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Romney Marsh, one of the largest areas of coastal marshland in the UK, has a fascinating many-sided history starting at the end of the last ice age. If you are interested in history, archaeology or past environments then why not join us and find out more about its unique character?
Working together
The marsh landscape continues to change today, as roads are built, towns grow, gravel is dug and the coast erodes. Over the last decade, the Research Trust has developed excellent links with organisations involved in these changes, and we commonly work alongside local authorities, other environmental organisations and developers to ensure that wherever possible the evidence for the history of the marsh is recorded and preserved. Your support, through joining the Trust, will help us continue our exciting research into the landscape and history of the marsh and our efforts to share our findings with members.
Benefits of membership
include:
- Opportunities to attend lectures, meetings, conferences and study weekends
- Newsletters
- Access to current research
- Organized Marsh walks
The varied history of the Marsh…
Romney Marsh is a remarkably young part of the English coast. At the end of the last ice age, sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present and one could walk from Rye across the exposed floor of the English Channel to France. As the climate warmed and sea levels rose, so the channel was flooded and the sediments that make up the marshland accumulated. To look into any of the many hundreds of drainage ditches criss-crossing the marsh is to catch a glimpse of an early history dominated by changes in sea level. To look up is to see a landscape that, over the last 4,000 years, has been moulded by many phases of human settlement and activity. This varied history is recorded in the sediments of the marsh, in its archaeology, and in a wealth of documentary evidence providing fascinating insights into the lives of people working and living on the marsh since the Roman period.