LOST VILLAGES OF ROMNEY MARSH

 

Romney Marsh....

.....or more correctly, Romney Marshes because the area known generically as Romney Marsh, actually comprises 3 enclosed and drained, or 'inned', marsh areas - Romney Marsh, Walland Marsh and Denge Marsh, each enclosed by 'walls' of raised ground, such as the Rhee Wall, which enabled the enclosed ground to be drained.

The enclosed ground is very fertile, and from Roman times, has been heavily farmed, both as arable land, and more famously, for sheep breeding.
Over the centuries, the small towns along the coast, such as Hythe, New Romney and Lydd have thrived reasonably well, whilst further inland the Marsh has suffered from severe depopulation for one reason and another.
The former parishes are named on old tithe maps, which show that they were abandoned in the late-Middle Ages. The ruins are now protected as Scheduled Ancient Monuments.

The main reason for the decline of local settlements at that time was the Black Death. Add to that the problem of malaria as well as other water borne diseases which made the Marsh a hostile place to live. Mortality rates on the Marsh were twice as high as in villages just a few miles away.
This has resulted in several lost parishes, which I aim to photograph and describe here, over the period of this summer. Most visitors and incomers to this area will not recognise the names of them, but true locals will know them, and know where evidence can still be found.

I know the location of nearly all of them, but have yet to photograph them all (Good excuse to ride my bike)

Blackmanstone
Broomhill
Dengemarsh
Eastbridge
Fairfield
Fawkenhurst
Galloways
Hope All Saints
Jesson
Midley 
Orgarswick
Snave 

BLACKMANSTONE

(Blaecman's farmstead - that's either a person's name, or it may have been the farmstead of a man nicknamed for his black or dark visage)
The only reference I know as to its' location, is Hasted, who describes it thus.......

'It is very small, having no house within it. The court-lodge has been down for many years, a looker's hut being all that remains on the scite of it. The church was situated close on the other side of the road to it, of which there are only two or three stones remaining. The lands of it are mostly marsh, some of which are ploughed up, and the whole of it much the same as that of Orgarswike, last-described.' 

It lies to the north of St. Mary In The Marsh...........and I hope to photograph the tiny bit that is left soon.

BROOMHILL

Broomhill, or Bromehill, used to lie in the area of the current Lydd Army Ranges, located on an island on a spit of land on the western edge of the Walland Marsh. 
In 1287, a severe storm hit the channel, and the movement of shingle blocked the outlet of the River Rother at Romney, changing its path forever down to Rye. Bromehill and Old Winchelsea were swept away.
Surprisingly, the decayed remains of the church are shown on a map produced by John Norden in 1595.
The village was never rebuilt after the storm.
Broomhill is just a scatter of stones near an abandoned farm house. It was excavated in the 1980's and was estimated to have been built in 1200AD on the newly drained Walland Marsh.

Still not been able to exactly pinpoint it, but....................

DENGEMARSH

(marshland belonging to Denge. Alternatively it was known as Dunge Marsh)
Just south of Lydd. Closed when Lydd army ranges were started during WWII.

EASTBRIDGE

Only the 13th century tower and part of the 12th century nave of the church remains, somewhat dilapidated and ivy-covered. It lies in the same general area as Orgarswick. The manor of Eastbridge once belonged to Godwin, Earl of Kent, but after the Norman conquest, it passed to Hugh de Montfort. After the dissolution, it passed to the King, and then, after several centuries of familial change, it was bequeathed to Anne Roper, who has done a lot of research into the history of the Marshes. If I'm looking for information, it's to her book 'Romney Marsh - The Gift Of The Sea' that I invariably turn to.

FAIRFIELD

A lot of people may know this one, due to the curious location of its' church in a deserted part of Walland Marsh, down a narrow lane that goes from the canal bridge in Appledore to the bend by Jo's cafe on the A259 in Brookland
The Church of St. Thomas Becket, stands in the middle of a field, and until the surrounding marsh drainage was improved, at times could only be approached by boat.
A service is still held there on the 1st. Sunday in every month. The tiny lane that leads to Fairfield, is probably one of the walls that 'inned' the Walland Marsh. There are a whole host of legends surrounding it (as well as sheep!), mostly because it doesn't have a village.

The church has been encased in brick to protect and preserve it. It is kept locked because of its isolated location, but there is a notice stating where the key is.

FAWKENHURST

I need more research here. One source has it on the army ranges, west of Dungeness, now just a stone cross on a stepped plinth. Anne Roper, however, has it somewhere near the top of Knoll Hill in Aldington. True, there is a house called 'Falconhurst' there, but I'm not sure which source is correct, and neither is in a place I can easily visit.

GALLOWAYS

Just south of Lydd. Closed when Lydd Army ranges were started.

HOPE

(piece of enclosed marshland. Latterly becoming Hope All Saints)

The ruins of the church of All Saints is all that remains of Hope, and indeed, the ruins are now simply known as Hope All Saints. They lie down the lane which runs from New Romney to Ivychurch.

It dates from the 12th century and has been abandoned since the 17th century. Years later it became a favourite for the smugglers.

Romney Marsh at one time held 23 manors. Although never a village, the manor of Craythorne lay within the boundaries of Hope. wherein there was a moated manorhouse and a manorial chapel. All traces of Craythorne have now gone.

JESSON

(derived from Jesson's farm i.e. Geffrey's farmstead)

I bet you've been through Jesson! But you wouldn't have realised it.

It's not that it has completely disappeared, it's just that it is now called St. Mary's Bay!

It was likely named after Jesson Farm, built around 1820, in what is now Jefferstone Lane. The name Jesson was changed to St. Mary's Bay on 12 October 1935.

MIDLEY

Midley  was built on what was then an island between Lydd and Romney - probably the 'middle isle', possibly on the banks of the original course of the Rother.  The west wall of the 15th century church remains standing. It was deserted by the 16th century. Just one wall of the church remains, in a field, hidden down a tiny lane between Old Romney and Lydd. 

The remains of the later 15th century church at Midley survive only partially but to an impressive height of 8 metres at the west end. The upstanding walls and ground-plan of this church are of great architectural and historical importance because the church demonstrates a very rare and early use of brick for building in the region. 

The site is lent additional importance by the high archaeological potential of the land around the surviving remains, both for the earlier church buildings considered to survive as foundations below the present structure (Domesday Book refers to a church at Midelea) and for its adjoining graveyard in which bone is well preserved. 

From these archaeological contexts can be expected evidence of the disastrous floods in
ca. 1287 (eg. changes in the death rate, evidence of depopulation, flood damage to the church itself). These were the same floods in which Old Winchelsea perished and which precipitated dramatic changes in the development of the region for which little evidence survives, relevant contexts having been either submerged by the sea or altered in more recent times

During WWII there was an RAF airfield here.

ORGARSWICK

(Ordgar's farm. The name also appears associated with the church that stood at a little distance from the farm)

The church was abandoned many centuries ago and no trace remains.  The site is marked by a stone cross near Chapel Cottage Farm a few miles north west of Dymchurch.

At one time, Orgarswick was a 'rotten borough', entitled to send 2 members to parliament.

SNAVE 

(name possibly derived from the local name for the stream on which Snave lies. - Old English Snaefe)

The hamlet still exists, but the church is a recently 'lost' parish. It lies just off the A256 between Ham Street and Brenzett. 

The village may have all but vanished, but St. Augustine's church was  made redundant in 1983, and is in the care of the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust. It's a little tricky to find, and is seen at its' best in Spring, when it is surrounded by hosts of golden daffodils. This area of the Marsh was renowned at one time for growing field upon field of daffodils. To cope with Marsh subsidence, the pretty 13th. century church has 14 buttresses to combat the constant problem of subsidence.

The A2070 road now bisects what would once have been the parish of Snave, leaving the area around Snave-Wick isolated. It was here, that the court sat to adjudicate misdemeanours. I need to find far more information on this. But, in the meantime, I do know that close to the Snave-Wick court house was a bridge known as Hangman's Toll Bridge. Now long gone, it stood roughly where this culvert carries the water under the new road.