Sheerness has some trade in corn and seed,, and there is steamboat connexion with Port Victoria, on the opposite side of the Medway; with Southend, on the opposite side of the Thames; and with Chatham and London, and the town is in some favour as a seaside resort.
A small fort was built at Sheerness by Charles II., which, on the 10th of July 1667, was taken by the Dutch fleet under De Ruyter.
The width at Oxford is about 150 ft., at Teddington 250 ft., at London Bridge 750 ft., at Gravesend 2100 ft., and between Sheerness and Shoeburyness, immediately above the Nore, 52 m.
The estuary of the Thames may be said to stretch from London Bridge to Sheerness in the Isle of Sheppey, which is divided from the mainland by the narrow channel (bridged at Queensbridge) of the Swale.
Sheerness lies at the mouth of the Medway, a narrow branch of which cuts off a tongue of land termed the Isle of Grain lying opposite Sheerness.
