CINQUE, SUNK AND SCOT FREE
This is an excerpt from the book "Life On Marsh" Available here
All images on this page are created by Andy Holyer
Dungeness and the surrounding area have seen massive changes in their topography in the last 1000 years. These changes contrast with most other areas in the UK which only morph slowly through millennia. The constant threat of the land being totally reshaped could be viewed as similar to living on the slopes of an active volcano.
Two thousand years ago the whole area of Romney Marsh was open sea,
apart from a single long thin spit of shingle stretching from Rye to where
Dungeness is now.
At the time of the Roman invasion nearly two thousand years ago the sea level was still dropping as a consequence of the last ice age. The Romans quickly recognised the potential value of this fertile land, and started a drainage programme that continues to this day. Initially the Romans built large walls to drain the areas easily defended from the sea. After the Romans left in 400AD the locals, having fewer resources and less manpower, resorted to ‘inning’, which involved very small-scale draining and flood protection by individual families. This practice resulted in a patchwork system of tiny fields, some of which can still be seen today.
This is an excerpt from the book "Life On Marsh" Available here
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