Registered Charity No. 297736

THE ROMNEY MARSH IRREGULAR

The Newsletter of the Romney Marsh Research Trust

No. 24 October 2004

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I should like to begin by thanking all who have made my task easier and enjoyable over the last six years. It has been a real privilege working with you and I hope to see you at future meetings, walks and other events. I was also very fortunate to have Dr Antony Long, and recently Dr Helen Clarke, to work with in their role as chairman. As you will see from the centre pages, Dr Long, soon to be Professor Long, has decided to retire from the Executive committee. He has for many years been a tireless worker on the Trust’s behalf, as well as conducting important research on the Romney Marsh region. He will be sorely missed and on your behalf I should like to thank him for all his hard work, but most of all for his enthusiasm and his desire to get things done for the benefit of the Trust and its members. Dr Jason Kirby has volunteered to take his place on the Executive. Many of you have already met Dr Kirby, he was at the Trust’s conference in 2000, and though he may not be able to attend the AGM in November, he hopes to meet many more of you in the future. His interest in Romney Marsh began in 1994 when he worked as an RA for Dr Andy Plater and since then he has worked on a project with Dr Antony Long and Dr John Evans looking at the depositional history of the Wainway. Recently appointed as a lecturer at Liverpool John Moores University, he hopes to return soon to working on Romney Marsh. Of the other changes from November, Terry Burke will be taking over as secretary and Dr Alan Tyler will become editor of the ‘Irregular’. I wish them all the best on your behalf. Ray Huson is willing to stand again as the members’ representative but if anyone else would like to stand Terry Burke would like to hear from them at least 10 days before the AGM. Similarly, if anyone would like to help organise events, please contact him. There is an outline programme (see centre pages) but any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated. Finally, the Trust as recently received three very generous donations: £25,000 from the Colyer-Fergusson Charitable Trust in memory of Sir James, £5,000 from the W.H & A Hawkins Charitable Trust and £10,000 from fees waived by Drs A. Plater, M. Waller and A. Long from the Rye and Dungeness projects. The money will be used for the Trust’s flagship project: the history of Rye and its hinterlands.

Sheila Sweetinburgh

Appledore Mills Groundhog has recently had a quixotic turn of mind and tilted the snout to higher things, namely windmills, but more specifically Appledore mills. Until the 12th century there is no record of windmills, the first undisputed evidence for windmills is 1191 in connection with Dean Herbert’s ‘illegal’ mill at Bury St Edmunds. This would have been a post mill because tower mills did not appear until the 16th century and smock mills in the 18th century. At various times there have been four windmills in Appledore: at Hornes Place, Court Lodge and two on the Heath, next to each other. Symonson’s map (1594) shows two mills at Appledore: Hornes Place and Court Lodge both, of course, post mills. The latter being taken down c.1790; about this time a group of farmers got together and in 1794 they built the ‘modern’ smock mill on the Heath known as the Union mill, the octagonal base of which remains, now a house, and with its commemorative stone still in place.

Fig 1: Appledore Heath windmills

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According to the research of Mary Adams, there appears to have been a mill at Hornes Place in 1265. A new mill was built by order of Prior Eastry of Christchurch Priory, the holders of Appledore manor, in 1303, and further works were carried out there in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. However, the plague in 1348, French raids in the 1380s, difficulties on the agricultural estates of monastic houses like Christchurch, the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381 when Hornes Place was wrecked, and then the great earthquake of 1382, seem to have brought about its demise. In particular, the latter event apparently damaged the mill and in 1384 some new mill parts were acquired from Folkestone. Sometime after this Christchurch built a new mill (c.1480) on its land at Court Lodge which was let to laymen, part of its policy of leasing out rather than direct farming its estates.

Fig 2: The Union Mill on the Heath, built 1791, demolished 1877

Of these mill sites, the mound which supported the post and trestle of Hornes Mill can still be seen crowned with oaks on its solitary hill. The Observer Corps used the site in the 1939-45 war. Near the smock mill base, in a corrugated shed, is the old brick round house of the post

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mill which was transported from Playden, near Rye, not once but twice. Symondson’s map of Saltcote Street (Playden) shows two mills between there and Rye, but one seems disastrously near the cliff edge, so perhaps that one came to Appledore where it ended its days, being demolished in c.1900 by Mr G. Jarvis of Bethersden, ‘the mill smasher’, as was the smock mill in c.1908. The title was rather unjust to that gentleman because he also repaired mills. It seems that he kept the iron windshaft from the post mill and used it as a crane for his saw milling business. There is some confusion over the dating of the end of the Union mill, but according to Dr Cock in Finch’s Watermills and Windmills both mills were repaired by Messrs Hill, Ashford millwrights, in about 1876 and both were then in good working order with Mr Crux at the ‘Great Mill’ and Mr Turner at the post mill. Both mills are shown on the OS map of 1871 and are still there on the revised 1903 edition. This is a preliminary outline and comments/ideas are invited from those with knowledge of or interest in any of the Appledore mills.

Ground hog Bibliography W.C. Finch, Watermills and Windmills J. West, The Windmills of Kent M. Watts, Water and Windpower Sir John Winnifrith, A History of Appledore. PS It is with regret that Ground hog wishes our delightful secretary, Sheila, farewell. Despite her many commitments, she has been a most efficient secretary and editor of the ‘Irregular’. For those who wonder what she has been up to ‘in her spare time’, her book The Role of the Hospital in Medieval England (Four Courts, Dublin), has recently been published, and an article on the medieval defences of Dover town is in Archaeologia Cantiana 2004. She, with Dr Helen Clarke, Sarah Pearson, Professor Mavis Mate and Keith Parfitt will shortly be involved in an English Heritage funded project on Sandwich. Ground hog is sure that everyone will thank her for her hard work and wish her all the best for the future.

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Romney Marsh Visitor Centre.

Fig 1: The Visitor Centre

Many of you will have heard, and in Jill Eddison’s case at least, been involved in this long-standing project to create a facility where local people and visitors can find out about the history, landscape and wildlife of the Marsh. For several years an informal partnership of organisations including Shepway District Council, Romney Marsh Visitor Centre Charitable Trust, South Kent College, Kent Wildlife Trust, Romney Marsh Countryside Project and Kent County Council Social Services has been working to:- • Establish a training project for unemployed and disabled people • Landscape and manage for wildlife the Romney Warren • Build a Visitor Centre for the Romney Marsh With the training project well underway, and the appearance and wildlife value of the Warren much improved, the Centre itself is now open. Managed by Kent Wildlife Trust, the Centre tells the Marsh story through a dramatic exhibition covering the evolution of the landform; culture and heritage; landscape and wildlife, and promotes the care of the Marsh for the future. The displays also describe the background to the “Romney Warren Project” itself. We are very grateful to the Romney Marsh Research Trust for its help with this project over the years.

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Designed by BBM Sustainable Designs to have a low impact on the environment the Centre has been built on ‘brown-field’ land, with straw-bale walls and a living roof. The straw-bales are locally sourced making good use of a ‘waste material’ and providing effective insulation. The bale building method also allowed unemployed and disabled students attached to the allied Romney Warren training project to take part in the construction, working alongside main contractors Eco-librium Solutions. The building has already received a ‘Commended’ in the Kent Design Awards and has been short-listed in the RIBA South East Design Awards.

Fig 2: Inside the Visitor Centre The exhibition has also been built with the environment in mind. Wherever possible low environmental impact and recycled materials have been used, including, for example, waste wood, old pallets, donated fixtures and fittings, and plant stems, stones and gravel found on site. The project’s capital was approximately £240,000 and funding and in-kind contributions were offered by many organisations including:- • SAGA • SEEDA/Community Action South Kent (CASK)

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• Shepway District Council • EPAC/British Nuclear Group • Environment Agency • Kent County Council Rural Revival • Kent Rural Development Area • Dungeness Trust • SEEBOARD & SEEBOARD ENERGY • New Romney Old School Trust • National Windpower The centre is currently open from Friday to Monday 11am to 4pm, and is available for group visits on other days. Located on the A259 Dymchurch Road between New Romney and St. Mary’s Bay. From New Romney follow the A259 and turn left opposite the golf course just before the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway bridge. For more information contact:- Helen Waters (Centre Manager) on 01797 369487 rmvc@kentwildlife.org.uk For more information about the background to the project contact:- David Illsley Regeneration Officer Shepway District Council 01303 852474 dave.illsley@shepway.gov.uk

Dave Illsley

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Ships of the Marsh

For thousands of years boats and ships have been the principal means of transport in the area now known as Romney Marsh, the river valleys to the west and the sea to the south. Over that time many vessels have come to grief in this area, while others have been built, broken and abandoned for various reasons. This note is concerned mainly with the evidence that exists or existed on ‘dry land’, as opposed to the present coast, for the physical remains of early ships and boats. Much of the information upon which it is based derives from the archaeological gazetteer that is currently being compiled for the Marsh and the western river valleys. The most primitive type of boat is the dug-out such as that discovered in 1836 in the bed of the River Rother, 10ft [3.0m] below the adjoining level, by workman deepening the river near Bodiam Bridge [TQ 783 253]. It measured 19ft 6in [5.94m] long by 4ft [1.22m] amidships, with pointed stem and stern and two raised ridges about 3in [76mm] wide on the inside to strengthen it. It had been produced from the trunk of a single oak and although it was complete when found, it fell to pieces when an attempt was made to move it. According to Cotton (1838, 55) it was preserved in one of the rooms on the west side of the Castle Court, but by 1849 it was a ‘shapeless mass of decayed wood’ (Holloway 1849, 11). A similar craft c.18ft [5.49m] long with stern, prow and one side missing was originally dredged from the Pannell Sewer at Icklesham [TQ 874 152] prior to World War II, and left unrecognised in the field for many years. The gunwale contained several pairs of vertical holes visible from above. The East Sussex Historic Environment Record [ES3986] notes that it was found by the late Zoe Vahey and had been cut into three pieces; the centre section being used as a settee in her house after it had been adzed smooth. The present whereabouts of this boat is unknown. The problem with boats of this simple type is that they are impossible to date stylistically. At present the gazetteer deems them to be prehistoric, but that could easily be wrong.

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The famous ship found near Maytham Wharf [TQ 865 275] in July 1822 by William Elphee was initially reported in Archaeologia (Rice 1824, 553-565) and most recently by Rosa (1982, 232-235). The vessel was found under 10ft [3.0m] of sea sand to one side of a sewer where it entered the River Rother opposite the Knelle Dam. The vessel was 63ft 8in [19.41m] long by 15ft [4.57 m] broad with rounded stem and stern, a hinged sternpost rudder and a flat bottom. Clinker-built of oak, the planks were 1¾in [44mm] thick and, according to Rice, not of British origin. The planks were riveted together with iron and fastened to the timbers with oak trenails. The step for the mast was about 21ft [6.4m] from the bow, but neither the mast nor the bowsprit was present. There were indications of decking to both fore and aft. The objects found in the after cabin all suggested a 15th/16th century date. It is almost certain that the ship had become derelict prior to 1623 because at that date a complete stop was made to the navigation of the Appledore Channel. One of the mysteries of this ship was the discovery of human bones, both adult and child, together with some animal bones in the aft cabin, while outside the ship were found another human skull and the skeleton of a dog. The vessel was refloated in August 1822 during which event a second, smaller boat was discovered some 16ft [4.8m] from its stern. Its length was 15ft [4.57m] and its breadth 5ft [1.52m]. Clinker-built, this boat also had a flat floor and was very shallow. Unfortunately, it fell apart on removal. Needless to say the larger vessel proved to be great crowd-puller with booths being erected by the landlord of the village inn for the accommodation of visitors (Igglesden 1903, V, 94). The plan appears to have been put forward to float the vessel round the coast to London, but instead it was dragged out of the channel and mounted on a long trolley for exhibition on the south side of Waterloo Bridge, London (Fenwick 1978, 258). It was eventually broken up, some of the wood, according to Deacon (1927, 4) being used to make souvenirs Twelve years after the Maytham Wharf find, it was reported in the Gentleman’s Magazine (Urban 1834, 94) that workmen, employed in deepening a sewer called ‘The Haven’ at the back of Warren House near New Romney [TR 076 258] dug some timbers about 18in [457mm] below the old bottom. On clearing away the soil they found

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that ‘what had for thirty years been deemed to be old piling was in fact the timber head of a vessel’. It was 52ft [15.8m] long by 24ft [7.3m] broad with a depth of 8 ft [2.4m] in the hold. Constructed of oak, with some elm and fir, it was clinker-built, and trennelled. The step for the mast was in situ, leading to the suggestion that it was a sloop. Many of the timbers were found firm and solid when cut. As with the Maytham Wharf vessel, bones of both humans and animals were found on board, as well as horned skulls of goat-type animals. The copper coins found at the time that would have provided some dating evidence were unfortunately not identified further. There appears to be no further record of what happened to the vessel. In April 1866 workmen engaged in sinking a drain a short distance from the north end of Alma Place, now part of Cyprus Place, Rye [TQ 917 204] discovered the remains of a vessel at a depth of 8ft [2.44m] below the surface. From the dimension of its timbers, local shipbuilders considered that it would have been capable of carrying a burden of nearly 300 tons. Holloway (1866, 57) does not give any measurements for the vessel but noted that the part first located was calculated to be about 3ft [0.91m] above the bottom of the keel and the level of low water mark when it was laid up. A ‘solid strand covered with beach’ had been located at a similar depth, while sinking a well for the Old Strand Brewery in the near vicinity, about thirty years before. Amongst the material recovered from the ‘strand’ by the well diggers were coins of Elizabeth the First. This in turn led Holloway to suggest that the ship had been finally beached close to the site of the ferry c.1586, when the latter was conveyed to the Mayor, Jurats and Commonality of Rye. Nearly a hundred years later, in May 1963, a new drainage system for Rye involved the sinking of a pit and the driving of a tunnel in the same location. At a depth of between 12ft and 14ft [3.66-4.27m] the workmen cut through a wooden vessel but by the time the site was examined only fragments were available for study (Lovegrove 1964, 115). The vessel lay roughly NE-SW and was nearly horizontal. The steel shuttering that was driven prior to excavation had cut through the timbers on all sides suggesting that the beam of the vessel was in excess of 22ft [6.7m], roughly that of the Warren House ship. From the remains Lovegrove was able to establish that it was carvel-built,

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probably single skinned and mainly of oak that was in good condition. The fragments recovered included a mast step as well as ribs and planking. All the timbers were secured with 1in [25.4mm] trenails, ‘some of considerable length’. There was no sign of a keel. A tunnel, just over 3ft [0.91m] diameter, was driven eastward from the main pit at a depth of some 18ft [5.49m] below ground level. About 6ft [1.82m] from the wall of the pit the thrust-bore cut through a second vessel apparently ‘well aft and just above the keel’. Like the first vessel it was, as far as it was possible to tell, on an even keel. Three fishtails, all badly damaged, were the only pieces recovered, but it was possible from these and the description provided by the site engineer to get an idea of what the vessel looked like. It was clinker-built with planks, on either side of the ribs. The ribs were in line with the fishtails and all were secured with 1in [25.4mm] trenails. The existence of a bilge water channel cut through the fishtails indicates that the vessel had a keel. There was also evidence to suggest that the vessel was decked, at least in part. The very confined area and the conditions existent when found meant that no overall dimensions could be calculated. The existence in this small area of the remains of three vessels, all apparently on fairly even keel although at different depths from present ground surface, is interesting. Lovegrove (1964, 121) notes that this area was, in the late 16th century, a creek off St Mary’s Marsh, where ship breaking may have been taking place. Or perhaps like the present day creeks of the north coast of Kent, it was a place where vessels were just abandoned and left to rot by their owners. A surface clue to the location of possible in situ remains of these vessels is the presence of manhole covers on either side of Cyprus Place at the reported distance from the railway crossing. In addition to complete or near complete vessels there are a few records of finds of ship fragments. In September 1987, ship’s planking, the longest fragment nearly 2m, was recovered from the ARC gravel pit between Rye Golf Club and the Coast Guard Cottages [TQ 954 192] (Bloomfield & Eddison 1988, 3-6). Further study by Goodburn (1990, 327) suggested that the plank fragments derived from a carvel-built vessel built of oak with evidence of fastening with both trenails and iron spikes, though the remains were insufficient to

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indicate details of construction. A tentative date of 1450 was put forward for this ship, based mainly on the topographical evidence of the find spot below a shingle spit. Another fragment of a timber frame-element c.68mm long by up to 12mm in width, now in the museum at Tenterden, was recovered during the Time Team excavations at Smallhythe in 1998 (Clarke & Milne 2002, 18-19). Small though it is, there is evidence of at least four joggles cut into one face of the piece; features that identify it as part of the frame from a small clinker-built vessel. These are but a few vessels for which records exist, there may be more. According to a local report to the East Sussex Historic Environment Record [ES3887] a boat was discovered at Udiam Farm, Ewhurst, during building works in the late 1960s, but was rapidly covered up and a building constructed over it. Needless to say there are no further details! Basically a great problem with studying old ships is that archaeologists generally have to rely on other people to find the evidence. Having said that, keeping an eye on wood dredged from the sewers of the Marsh may be the first clue to something big. My thanks to Peter Rogers for commenting on the draft version of this note, to Helen Clarke for drawing my attention to the Lovegrove paper and to Terry Burke for undertaking fieldwork in Cyprus Place on my behalf.

Alan Tyler Bibliography Bloomfield, C. & Eddison, J. (1988), ‘The evolution of the east side of Rye Bay’, Romney Marsh Irregular 3, 3-6. Clarke, H. & Milne, G. (2002), ‘A Medieval shipyard at Smallhythe’, Romney Marsh Irregular19, 12-22. Cotton, W. (1838), A graphical and historical sketch of Bodyam Castle in Sussex. Deacon, J.L. (1927), Ancient Rye: An illustrated historical handbook (5th edn). Fenwick, V. (1978), ‘The Barge from the River Rother’, in Fenwick, V. (ed.), The Graveney Boat: A tenth-century find from Kent, Brit. Archaeol. Rep. (Brit. Ser.) 53, 258-260.

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Goodburn, D. (1990), ‘Fragments of an early carvel-built vessel from Camber, East Sussex, England’, Int. J. Naut. Archaeol. Underwater Explor., 19.4, 327-344. Holloway, W. (1849), The History of Romney Marsh from its earliest formation to 1837 (1866) Antiquarian Rambles through Rye, 57-58 (2nd Ser.). Igglesden, C. (1900/42), A Saunter through Kent with Pen and Pencil (33 vols). Lovegrove, H. (1964), ‘Remains of two old vessels found at Rye, Sussex’, Mariners Mirror, J. Soc. Nautical Research 50, 115-122. Rice, W. McP. (1824), ‘Account of an ancient vessel found under the old bed of the River Rother in Kent’, Archaeologia XX, 553-565. Rosa, C. (1982), ‘A Medieval ship from the Rother’, Kent Archaeol. Rev. 70, 233-235. Urban, S. (ed.) (1834), ‘Ancient vessel found at Romney’, Gents. Mag. 104 (I), 94-95.

Decoy House and Pond on Romney Marsh II Further to my note on a Romney Marsh duck decoy in the last issue of the ‘Irregular’, through further research at the East Kent Archives and correspondence with other interested parties, the location of a decoy house and a store has become clearer. An estate map dated 1588-9 showing the Manor of Scotney, prepared by Thomas Clerk of Northampton for All Souls College, Oxford, details field names, boundaries and acreages. I thank Beryl Coatts for drawing my attention to this map. Though predating the establishment of the decoy, these details are copied exactly on a remarkable sketch map dated 1759-63 held by EKA in a folio of 19 beautifully finished maps of the marsh waterings, possibly the work of Thomas Hogben (EKA: S/RM/P7/18). The sketch map, executed in pencil, shows tiny elevation drawings of churches and houses one of which is entitled ‘Decoy House’. Though a finished map of Jury’s Gut Watering is not included in the collection the sketch is almost certainly a preparatory study. By comparing the church elevations with other depictions of the Marsh

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churches, the drawings are almost invariably accurate allowing for the passage of time. The Decoy House elevation is unique among the houses shown so one might assume that this is a true representation. The sketch shows a double hipped or gabled structure with a single door and an unusual ‘corner window’ to the right which may return around the flank wall. Dr Ticehurst was advised by locals that foundations were evident before the Second World War. Eric Gillham (1/3/2004) and Edward Carpenter (19/4/2004) confirmed their discovery of bricks, some fire blackened, in the area suggesting perhaps a wooden building on a brick foundation with a brick-built chimney stack. A tithe map dated c.1834 (EKA: S/W/P72) indicates two buildings, one large, one small, noted as ‘ruins of the Decoy House’. Close to the position indicated by Mudge in 1801, these buildings no doubt represent the decoyman’s dwelling and his store for equipment and ‘catch’. It seems clear that the buildings were demolished during the 1801-34 period. The location of the decoy pond is still a matter of conjecture. Assuming that the corner window was intended to over look the pond then this was possibly located on the Wicks north of the Lower Wick Wall. A pipe decoy required tree cover and the Wicks, sometimes

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described as meadow or pasture, might have supported such growth. To date nothing in the documentary records indicates that this was a pipe decoy rather than a trap decoy. Were it the latter it is possible that the pond may have been situated within the triangular field north of the Jury’s Gap – Lydd road. This still existent swampy area is shown on maps, and is revealed in aerial and satellite photographs, to have an irregular area at its centre which may have been a pond on which traps could have been sited. Although only slightly more than two acres in extent and with the road passing close by, thick reed cover may well have been sufficient to maintain the secure environment required to attract wild duck. However, during the time that the decoy would have been in operation the Marsh was not only thinly populated, but Jury’s Gut was regularly used to land contraband and was subject to restriction and observance by coastguards and preventative officers in their fight against smuggling. As a result the decoy was probably safe from casual disturbance.

Keith R. Robinson

Traditional Methods repair River Rother Tide Banks at Monk

Breton Bridge

This article describes the current bank protection works on the tidal reach of the River Rother at Monk Breton Bridge. In a modern development of traditional techniques, the works use hazel faggots to stop on-going erosion by using natural river processes. Introduction The navigable part of the river runs for 16.5 miles from Bodiam Castle to the East Pier Rye. It is usually called the ‘Eastern Rother’ to distinguish it from the ‘Western’ River Rother, which is also in Sussex. The River has had important roles in both agriculture and the carriage of freight. Between Udiam and Bodiam the flow changes from upland to lowland as the river reaches the coast. In present times, the river is

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linked to the Royal Military Canal at Iden Lock, whilst the downstream Scots Float Sluice at Playden marks the tidal limit. The current arrangements date from 1844 when James Elliott was appointed Expenditor of the Rother Levels and together with William Cubitt rebuilt Scots Float Sluice. These works followed on from the 1830 report on the river by Sir John Rennie, and his brother George, which blamed the shoals in the river on the admission of tidal water through Scots Float sluice into the upper Rother. The report and works would have been carried out to maintain the Rother Navigation established by acts of Parliament in 1826 and 1830. Navigation existed prior to the Acts, as John Rennie’s comments in 1804 on Scots Float Sluice being 'very inconvenient and illadapted to the present vessels which navigate the Rother' make clear. John Rennie also supervised a survey in 1813, carried out by Netlam Giles, for the canalisation of the river from Newenden Bridge through Robertsbridge to near Mayfield. (References 1,2) The use of the Rother for navigation and Rye as a port certainly goes back to the Romans who used Rye for the export of iron. Rye received its first charter in the 12th century, becoming a member of the Cinque Ports Federation in the 14th century. The latter after the course of the Rother changed during the late 13th century following storms. Siltation caused its decline, but even today Rye is still a seaport with some commercial shipping, a fishing fleet, and a thriving number of yachts, a consequence of the increased popularity of sailing in recent years. Thus there is a need to maintain a clear channel for commercial and recreational use if current levels of activity are to continue.

Substantial levees dating back to medieval times are in evidence throughout its tidal length and these now dominate the riparian landscape. With a tidal range of over 5.8m, Rye Harbour dries at low water, as do moorings below Rye. The twice-daily tidal surge means that despite human intervention, natural in-channel processes continue. Heavy sediment loads from the Weald continue to accumulate on the inside meanders, whilst rotational slips and erosion on the opposite bank add further material to a deconstructing system intent on reclaiming its saltings, as well as the area of SSSI, 120

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houses, a primary school, and other infrastructure. Responsibility for the harbour rests with the Environment Agency, the only one it owns in England and Wales, because water drained from the extensive areas of low lying land of the Rother Levels enters the Rother as it discharges through Rye Harbour. The Problem. Whilst these processes enable an unconstrained river system to adapt to changing flow and sediment regimes, in a severely constrained one, these same in-channel changes are often a cause for concern. Some of the existing banks are so degraded that emergency bank protection is now essential to prevent a complete breach of the tidal defences. During the post war period, sediment in this part of the river was successfully stabilised via a series of vertical, sediment-retaining groynes in the lower channel. Wooden board revetments were similarly used to protect the upper bank at high tide level. In addition to these relatively modern techniques, numerous ancient structures in the form of accreted or ‘warped’ bundles of brushwood were discovered ‘woven’ into the banks. Traditionally used for river and pond bank stabilisation (Reference 3), visual evidence suggests that these structures are also highly successful in stabilising steep bank slopes by providing a medium for silt entrapment. Collected samples were found to be petrified and structurally intact, to the extent that tree species could be quickly established from the bark. Conversely, along the sections of severely degraded banks, brushwood was totally absent, suggesting that this technique was applied as routine maintenance on an apparently ‘as needed’ basis. The Solution More recently, similar brushwood techniques have been successfully used by the Cain Consultancy to restore chalk streams and spate rivers throughout the UK and Eire. Their ability to protect and stabilise banks, create new marginal habitat, and crucially to trap silt, has been demonstrated. So when asked to provide an environmentally friendly, sustainable and cost effective alternative to sheet piling for the emergency bank protection work at Rye, Simon Cain thought big and

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Fig 1: Trial construction: more faggots than you can shake a stick at.

Fig 2: Slumping bank – site of emergency works

Fig 3: A 22m reach 40 tonne Komatsu and two faggoters demonstrating the scale of the works.

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Fig 4: Trial Project 1 month after installation, showing heavy sedimentation

Fig 5: Brushwood mattress collecting silt in a chalk stream

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adapted his relatively small brushwood structures for the job. Given the differences between river and tidal sediments, a trial project was rapidly constructed to demonstrate the principles of the new technique to trap the sediments (Reference4). Within weeks of completion the bottom half of the structure was completely full of sediment with no noticeable adverse effects. With the backing of the Environment Agency, and in co-operation with its Emergency Work Force and Halcrow Consulting Engineers, construction has now started on the eroded bank near the town of Rye. All of those involved with the project have a lot of enthusiasm about the use of this technique. It provides an excellent alternative to the costly and hard engineered bank protection measures, and long before it is completely covered with sediment, it will blend in with the surrounding landscape. Furthermore it uses wood derived from sustainable sources and at £0.5million would pass any cost-benefit analysis when compared to sheet piling a 120m x 4m deep section of eroding and highly unstable bank. The design and technique is ‘new’ and hence the need to monitor its performance has been acknowledged. A strategy has been developed in collaboration with the Environment Agency, and advice from the River Restoration Centre, that will establish how rapidly sediment accumulates within the structure, its robustness to storm events, and how well it integrates into the existing bank.

Robin Chase,

Cain Consultancy References: 1. ‘The Rivers Rother & Arun.’, P Bonthron. First published 1916 2. ‘Waterways History’, Jim Shead: www.jim-shead.com 3. ‘Aspects of fishpond construction and maintenance in the 16th & 17th centuries with particular reference to Worcestershire.’, M A Aston, Field & Forest; a historical geography of Warwickshire & Worcestershire, T Slater & P Jarvis (eds), Chap 11, 257- 280. 4. ‘Rethinking what constitutes suspended sediment’, I G Droppo: Hydrol. Process. 15, 1551-1564 (2001).

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The Testimony of Trees

After reading Dorothy Beck’s piece on Romney Marsh trees I was reminded how easy it is to form an impression of an area when approaching it from a contrasting landscape. The heavily wooded parishes that surround the Marsh and the Weald beyond have always heightened that feeling of ‘openness’ one experiences when crossing the Royal Military Canal. But as Dorothy says, look closer and there are a surprising number of trees and hedges on the Marsh. Look down at the Marsh from Ruckinge churchyard or towards Brookland from the Rhee Wall and any doubt will be dispelled. In the 18th century Hasted had exactly the same experience and found ‘the prospect of the country here [is] very different’. He described some marshland parishes as ‘an entire flat of marsh ground with hardly a tree or hedge among them’, although he did record that elm, poplar, ash and willow were growing there. Other sources confirm that historically Romney Marsh was far from being a bare and treeless landscape. Probably the earliest documentary record of trees on the Marsh is to be found in the boundary clauses of an 8th century charter relating to land at Agney, on Walland Marsh. By the 13th century, charters (e.g. the Cartulary of Bilsington Priory) record many field-names on the Marsh with Old English elements derived from trees, hedges, woodland and specific tree species. The vital importance of wood and timber resources needed for reclamation and sea defences in the area necessitated a system of management that dates back to the Middle Ages and was overseen by the Courts of the Level and Liberty of Romney Marsh. The inning of new land first required the erection of a wooden framework to support the earthen bank. The material needed could be quite considerable. A 13th century example given by Smith (1939) records 54 carts as well as a boat being hired for the transportation of timber for this purpose. Once constructed banks were then faced with faggots (bundles of small twigs and branches) to prevent erosion. The evidence suggests that much of the material was grown on the Marsh itself. Even greater amounts of brushwood and timber were needed to constantly defend and maintain the coastal

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seawalls. A Commission in 1498 was issued to the Bailiff and Jurats of the Romney Marsh Level ‘to take and purvey oaks, brambles and thorns’ for the repair of the walls. In 1511 there was such a scarcity of wood on Romney Marsh that it had to be fetched from Walland Marsh and ‘above the hill’. This illustrates that until that date Romney Marsh was largely self sufficient in woodland resources; and that trees were also to be found in reasonable numbers on Walland Marsh in the 16th century. Hawthorn was particularly favoured for ‘arming’ the sea walls and in the past plantations or coppices of thorn (known collectively as a Bush) were grown in every Romney Marsh parish. Surveyors were appointed by the General Lathe of the Level to twice annually inspect and estimate the ‘crop’ of thorn. Farmers were bound by local laws to enclose and protect the appointed Frighte Bushes, or coppices, on pain of fines or distraint of livestock. Cutting proceeded on a strict rotation usually every three years. After a crisis in the 17th century local thorn production gradually declined and by the 18th century most of the wood and timber needed for sea defence was procured from outside the Marsh, although Marsh thorn was always thought to be superior. Many thorn plantations survived long enough to be depicted on 17th century maps, others are recorded in Surveys or can be traced through field-names e.g. Paradise Bush in Ivychurch, and some have been detected by archaeological field survey. Further evidence of trees on the Marsh can be found in the early 19th-century Tithe Awards. Eleven different species of tree occur in field-names recorded for Romney Marsh parishes (not including Walland and Denge Marshes). These were poplar (occurring 7 times), oak (5), ash (4), pear (4), elm (3), willow (2), hawthorn (2), cherry (1) and yew (1). Twelve field-names contained the term ‘Bush’ and there are a number of other indirect references to trees and shrubs. The Tithe Survey also shows that orchards and hop gardens were present on the Marsh in the 19th century. Fieldwork provides even more information. A survey of more than 40 km of hedged field boundaries was made by the author in 1988. As expected hawthorn was the predominant species but altogether 35 different species of trees and shrubs were recorded. These included dogwood and field maple which are slow colonisers usually thought to

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indicate ancient hedgerows. Many hedges and hedgerow trees have been lost since 1945 due to changes in agricultural practices but woodland flora continue to thrive long after the hedges have vanished providing valuable indicators. It is a strange experience to stand in a windswept arable marshland field in spring and see primroses, bluebells, wood anenome, wood mellick and yellow archangel growing along the edge of a dyke. Not surprisingly trees and hedges are notably absent from areas that were late reclamations regardless of whether they are now cultivated or pasture. Such examples include the area around the Wainway, and between Ivychurch and St. Marys, an area once made up of a cluster of detached portions of distant parishes. The distribution of tree species on the Marsh is particularly interesting. Elm (useful for building, furniture and tool making) is often found clustered around farms and the presence of elm in a hedgerow has been found adjacent to a significant number of archaeological sites. The ubiquitous willow is also found particularly sited to provide windbreaks around old farm houses and buildings where it used to be regularly pollarded keeping the foliage above the height of grazing animals and providing a constant supply of inferior firewood. White poplar is something of an enigma occurring in a fairly narrow west to east swathe between Snargate and New Romney. The trees are particularly evident along the footpaths and green lanes that follow the bank of the ‘Northern Parallel Channel’, identified by Mark Gardiner (pers. comm.), just north of the Rhee Wall. A roadway once followed the raised bank or levee beside this channel which was the main route between these places until the Rhee silted and the road relocated there (the present A259), probably sometime in the early 16th century. Most of the white poplar trees found there now do not seem to be particularly old, but since this is a tree that freely suckers and readily reproduces itself, this is not surprising. Oliver Rackham notes that this species was often planted beside roads and may be indicative of relict communication routes. Oak is even more interesting since it is confined to the northern part of the Marsh. It is very likely that oak woodland originally stretched down from the hills (once ancient forest with many Old English place- and field-names) onto the northern edge of the Marsh, reaching as far as the former Limen channel which seems to have functioned as a barrier to the natural colonisation

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process. Only in Ruckinge, where ancient charters and parish boundaries suggest the channel was bridgeable, is oak found south of the Limen. Further east in Bilsington and Bonington, oak on the marshland extends only as far south as the boundary between ‘old’ and ‘new’ soils that marks the northern edge of the channel. This fact is significantly marked on the ground today by Oak Farm place-names in both parishes. There can be no doubt that the trees growing on Romney Marsh are remarkable in many ways, and that they have always been crucially important in the marshland economy. Furthermore their continued presence and distribution provides valuable historical evidence of the processes of landscape evolution. Given the nature of the environment today, every tree on Romney Marsh is a significant landscape feature that is worthy of our concern and protection.

Anne Reeves Bibliography Hasted, E., The History and Topographic Survey of the County of Kent [1797-1801] (1972 ed). Rackham, O., The History of the Countryside (1986). Smith, R.A.L., ‘Marsh embankment and sea defence in medieval Kent’, Economic History Review, vol.10 (1939).

Medieval Life Around Lydd, Romney Marsh, Kent: An Archaeological Insight

Introduction It all started way back in late 1991 when Brett Gravels Ltd started stripping topsoil for their new quarry at Lydd. Archaeology South-East (a division of the University College London Field Archaeology Unit) monitored the strip. This was Lydd Quarry Phase 1. Little did we know what rich archaeological discoveries would be made and indeed how long it would take to tease them from the ground. Some 13 years on we are still monitoring the last parts of Lydd Quarry (Phase 15!) and at the same time are undertaking work at Brett’s new site at Allen’s Bank. The archaeological remains have spanned a wide

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time bracket from Early Bronze Age hunting to the present. The majority of the excavated data relates to the medieval period and it has given us perhaps the most complete picture of how reclamation and colonisation were undertaken. The examination of well over 20 hectares has given a unique insight into the medieval landscape as well as the economy and domestic lives of the early marsh settlers. It is not Lydd Quarry alone which has been instrumental to our new understanding of this process. Smaller scale excavations at ARC’s pits at Denge West (1994-1997) and Caldecott Farm (1998) have also been crucial in seeing a wider picture. Hopefully the new excavations at Allen’s Bank will, once complete, give an insight into what was happening to the north of Lydd and already exciting new discoveries are being made. Each phase of archaeological work at Lydd Quarry has been fully funded by Brett Gravel, with much assistance being given by the quarry manager Richard Hambley. This led to the compilation of reports on each stage of the work. However, what was needed was time to pull all these separate reports together and synthesize the results in order to understand the wider picture and tackle the very special issues relating to the marsh. This would also require analysis and synthesis of the results from the Denge West and Caldecott Farm Quarries (Fig 1 – Site locations) as well as undertaking documentary and cartographic research. A successful bid to English Heritage secured the required resources from ALSF funding to allow this work to progress. The work was completed at the end of February this year when texts on the medieval occupation were submitted to English Heritage. Reclaiming the Land There appear to be three broad chronological periods represented by the medieval deposits in the investigated quarries. Prior to these the marsh appears to have been exploited, as it had been for years, but not modified. To the north-east of Lydd, the excavations at Caldicott Farm Quarry have shown that the earliest medieval reclamation work appears to relate to the 11th century. At this time there was clear evidence that a number of medieval fields, demarcated by drainage ditches, had been

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Fig 1 – Site locations established. This is in keeping with evidence from Romney Marsh proper, where reclamation of the marsh was undertaken during the Saxon period. However, at Lydd Quarry there has to date been no conclusive evidence for the digging of drainage ditches prior to the 12th century, implying that this area was still in its ‘natural’ state. The excavations at Lydd Quarry have been of particular importance as they have shown us not just when the marsh was reclaimed in this area but how it was reclaimed. Running across the area were two converging tracks or droveways. These were situated on top of two of the shingle ridges of the area and had probably already been used to access the marshland grazing for a considerable period of time. It is from these tracks that the medieval reclamation appears to have begun.

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Fig 2: Lydd Plan A series of ditched fields were laid out at right angles to the trackways (Fig 2 Lydd Plan). The ditches ran across the lower lying ‘troughs’ between the shingle ridges which were, and still are, areas of finer poorly drained silts and clays which do not contain much shingle. In some places existing meandering natural drainage channels were incorporated into the field system to help with the drainage and to save time. The first farming probably mainly relied on pastoralism but after a while arable cultivation appears to have begun. The onset of, or intention to start, arable cultivation on a larger scale meant that the land had to be protected from flooding. At Lydd Quarry this transition from predominantly pasture to arable appears to be represented by the construction of the Burnthouse Wall (formerly called Gores Wall), an earthen flood defence wall which ran along the northern and south-western edge of the main area of the quarry. This wall was probably constructed in the early to mid 12th century. Interestingly some of the most south-westerly ditches were left outside the protective wall and so ‘abandoned’ (see Lydd 11(A) on Fig. 2). The ditches in this area

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produced no archaeological finds, a rarity in itself at the quarry, strongly suggesting that these ditches were infilled at an early date before human occupation had produced much rubbish. This earliest period of activity at Lydd Quarry can be viewed as a ‘pioneering’ encroachment onto the natural landscape with a view to increase yields from the land and provide areas for settlement. The digging of ditches and building of earthen sea defence walls would require a great deal of work and it is clear this was not the undertaking of one or two individuals. The work was organised by the wealthy landowners who made agreements with peasant families to undertake the work, the families in return receiving the right thereafter to farm the land as tenants. Once the first ditches were in place the land probably went through a period of drainage and consolidation before it was ready for extensive cultivation and settlement. At this time, therefore, people probably temporarily visited the land with the grazing animals but did not actually live on it permanently. Most of the excavated ‘structures’ of this early period, from Looker’s hut, to sheepfold or barn, can be seen to relate to animal husbandry. Population Peak and Farming: the early to late 13th century During this period further sub-division of the fields took place, probably in response to the dramatic increase in arable cultivation. It is interesting to note how most of the smaller fields were situated between the two trackways (Fig. 2), suggesting that this area was the best drained and most fertile piece of land within the excavation area. Although there is no direct proof, it is also considered probable many of these water-filled ditches would have been flanked by hedges. These would provide a shelter from the wind for animals and a barrier to stop them moving between fields. For the local peasantry and their landlords, hedges were also a source of firewood and materials for reclamation and the maintenance of sea defences [see articles by Anne Reeves and Robin Chase]. It is during the 13th century that the first definite permanent occupation sites are found at Lydd Quarry. Two definite and one possible occupation sites have been excavated for this period at Lydd Quarry (Sites D, H and G respectively, Fig. 2). Due to damage by later

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ploughing the archaeological deposits at all of these sites had been truncated and some shallow features, such as hearths, totally removed. This makes the interpretation of the sites far more difficult as often only an incomprehensible scatter of pits and post-holes is left behind. Site H was represented by more substantial remains just to the north of the southern trackway (Fig. 2). A ditch had been dug to create a small enclosure in which the settlement was built. Although no traces of the house had survived, its position could be deduced a 10 x 5m area devoid of features in an otherwise ‘busy’ enclosure mark its place. Site G proved more enigmatic but may have been a series of stock pens for cattle/sheep. A number of other 13th- century sites were located at the quarry. However, the lack of pits and post-holes and/or quantities of domestic rubbish suggest these were not actually settlements but rather ‘activity areas’ where agricultural work (sheep-pens, stockpiling manure etc) may have been taking place but nobody was actually living (Fig. 10, Sites E, F, I, Ja). Generally these sites tend to be set in the fields away from the trackways whereas the settlement sites are always adjacent the tracks. At Denge West Quarry the archaeological evidence from the excavation of the medieval ditches suggests that the field system here was initially established in the 13th century and so may have been started up to 100 years after that at Lydd Quarry. It is also interesting to note that domestic settlement also began during the same century indicating that, unlike the area at Lydd Quarry, settlement quickly followed the establishment of the field system. Why this was so is difficult to be certain of but it may represent an increase in population pressure on the land or the people at Denge Quarry relied more on fishing than cultivation for their living. Decline: the late 13th to mid 16th centuries During this period a number of the drainage ditches at Lydd Quarry were filled in to create larger fields, a trend that appears to peak in the later 15th to early 16th centuries. This trend suggests that there may have been a shift away from arable cultivation toward pastoralism. This type of agriculture did not need the small well-drained fields used for arable farming and the infilling of drainage ditches would mean

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there was less maintenance needed as desilting would now be carried out on fewer ditches. At the time the fields were getting larger there is a notable reduction in the amount of evidence for human occupation at Lydd Quarry. Only one 14th- century occupation site, containing two buildings, has been located so far (Fig. 2, Site Jb). To the north of this was a separate ‘activity’ area, possibly associated with a barn or sheepfold ((Fig. 2, Site K). No definite 15th- to mid 16th- century occupation sites have been excavated to date at Lydd Quarry though one probably lay on the as yet unexcavated site of the ‘Burnt House’, known from historical sources to have certainly been there from at least the later 16th century, when it was depicted on a map as ‘Harlackinden’s House’. Just to the east, in the Lydd 5/6 area were the remains of a probable sheepfold (Site La). Archaeological evidence alone cannot provide the reasons for these changes, however, when the known history of the area is considered the archaeological evidence begins to make more sense. It is known that the 13th century saw a number of storms, culminating in the great storm of 1288 which inundated large tracts of the relatively newly reclaimed Walland Marsh. It is quite probable that the devastating affect this had on agriculture caused many people to give up the land and move elsewhere. Much of the land probably needed to be reclaimed for a second time and once done the evidence from Lydd Quarry would suggest that the area was not settled to such an extent as before. If the remaining population was subsequently hit by the great famine of 1315-17, the Black Death in the middle of the 14th century and various French raids throughout the 14th century the depopulation would undoubtedly have accelerated as suggested by the archaeological evidence. With fewer people farming those remaining had the opportunity to get better conditions and/or buy vacant land to establish larger farms. Documentary work has shown this to be taking place in the late 15th and 16th centuries around Lydd and that many of the larger owners chose to live in the towns rather than on farms in the countryside. The smaller population available to work the land, combined with the new much larger farms meant pastoralism, particularly with sheep, was now much better suited to the Marsh.

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This decline in population and shift in farming economies was not even. There is no such evidence for a decline in population at Denge West Quarry. Settlement here appears to have flourished, and indeed increased, during the 14th and 15th centuries showing no change either side of the late 13th- century storms or the Black Death. Despite this all the archaeologically investigated sites at Denge West appear to have been abandoned by the early to mid 16th century, instead the local population were probably heavily reliant of fishing... Whatever the reason for the abandonment of the sites at Lydd Quarry and Denge West the fact remains that after the mid 16th century very few changes occurred in the landscape. If this is a good indicator of the rest of the Marsh it suggests that the current open, and somewhat desolate, landscape has essentially been unchanged for the last 400 years. This current landscape does not hint at the evidence for dense medieval settlement and its fluctuating fortunes that lies beneath its surface. The Future At the time of writing we are still awaiting a reply from English Heritage on the submitted texts. Hopefully this will not be long in coming so the project can move into the publication stage. Two publications will hopefully be forthcoming. An academic monograph containing all the details about the excavations and finds, together with documentary research by Sheila Sweetinburgh and synthesis by Mark Gardiner, will be the main publication. However, for those with less bookshelf space, time and/or money there will also be a ‘popular’ account which will tell the overall story without the detail. Members will be notified when these publications are in press.

Luke Barber

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Report from the Small Ports Project Members of the RMRT from the Marsh and surrounding areas have been busily engaged in assisting researchers Drs Helen Clarke and Gill Draper in their search for the lost small ports of the marsh, combing the archives in Canterbury for possibly useful references to the Marsh, tramping the lanes, paths and fields in search of possible sites and pouring over the tithe maps of the 1840s looking for clues. The tithe map research, which involves computerising the records from the ‘Apportionment Books’ (lists of field owners, field names and acreages) and then transferring data to maps based on the large-scale original maps, has revealed detailed information about individual fields. The data has been collected by members: Jean Marsh, working from Beryl Coatts’ archives, and Liz Owen, Marion Gulliver and Sheila Maddock, working directly from the apportionment books in the Canterbury Cathedral archives. Liz Owen additionally supplied detailed information on the Appledore topography and history. This information has been matched to data from the archival records (medieval charters etc) and other sources, such as geological maps and from close field walking. The records were computerised and analysed by the author. To date no direct evidence of the location of small ports has emerged, although some significant findings are emerging. In particular, part of the controversy surrounding jetties at Appledore has probably been resolved with the identification of Blackbourne Marsh, reclaimed in the twelfth century, and hence the location of a landing stage and the resolution of a troublesome reference to a bridge. Ebony parish failed to produce any direct port information and data collection has now moved to Tenterden. An intriguing problem has emerged from the work being done with Old Romney and Midley tithe maps, which may, or may not, shed light on early 15th-century reclamation, or may even provide clues to the antediluvian riparian landscape.

Terry Burke

ADMINISTRATION

Hon. Secretary

Dr. Sheila Sweetinburgh 11 Caledon Terrace,

Canterbury Kent CT1 3JS

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Terry Burke 41 Mermaid Street

Rye East Sussex

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Secretary David Williams

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Professor Michael Tooley; Professor David Killingray; Dr. Richard Smith; Sarah Pearson; Richard Stogden