Romney Marsh
Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 square miles (260 km2). The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until the 18th century. Due to its location, geography and isolation, it was important for smugglers between the 17th and 19th centuries. The area has long been used for sheep pasture: Romney Marsh sheep are considered one of the most successful and important sheep breeds. Featuring numerous waterways, and with some areas lying below sea level, the Marsh has over time sustained a gradual level of reclamation, both through natural causes and by human intervention.
This article is about the large wetland area. For the nature reserve, see Romney Warren Country Park.Governance[edit]
An electoral ward in the same name exists. This ward had a population of 2,358 at the 2011 census.[1]
Romney Marsh sheep[edit]
The economy and landscape of Romney Marsh in the 19th century were dominated by sheep. Improved methods of pasture management and husbandry meant that the Marsh could sustain a stock density greater than anywhere else in the world. The Romney Marsh sheep became one of the most successful and important breeds of sheep. Their main characteristic is an ability to feed in wet situations; they are considered to be more resistant to foot rot and internal parasites than any other breed. Romney sheep have been exported globally, in particular to Australia, starting in 1872.
However, for Downland sheep that were often taken to the marshes to be fattened before sale, 19th-century reports suggest the Romney pastures were highly likely to disease the animals via the liver and thus contaminate the meat.[4] Whitlaw suggests that this was likely due to the cultivation of ranunculus in the region during the 1830s.[5]
Romney Marsh Countryside Partnership (RMCP)[edit]
The Romney Marsh Countryside Partnership was set up in June 1996, as a sister project to the White Cliffs Countryside Partnership. With the help of volunteers, it manages and maintains various sites across the Marsh. The non-profit organisation aims to care for the special landscape and wildlife of the Romney Marsh and Dungeness while encouraging people to enjoy and understand the countryside through volunteer work, guided walks, cycle rides, countryside events and children's activities.
Malaria[edit]
In the past, people who lived in the marsh frequently suffered from malaria, then known as ague or marsh fever, which caused high mortality rates until the 1730s. It remained a major problem until the completion of the Royal Military Canal in 1806, which greatly improved the drainage of the area.
This disease probably arrived here with mosquitoes as soon as the weather became warm enough after the end of the Last Glacial Period, around or before the time of the Roman occupation. The strain responsible was most probably Plasmodium vivax, as records and texts describe agues or fevers at three or four-day intervals. Prior Anselm, of nearby Canterbury, recorded in the 1070s and 1080s a case that had every appearance of malaria.[9]
Although five indigenous mosquito species are capable of being hosts for the malarial parasite, only the Anopheles atroparvus species breeds in sufficient numbers here to act as an efficient vector. However, P. vivax likes brackish waters and, with the recreation of the old coastal wetlands coming into favour, this could expand the future malarial parasite host reserve. Together with the average temperatures in England increasing due to climate change, English malaria may become re-established in the marshes.[10]
Some of the lost communities on the Marsh are instances of the modern decline of the rural communities; others occurred over the centuries. In 1348, for example, many villages were decimated by the Black Death. The few survivors moved to other places.[16]
The villages, shown below with the modern Ordnance Survey map information on Sheet 189, were:
Smuggling[edit]
The flat, almost empty landscape and numerous waterways made for a smuggler's paradise from the 1600s into the 1800s. The traffic was two-way, since wool was smuggled from this area to the Continent.
The main gangs on the Marsh were the Hawkhurst Gang, the Mayfield Gang, and the Aldington Gang, known also as the Blues.
Smugglers on the Marshes were known as Owlers. The name was rumoured to be derived from the owl-like sounds they used to communicate at night.
Literary associations[edit]
Romney Marsh has been represented in a distinguished literary history. Three authors who specifically used the marsh as settings for their works were E.F. Benson, author of the Mapp and Lucia novels; Russell Thorndike, author of the Doctor Syn novels; and the children's writer Monica Edwards, author of Romney Marsh books. She changed the name of Rye Harbour to "Westling", Rye is renamed "Dunsford", and Winchelsea is known as "Winklesea".
Rosemary Sutcliff's 1955 historical novel Outcast depicts Roman efforts to build the Rhee Wall and reclaim land from the sea. A fictitious Romney Marsh estate near Charbury is a key setting in The Eagle Has Flown (1991) by Jack Higgins, the quasi-sequel to The Eagle Has Landed. Both are related to World War II. The latter novel was adapted as a successful motion picture starring Michael Caine.
Modern-day novelist George Chittenden captures smuggling on the Kent coast in his highly praised debut children's novel, The Boy Who Led Them (2012). It follows the rise and fall of a smuggling gang leader in Deal, Kent, a notorious smuggling town further down the coast.
Many other well-known writers have been associated with the area: Henry James lived in Rye; Daphne du Maurier lived in Hythe for a few years during World War II; H.G. Wells, Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox Ford, Stephen Crane, Radclyffe Hall, Noël Coward, Edith Nesbit, Rumer Godden, Malcolm Saville, and Conrad Aiken also lived in marsh towns. Conrad's daughter, Joan Aiken, set her children's book, Cold Shoulder Road, in Romney Marsh. Rudyard Kipling and his poem, "A Smugglers' Song", are also associated with the 18th-century Sussex smugglers.
According to Norman Wright's book The Famous Five: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know, Rye's history inspired Enid Blyton when she wrote Five Go to Smuggler's Top.
The 1947 British historical drama film The Loves of Joanna Godden, based on the novel by Sheila Kaye-Smith and directed by Charles Frend, is set in Romney Marsh.
The 1963 a three-part television series entitled The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, was produced for the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color TV series. It described the adventures of Dr. Syn. Parts of it were filmed at St Clement's Church in Old Romney, Romney Marsh. The three-part series was edited into a motion picture and released in the United Kingdom and subsequently Europe, Central America and South America. It debuted on American television in 1964.