The Downs was a roadstead in the English Channel off the east coast of Kent, between the North and the South Foreland. The Downs served as a permanent base for warships patrolling the North Sea, and formed a favourite anchorage during heavy weather, protected on the east by the Goodwin Sands and on the north and west by the coast. It has depths down to 12 fathoms. Even during southerly gales some shelter was afforded, though under this condition wrecks were not infrequent.
The Downs lie between the Strait of Dover and the Thames Estuary, so both merchant ships awaiting an easterly wind to take them down the English Channel and those going up to London gathered there, often for quite long periods.
It could be quite a dangerous area. The Goodwin Sands were constantly shifting, and were not always adequately marked. Storms could also drive ships onto the shore or onto the sands.
