The historic city of Canterbury lies at the junction of four branches of the Roman road Watling Street which connected Canterbury with ports around the Kent coast – Lympne, Dover, Richborough and Reculver. Within the city the river flows in two channels, one through the centre of the city, and the other to the north of the city walls. The two channels rejoin to the east of Canterbury, before the river reaches Fordwich, a former outport of Canterbury and the current tidal limit of the river.