In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Romney Marsh like this:
ROMNEY-MARSH, a district in the S of Kent, and a liberty partly also in Sussex. The district lies on the coast, between Hythe and the boundary with Sussex; is divided into the sub-districts of New Romney and Lydd; and contains the parishes of West Hythe, Burmarsh, Dymchurch, Blackmanstone, Orgarswick, East-bridge, Newchurch, St. ...
Mary-the-Virgin, Hope-All Saints, New Romney, Ivychurch, Lydd, Midley, Old Romney, Snave, Snargate, Brenzett, Brookland, and Fairfield. Acres, 46, 785. Poor-rates in 1863, £3, 806. Pop. in 1851, 5, 437; in 1861, 5, 708. Houses, 1, 178. Marriages in 1863, 37; births, 231, of which 19 wereillegitimate; deaths, 115, of which 40 were at ages under 5 years, and 3 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 370; births, 1, 917; deaths, 1, 193. The places of worship, in 1851, were 13 of the Church of England, with 3, 371 sittings; 2 of Baptists, with 234 s.; and 5 of Wesleyans, with 741 s. The schools were 3 public day-schools, with 285 scholars; 17 private day-schools. with 309 s.; 11 Sunday schools, with 608 s.; and 1 evening school for adults, with 17 s. The work-house is in New Romney; and, at the census of 1861, had 44 inmates. The liberty includes all the parishes of the district, except Eastbridge and Fairfield; includesalso thirteen other parishes; measures about 14 miles inlength, and 8 miles in breadth; comprises Romney-marsh-proper, Wallend-marsh, Denge-marsh, and Guildford-marsh; belonged chiefly, in old times, to the two great Canterbury abbeys; and has been governed, since the time of Edward IV., by a bailiff, jurats, and commonalty, in connexion with the lords of 23 adjoining manors. The land is low and flat; has been formed by reclamationfrom the sea; is protected from the billows by a sea-wall 3 miles long, and from 12 to 20 feet high; has very fewtrees; is subdivided by dykes and water-courses; and serves as rich feeding-ground for great flocks of sheep and herds of cattle.
Romney Marsh through time
Romney Marsh is now part of Shepway district. Click here for graphs and data of how Shepway has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Romney Marsh itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Romney Marsh, in Shepway and Kent | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20062
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
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