Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for ROMNEY-MARSH

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.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Romney Marsh RegD/PLU       Kent AncC       Sussex AncC
Place: Romney Marsh

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