Geograph - photograph every grid square

The road is Appledore Road, the principal road into the Isle of Oxney from the north. The watercourse is called the Reading Sewer. Originally it was much wider and part of the River Rother which flowed north of Oxney. However, according to this Link the Rother was flowing south of Oxney as early as 1750. The pub is called the Ferry Inn and outside it is a board headed "Oxney Ferry, List of Tolls" and including "Motor coach or Char-a-banc - 1s 6d" suggesting that it was still a ferry in the age of the motor car. Given the narrowness of the river why did nobody build a bridge sooner? Or was it in fact a toll bridge?


(e-mailed information from a visitor to the site follows)

I noticed your note about the Ferry. The Ferry is located at the last land spit on the Isle of Oxney, which used to be surrounded by sea and rivers, and much of the surrounding area became marshland in around 1650, when the sea level changed. The ferry used to carry people from the Isle of Oxney to the mainland at Appledore, a journey of over a mile.

The river Rother used to run past the pub, but was later diverted to the other side of the island. This was a major transport route for shipping, as it used to run from Newenden past Smallhythe (both major ship-building ports in Henry VIII's day) to the port at Rye. Currently, the waterway that runs past the Ferry is called Reading Sewer.
More info is available on the ferry website at Link