury. The abbot failed to maintain the 1690 The Vanguard, a 90 gun Man O War struck the sands, but was fortunate enough to be got off by the boatmen of Deal.
Between the November 24 and November 27, 1703, the "Great Storm" raged. The spires of churches, windmills and an estimated 40,000 trees were blown down. A minimum of 13 Men o War were wrecked on the Downs, with the loss of 2,168 lives and 708 gun, including the sailors of 40 merchant vessels that were subsequently lost, wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, and yet, to their great credit, the Deal boatmen were able to rescue 200 men from this ordeal.
The Great Storm, otherwise described as "the tempest that destroyed woods and forests all over England" resulted in large-scale flooding and the devastation of countless buildings, including the Eddystone Lighthouse, which was completely blown down.
Of the naval vessels lost to the sands, the Northumberland and the Restoration were both Deptford built, and, from there locally manned, they were lost with all hands; also built at Deptford in 1697 was the 1097 ton, 70 gun, Third rate Stirling Castle. The Woolwich fourth rate Mary was totally overwhelmed with the loss of 343 men, and the boom ship Mortar was lost with all of her crew of 65.
