11. and the 'river of Newenden' in the later Middle Ages

Eleanor Vollans

Introduction Snargate- sections of the Rhee had The main purpose of this paper is to examine the different histories; while the former can be seen dimly in relationship between the port of New Romney and its reports of land submerged by the tides and subsequently marsh hinterland in the later Middle Ages. The reclaimed, references to the latter are scarce. publication of the Soil Survey memoir The whole link had an effect upon the organization of and map in 1968 by R. D. Green added a new dimension marsh drainage apparent to this day. It was thought to marshland studies, and the implications of his work vital to the fortunes of New Romney; yet in the fifteenth are still being examined closely. Its pertinence to an century the Corporation built harbour works which understanding of the archaeology and history of the seem not to have been related to the Appledore corridor. Marsh has been discussed most helpfully by, among This calls into question Romney's management of other others, Cunliffe (1980) and Brooks (1981). This paper water channels, and indeed the whole nature of its concentrates upon the link between Romney and trading activity. The conclusions reached depend upon Appledore, which originated in 'the river of Newenden' evidence relating as much to marsh reclamation and and ended by being known as 'the Rhee' (Fig. 11.1). drainage as to the affairs of New Romney itself. The first The 'river of Newenden' was so referred to in 1258, part of this paper is concerned to set familiar material in when the citizens ofRomney maintained that their town the context of the jurisdictions of the Marsh and of the had been founded on it. The name is elusive; but both Port, and thereby shed fresh light on a long-debated the names 'river of Newenden' and 'river' or 'water of subject. The sections which follow introduce new L~menee' were used occasionally for the channel from material. Robertsbridge or Bodiam to Appledore (Cal. Pat. Rolls 13 13-1 7,134,695; 1317-2 1,609). The most that can be said confidently about the 'river of Newenden' is that, in the mid-thirteenth century, it flowed past Appledore Sources and Snargate on its way to Romney, and that in so doing The paper has been shaped by the surviving archives of it must have collected some or all of the run-off now three kinds of medieval jurisdiction. Ecclesiastical represented by the Horne Brook near Appledore and the institutions holding estates in the Marsh are one such, Speringbrook drainage. members of the Cinque Ports Federation and the Among the earliest uses of the name 'Rhee' that have Federation itselfare another, and the Liberty ofRomney come to light is a record of St. Augustine's Abbey at Marsh proper is a third. Each of these authorities had Canterbury dated 1360. The Abbey arranged that the frequent need to transact business with, or on behalf of, vicar of Brookland church was to receive the greater the king; and the king's letters as they appear in the tithes of lands "lying across the Re ..... viz. from beyond Calendar of Patent Rolls are a mainstay of the paper. To the bridge called Brynsete and towards the parish the letters are added the findings of inquisitions and churches of Brynsete, Snaves and Ivercherche" (Davis ordinances of the king's justices as they appear in various 1934, 514). archives. Attention has been paid to the records of The antiquity of the Rhee (once thought to be a sea Robertsbridge Abbey as summarized by the Historical wall of Roman origin) was called into question by Ward Manuscripts Commission, and of the Priory of (1940) and by the distribution of soils on Green's map (Neilson 1928). The accounts of the (1968). It has since become clear that any short phrase Corporation of New Romney c. 1380 - c. 1520, as purporting to account for the Rhee's whole length is reviewed by the Historical Manuscripts Commission, likely to be wide of the mark. Two statements can be have been read year by year. Although the review made about its eastern end. A channel from Old to New contains only a modest selection of entries from the Romney was proposed in 1258 and subsequently dug; it original, a study of its complete contents would permit a became part of 'the land between the walls'. In the early fuller account of the harbour and the life of the Port than fifteenth century this channel was allowed to dry up. is relevant here. The items of expenditure mentioned Questions prompted by these events are followed up in later in this paper tell their own story. The archives of the present paper. The Appledore-Snargate and the Liberty of Romney Marsh, once kept at New Romney and the 'River of Newenden' 129

I \ / \L___

'X '--TO ---,c -' --10-- 10 metre ~untu~lr Sewer

= *LL* Marsh wall '---. W,, : , .. 1 I' ...... G + 2 M~les : ..... 1 2 3 K~lometres p .... ROMNEY

WATERING

m FAIRFIELD COURT. D a0

Cn 9

Fig. 11.1 New Romney and the Rhee Features shown on All Souls College, CTM 226a/65a (7. Gull) and BL Cotton Augstus I i 25. The Marsh Wall at Belgar is mentioned in a terrier of 1381 (Neilson 1928, 210-11). and now in the Archives Office, do not go back what follows, the term 'Liberty of the Marsh' is used to further than the sixteenth century and the affairs of the indicate the administration of Romney Marsh proper Liberty in the later Middle Ages have to be understood from the mid-fourteenth century onwards. from collections of notes and copied ordinances, many of The Cinque Ports' jurisdiction, which bound together them belonging to ecclesiastical archives. Among these, the ports of the south-east coast from Hastings to the registers of Christ Church, Canterbury are a Sandwich, comprised the territorially distinct Liberties storehouse from which much information relating to the of its members. The Port of Romney, always smaller Marsh has still to be gathered; valuable insights have than Dover, Sandwich or Hastings, had the advantage been given by Smith (1943) and du Boulay (1966). ofa location midway between east and west. Thus it was within easy reach of the court of Shepway, nearer still to the site of the Brodhull (see below), and was itself chosen on occasion as a meeting place in which to conduct the The Liberties of the Marsh and of the Port business of the Ports (Gal. Pat. Rolls 1258-66, 152; As the title suggests, the Level and Liberty of Romney Murray 1935, 153-4). Ease of access both by water and Marsh combined two aspects of jurisdiction. The jurats land was important to Romney, and the boundaries of of the Level had powers in respect of land drainage and its Liberty, which extended inland across the marshes to sea defence which had been formulated in the reign of Appledore, played a part in shaping the physical history Henry I11 (see below). Two hundred years later, of the Marsh. additional powers and privileges in the form of civil and criminal jurisdiction were granted by Edward IV in 1461-62. This created a Liberty in the fullest sense of the The Marsh term. Edward's charter provided for a bailiff and jurats The Charter of Romney Marsh (1854) had its origin in the to continue to be elected in the accustomed manner, and provision made by Henry I11 to give constitutional form Teichman Derville (1936, 43, 51) considers that the to those marshland customs which had operated, in the charter was granted to the jurats of the Level in a new words of the Charter, "time out of nlind". The principle capacity. Moreover these jurats, in their task of applied in maintaining banks and water channels to maintaining walls and watergangs, had been freed by protect the marsh from inundation was very simple: that Henry I11 from interference by the sherie in this "everyone, for the portion of acres subject to the same restricted sense they already had some autonomy. In danger, do equally contribute to sustain them". The 130 Eleanor Vollans administration needed to put this principle into practice about the affairs of individual Ports, some relating to was based on the meeting of 'jurats', that is, individuals trade and shipping and others to harbour works, chosen by the men of the Marsh and representatives of fortifications and the protection of the harbour against the Lords of the Marsh. Henry 111's intervention meant storms. that the decisions of the jurats about what was needed and how much should be contributed, were now backed by royal authority. The sheriff of Kent was expressly Areas of jurisdiction forbidden to meddle with the distraints made by award The two jurisdictions, so different in function, were alike of the jurats and, were complaints to arise, justice was in needing a well-defined boundary. The Marsh jurats reserved to the king "or his especial mandate". Thus were the custodians of a chosen perimeter by virtue of many of the disputes which came to the attention of their office; but it was equally important to the Port Henry I11 and his successors were given a lasting jurats that the limits of their Liberty, within which Port expression in the ordinances of the king's justices. These 'customs' held good and from which the sheriff's writ amplifications of marsh law were enrolled by the royal was excluded, should be made clear. Constitutionally, it clerks; also, at different times, copies were made either of would seem that there was nothing to prevent the two the whole or in part. Thus it happens that, while the Liberties from sharing a common territory, at least in legal requirements of the Charter are well known, there part. Indeed, in the Romney records there is a note of a may be found inserted in one copy or another items of meeting which took place c. 1484 between the jurats of more local or temporary importance (Richardson 19 19, the Marsh and those of the Port "that they might be one 385-6). Corporation" (Historical Manuscripts Commission 5, 547). It did not happen; and it is easy to see that the interests The Port of the Portsmen would have been difficult to reconcile The Liberty of the Cinque Ports is as venerable as that of with those of the men of the Marsh. The prime concern the Marsh. It arose from the obligation of ship service of the Portsmen was to keep open their harbour and to which is recorded in the Domesday survey and ofwhich maintain what had once been a river channel linking the origins reach back into Saxon . This New Romney with Appledore. The Port Liberty obligation, and its attendant privileges, was formalized followed this link along the Rhee, and where the Port by royal charters during the reign of Henry 11: that of Liberty ended, the Marsh Liberty began (for this Hythe is dated 1156. The first extant charter of Romney boundary, see Scott Robertson 1880,260 and Teichman belongs to 1205, in the reign ofJohn, but this confirms an Derville 1936, 3). Inevitably, dissensions arose. A minor earlier grant (Rot. Chart. 1837, 154). Henry 11's charters dispute c. 1456 resulted from the Marshmen's intention show that at this time the status of each port was of building a dam "to the nuisance of the town" determined separately by the king. Later, the collective (Historical Manuscripts Commission 5, 543). Earlier, name of 'Cinque Ports' began to be used, and what had quarrels had arisen out of allegations of trespass begun as an informal cooperation led eventually to a including, it was claimed by the Marshmen, offences of fully-fledged Confederation. This comprised the five robbery and arson (Cal. Pat. Rolls 1313-1 7,503). In 1324 ports originally owing ship service, and the lesser havens it was reported to the king that the two sides were which were their members, together with the two preparing to attack one another with arms; significantly, ancient towns of Rye and Winchelsea. Their consti- it was what was described as 'a trench' between tutional status was "summed up and rounded off in the Appledore and the port of Romney which had caused great charter of Edward I in 1278" (Williamson 1959, feelings to run so high (Cal. Close Rolls 1323-7, 209). 94; see also Murray 1935), which laid down the Whatever the immediate cause of friction might have combined services required of the Confederation and been, from the point of view of the Marshmen it is clear put together all the legal and financial privileges which that the extension of the Cinque Port Liberty to thenceforth characterised its members. Port affairs, as Appledore was a major anomaly. It divided the codified by the Charter, were to be administered in the marshland as a physiographic entity into two parts, and court of Shepway, presided over by the Warden of the had a lasting effect upon the administration of drainage. Confederation as representative of the Crown. For discussion of their interests independently of royal officers, the Portsmen developed the court of the The Port Liberty from Romney Brodhull, which had existed previously as a place of to Appledore casual meeting (Murray 1935, 139-46). The affairs of each port, managed by jurats, continued in the hands of The recorded boundaries its Barons, that is, with the freemen residing in the The boundary of the Cinque Port Liberty of New Liberty. The king wrote not only to the Warden of the Romney is shown on the first edition of the OS 1: 10,560 Confederation but separately to the Barons ofeach Port. (187 1-6). Two sections are reproduced on Figs. 11.2 and Issues common to all are noted in the rolls of letters 11.3. Some of the marker stones which were once set out patent and, often, in the records of the Confederation along the boundary can still be seen today, although (Hull 1966). There was additional correspondence most have disappeared. Early maps such as Symondson New Romnty and the 'River of Newenden'

1

Llherty bounds y 7

Rhee wall ......

Road or lane (not showrl along Rheei -

1 Km

Fig. 11.2 The Cinque Port Liberty Boundary of New Romnty (Old Romney to New Romney). Based on OS 1:10560jrst edition, 1871-76.

F'''''#

- Road or lane

Fig. 11.3 The Cinque Port Liberty Boundary of New Romney (Appledore to Snargate) . Based on OS 1:10560jrst edition, 1871-76. 132 Eleanor Vollans

(1596) and Poker (1617) show, not the Liberty accompanied by a definition of bounds and the boundary as such, but a double line ofwalls linking New measurement of holdings belonging to the jurisdiction of Romney with Appledore. The custumal ofNew Romney Romney Marsh proper. In 1258, the king authorized (Forsett 1564, 7) says that the franchise "extendeth Nicholas de Hadlo to assist the port of Romney by within the towne and porte .... begynnyng at the bringing back 'the river of Newenden'. The timing of the entrynge of the haven unto a certayne bounde called actions of these two justices suggests that the restoration Reade Hyll besyde Apuldore". The earliest version of of the waterway and the definition of the Marsh this custumal belongs to the Register of Daniel Rough, boundary were in effect a coordinated enterprise (Table who was Common Clerk of Romney for nearly thirty 11.1). The ordinances of John de Lovetot, drawn up years ( 1353-80), and the corresponding passage in thirty years later and directed to the area now known as Rough runs "between the town and the haven and the Walland Marsh, augment our knowledge of their work. boundary called Rendehol near Apuldre" in cases of The authorization to Nicholas de Hadlo was in two sudden death the only coroner was to be the bailiff of the parts. First, a new channel was to be dug not far from the town (Historical Manuscripts Commission 4, 425; old one which was obstructed. It was to be made "from a Murray 1945, 23). This difference in wording, between cross of the hospital of infirm persons of Romenal which the 'franchise' of the sixteenth century and the 'bailiff as stands near Aghenepend as far as Effeton, and from coroner' of the fourteenth century, may be significant. It Effeton to the house of William le Wyll, and so to is entries of the sixteenth century in the Corporation Melepend and from Melepend down to the said port" records which define New Romney7s jurisdiction in (Cal. Pat. Rolls 1247-58,635-6). From this it is clear that terms of topography. A note of the time of Henry V111 the new channel was to begin in Old Romney and lead refers to "the commen grounde, the which lyeth betwene to the harbour. The land of the hospital of St. Stephen the wallys to Apuldore ward" (Historical Manuscripts and St. Thomas lies across the Rhee Wall west of Old Commission 5, 554). Romney:' eight acres of this is referred to, before 1380 A fuller account was given at an inquisition ordered and probably before 1358, "in St. Clements at Old by Elizabeth in 1562, which followed upon a law-suit Romney, near the mill of Aghene called Spitellis" between the Queen and the inhabitants of New Romney (Historical Manuscripts Commission 4, 427-8; Murray relating to the town's common lands. A report of the 1945, see introduction for discussion of dates). The inquisition was entered in Romney's 'Book of Notte' present Court Lodge in Old Romney is Agney Court (Scott Robertson 1880, 270-1). Part of this reads " .... Lodgein 1649.2 Effeton (Offeton) in Langport hundred, certain land, called 'the lande betwene the Walles' .... now lost, was once a fair-sized holding linked with Old extends in length from the fresh marsh called 'The Romney: in 1086 Robert of Romney held Afettune from Common Marsh' directly to a place called Readhill, the Bishop of Bayeux; it answered for one sulung between two walls, one ofwhich is called Romney Marsh (Morgan 1983, 5, 176): in c. 1200 the sons of Gilbert of Wall, and the other is called Wallande Wall. This land Old Romney held 20 acres of land in Offetune lies between the two walls occupying the entire site of a (Historical Manuscripts Commission 77, 1, 56) : in 'Cricke or water-way, sewared or dryed upp"'. Here is a 1274-5 the heirs of Roger of Romney held Offetun clear indication that the liberty of the Port bounded that (quandam partem terre) in Langport half-hundred for the of the Marsh, and also, since the Port Liberty extended dues ofserjeancy (Rot. Hund 1,226). The site of the house along the line of a dried-up watercourse, that the of William le Wyll is lost. The first element of Melepend Marshland jurisdiction was marked off by this channel may be maele (OE) meaning 'dyed, stained, multi- and its northern wall. coloured', and may possibly refer to a brine pool or pound associated with the extraction of sea salt. An alternative derivation, from myln (OE), meln (Kent), Thirteenth-century Topography would signify 'mill pond', and possibly raise the question The drying-up of the channel can be traced in the of whether such a mill, close to the harbour, may have fifteenth-century expenditure accounts of New Romney been worked by the tide (Smith 1956, pt 2. 33, 46). (see below), but evidence of its functioning as a Second, there were to be built three sluices. The first watercourse belongs to the thirteenth century. This was sluice was to be built "below Apeltre to receive the salt a time when hostilities between England and France water entering the river by inundation of the sea from constantly drew the king's attention to the Channel the parts of Winchelse, and retain it in the ebb of the coast. Also, in the second half of the thirteenth century sea". A second sluice, of unspecified function, was to be storms of exceptional severity focused the royal attention sited at Snargate. The third sluice was to be made by the upon the need to protect the coastal marshes and nearby port "where the said water" (that is, the mixed salt and ports from the ravages of the sea. In consequence, the fresh water flowing from Appledore) "can fall into the topography of the marsh at this time is relatively well sea, to retain merely the water of the sea's inundation on documented. that side that it enter not the said course" (Cal. Pat. Rolls In 1257, Henry I11 commissioned Henry of Bath to 1247-58, 635-6). It seems clear from these proposals resolve contentions about the repair of marshland walls. that they refer to improvement and extension of the The resulting ordinances, the first of the series later to be artificial waterway later known as the Rhee. known as the Charter of Romney Marsh, were Nicholas de Hadlo was at Romney in June 1258 to put New Romney and the 'River of Newenden' 133

Table 11.1 Thirteenth Century Royal Commissions Kent, including those now known as Walland ~irsh. in Romney Marsh. Lovetot applied Henry of Bath's regulations to the south-western part of the Marsh as far as the border with Sussex; he also arranged that the king's bailiff of the 1252 2 Sept. The King upholds the powers of "four and twenty lawful men" in making distraints for the safety of Marsh Liberty (that is, of Romney Marsh proper, in the the marsh. (Chart. RM., 5-7). constitutional sense) should oversee the newly appointed 1257 16 April Commission to Henry of Bath, touching conten- bailiffs and jurats of the south-western area. This was tions relating to the repair of the walls of the marsh done because, in the words ofthe Marsh charter, "in that of Romenhale (CPR 1247-58, 592). marish of Romeney beyond the water streams of the 1258 3 May Appointment of Nicholas de Hadlo, to make Docke (ultra cursum aquaeportus) stretching from Snargate provision for the 'river of Newenden' being towards Romenhale on the west part of the Creeke brought back to the port of Romney (CPR (portus) unto the county of Sussex, there was no certain 1247-58, 662). law of the marsh appointed nor used, but ofsuch as have 1258 21 June The King commands Nicholas de Hadlo to implement the findings of his inquisition relating lands at will therein ...." (Charter of Romnty Marsh 1854, to the port of Romney (CPR 1247-58, 635-6). 36-9). Lovetot thus set up a second marshland 1258 2 Sept. Ordinance of Henry of Bath relating to Romney jurisdiction, subsidiary to that of Romney Marsh proper week Marsh: Henry "joining to him Nicholas de Hadlo and divided from it, between Snargate and Romney, by and Aulred of Dene and the sheriff of Kent the flowing water of a creek or dock. assisting him ...". (Chart. RM., 9). The translation into English of Lovetot's ordinances, 1259 20 April The King orders the sheriff ofKent not to interfere just quoted, belongs to the sixteenth century. The word with the jurats in making distraints ... "then 'dock', associated with Middle Dutch 'docke', became followeth the number of all the acres within the same marsh ...". Henry ofBath is a witness (Chart. current in Tudor England; its early meanings were 'a RM., 17-19). bed in sand or ooze in which a ship lies dry at low water' 1287 16 Nov. Commission to John de Lovetot and Henry de and 'an artificial inlet to admit a boat' (Oxford English Appeltrefeld de wallis et fossatis for the coast ofKent Dictionary). In these senses Lovetot's dock can be linked (CPR 1281-92, 309). with both Nicholas de Hadlo's proposal to bring back 1287 5 Dec. Ordinance of John de Lovetot and Hcnry dc the 'river of Newenden' to the port of Romney, and the Appeltrefeld of all the marshes of Romney and "Cricke or waterway, sewared or dryed up", referred to Oxney to the county of Sussex (Chart. RM., 31ff). in Romney's 'Book of Notte' (see above). Sources: There is a copy of Lovetot's ordinances which Charter of Romney Marsh, 1854 (these entries are dated by regnal years contains both the names of places to which the respectively 36, 42, 43 Henry I11 and 16 Edward I). ordinances refer and an indication of the perambulation Calendar of the Patent Rolls needed to define their 'metes and bound^'.^ The fly-leaf of the MS volume shows that it was the private memorandum book ofHenry ofEastry, who was Prior of in hand the work needed. Finding the labourers to dig Christ Church, Canterbury from 1285 to 1331. The the new channel may not have been his concern. His ordinances are written in a uniform hand, without main task, ordered explicitly by the king, was to see that addition or alteration, and they should be close to, if not proper compensation for the land taken for the new identical with, the original of 1288. The places named channel and sluices was paid from "the land and money are Fairfield, Brookland, Moreland, Snargate and of the barons and good men" of the Port (Cal. Pat. Rolls Agney. Of these, only Moreland has disappeared: Court 1247-58, 635-6). Presumably this kept Nicholas de at More is marked on an early manuscript map in the Hadlo in Romney for much of the summer. In British Librar~.~The perambulation is agreed to begin September he assisted Henry of Bath at that important at 'Old Woderove' (Woodruff) and to pass from there as gathering of the men of the Marsh, at which the far as Nicholesland next to the Newland and from the ordinances for the Liberty of the Marsh were drawn up enclosures called Baldwin's inning and St. Thomas' and agreed. These too, like Nicholas de Hadlo's inning as far as the watercourse between Romney and proposal, needed implementation. The precision which Appledore. These are the lands which it is aimed to was brought to bear on this task can be gauged from the protect, after 1288, from all incursions of the sea (Fig. text of Henry of Bath's ordinances as set out in a 11.1). confirmatory charter of 13 13 (Cal. Pat. Rolls 1313-1 7, 75-6). Measurement was made of the acreages at risk, for the repair of the walls. In April 1259 Henry of Bath The Appledore-Snargate watercourse witnessed the enrolment of these acreages at Westmin- ster. Thus the boundary of the Marshland jurisdiction and the Appledore Walls could hardly fail to have been established in the Nicholas de Hadlo's plan to regulate the passage of tidal knowledge of, and with regard to, the works of the Port, water down the river channel to Romney harbour had both existing and newly undertaken. two important consequences. It confirmed Romney's In 1287, Edward I commissioned John de Lovetot interest in the future of the watercourse, to the detriment and Henry de Appeltrefeld to oversee marshlands in of the men of the Marsh, and it marked a division of the 134 Eleanor Vollans

channel into two sections, from Appledore to Snargate parson of , acknowledged his liability in respect and from Snargate to Old Romney, each of distinctive of a wall at Westhecce (near Dymchurch), in view of character. Between Snargate and Old Romney, as noted which - so he submitted - he should not have to in the foregoing section, the Port Liberty followed the contribute to the repair of other walls (Cal. Pat. Rolls walled channel, marked at each end by a sluice. To the 1281-92, 514). A test case, resolved in 1261, was that of north lay the Liberty of Romney Marsh and to the Godfrey le Fauconer of Hurst who held land, like south, after 1288, the similar but subsidiary jurisdiction Richard Feryng, in the eastern part of the Marsh. set up by Lovetot. Thus along this section of the Godfrey le Fauconer's main argument was based on the watercourse, in the fourteenth century, the relationships standing of his ancestors, who had received their lands between the Port and Marsh Liberties, and between the by royal grant and were thereby exonerated from Port Liberty and its bounding walls, are plain. Between obligations other than those contained in the grant, Appledore and Snargate the corresponding set of terms which were to apply equally to the heirs of their relationships was directly affected by the inroads of the estates. Godfrey claimed that the charter of Henry I1 sea and the surviving record of the physical boundaries was not to be set aside by a decree of Henry 111; this in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries is fragmen- claim was disallowed. But Godfrey le Fauconer also tary. The following section examines some of the made the objection that "this custom for the repair of documentary evidence bearing on the delimitation of those banks and watergangs was never required, neither the Marsh and Port Liberties in the area, and their of his ancestors nor himself, till about five years then last relationships to the Appledore Walls, Great and Little. past" (Charter of Rornney Marsh 1854, 29). Thus his suit provides an interesting pointer to the onset of danger, especially in the western part of the Marsh. Another instance comes from the cartulary of The Marsh Liberty Bilsington Priory. In a charter which can be dated to The Liberty of the Marsh was bounded by the 1256-62, Nicholas clerk of Bilsington receives a field for Appledore embankment. The record ofApril 1259 refers which he pays to the grantor 8d annually. This covers all to the extent and nature of the Marsh jurisdiction near his dues, except that Nicholas and his heirs are to L'make Appledore and indicates the importance of the and look after one virgate in the wall of Appledore" Appledore Walls. It reads "To the Sheriff of Kent .... a (Neilson 1928, 107).Teichman Derville (1936, 7) points command in no wise you meddle with the same out that Horton Priory had benefactors who undertook distraints .. . . . Then followeth the number of all the acres the upkeep of portions of the Great Wall ofAppledore; of within the said marshe, as found by the measurements of the charters which record these commitments, none is the 42nd year of Henry 111, and also the agistation as known to be earlier than 1263, although several renew well in the great wall ofAppledore, as in the little wall, to earlier obligations. The same author also instances the the quantity of lands holden within ...." (Charter of obligation of the Master of Domus Dei in Dover, Rornney Marsh 1854, 17-19). The boundaries of the recorded more than a century later, in 1384, to repair Marsh to be protected must have been made plain at the nearly 35 perches of the Great Wall of Appledore and time that the measurements were carried out. Within rather less than 15 perches of the Little Wall; this in these boundaries, there appears to have been a respect of a total of 681 acres in the Marsh. Thus the distinction between the acres belonging to the marsh Appledore embankment is seen to be a protective wall of and the agistation within, or behind, the walls of considerable duration. Appledore. 'Agistment' may refer to a particular form of Although the function of the Appledore embankment land use based on rights of grazing; land agisted is remained unchanged during the fourteenth century, frequently land held in common and used only for and perhaps for longer, sections of the wall itself may pasture. In more general terms, 'agistation' may signify have been rebuilt and perhaps re-aligned. The land subject to some form of rating; in the Appledore obligation of Godfrey le Fauconer to help maintain this context, land rated for the purpose of maintaining the wall was carefully worded by the jurats of the Marsh, outer embankment. Henry of Bath's ordinance suggests and their last sentence is to be noted. Godfrey is assigned that the land agisted behind the Appledore walls was "three perch and a half at the least, for his proportion in being taken into Romney Marsh proper, and this would the bank of Apuldre, to be repaired at his costs; and imply that, before 1259, another feature had marked the according to the overflowing of the waters, more, if need boundary of the Marsh Liberty in this area. should be, in divers places" (Charter of Rornney Marsh 1854, 21). Thus, while the course of the Appledore embankment may be envisaged in general terms, variations in its line have probably been lost. The The Appledore Walls likelihood is that the embankment had long flanked the The lawsuits which followed upon Henry of Bath's northern side of a complex of river and/or tidal channels ordinance of 1259 showed that, for many holders of land which lay between Appledore and Snargate, and which in Romney Marsh, a responsibility towards the included the watercourse upon which the extension of Appledore Walls was a new obligation. There were the Port Liberty towards and beyond Appledore was different reasons for their protests. Richard Feryng, founded. New Romney and the 'River of Newenden' 135

The Port Liberty Table 11.2. Old and new 'trenches' leading from "the arm of the The storms which overwhelmed the marshland between sea called Appledore to the town of Romeney" in 1337. Appledore and Snargate in the late thirteenth and early Old trench New trench fourteenth centuries must have caused Romney to adjust its claims of jurisdiction but, topographically, these Length 700 perches 500 perches adjustments remain obscure. In logic, the Port Liberty Width 10 perches 20 perches State "so obstructed by sand and "lately made by the force of followed the river channel upstream to Appledore, but shingle that ships could not the sea, by which boats and the channel's course was changed by flooding. pass thereby to the town of ships might pass without The sea had reached the Great Wall of Appledore in Romeney as they had impediment" to Romney that well-known and quite exceptional storm of early used" February 1288, of which Gervase of Canterbury wrote Owners Archbishop Canterbury Archbishop Canterbury that "the sea rose to such an extent .... that ... . nearly all of soil Prior of Christ Church Prior of Christchurch Margaret de Basinges Margaret de Basinges the ground was covered from the great dyke at Abbot of Robertsbridge Appledore to Winchelsea, both toward the south and the The soil of both trenches held in chief as parcel of the west" (Britton 1937, 124). But it had not needed an manors of Aldington, Appledore, Kenardington and exceptional surge to carry the tide inland as far as 'Woderove' (Woodruff) Appledore. Nicholas de Hadlo's proposal to build the three sluices shows that, already, in 1258, ordinary tides Sources: Cnl. Pat. Rolls 1334-38, 457 flowed at least to Appledore. One diversion of a channel near Appledore of Notes on the manors: Aldington: held by the Archbishop of Canterbury, extended into considerable length is recorded in 1337 (Table 11.2), several Marsh hundreds, including Aloesbridge. The Archbishop also and there were probably others. The lawsuit through held land in Oxney hundred. which we learn of this diversion indicates the instability Appledore was held by the Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, who of the tidal watercourses upon which navigation also held lands in Snargate and Fairfield (Feudal Aids 3, 1316 Nomina depended, and illustrates some of the problems of tenure Villarum, S19). which arose in the tidal marshes. It may also point Kenardington: in 1316 William de Basinges died holding indirectly to the inclusion of the channel here within the Kenardington for one knight's fee, of the inheritance of Margaret, his Port Liberty. The lawsuit resulted in the grant of a wife. In 1341, Margaret, wife of William, died holding as dower part of Kenardington, for one quarter knight's fee. In 1349, Thomas, son of licence fbr an old tidal channel to be filled in, the sea William and Margaret, died holding Kenardington for one knight's having opened up a new channel which, it was claimed, fee; at this time the manor included "400 acres salt land at the sea by was better suited than the old one to vessels passing from Appledore of no value". (Cal. Znq. Post Mortem 5, no. 566; 8, no. 307; 9, "the arm of the sea called Apuldre to the town of no. 318). Romeney" (Cal. Pat. Rolls 1334-38,457). From this and Woderove (? manor): In the early 13th century, the Abbot of from the land-holders named, the channels may be Robertsbridge held land in Snargate which included an enclosure by 'newewoderove'. The boundary with Applcdore was contested by the placed in the marshes between Appledore and Snargate. Prior of Christ Church Canterbury, and later obliterated by tidal Given the 'Marsh' perch of 20 feet (and a shorter perch flooding. r. 1400 the abbot was enclosing land again "by the parcel of of 163 feet may have been used), the old trench would newewoderove" (Dugdale 1662, 86). have been more than two and a half miles and the new one rather less than two miles in length. The old channel crossed the lands of three holders, the Archbishop of above) to act as coroner between Romney and the Canterbury, the Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury, Liberty boundary near Appledore. In medieval law a and Margaret de Basinges, but the new channel took in coroner was 'guardian of the pleas of the Crown' (Oxford the land of these three and a fourth as well, the holding of English Dictionary), which would imply an authority to the Abbot ofRobertsbridge. It is this which suggests that inquire into disturbances however arising, one of the the new channel passed not far from 'Woderove' most grave being sudden death. Along a shipping (Woodruff), while the old channel curved further to the channel such contingencies were to be expected, and north (Table 11.2, Fig. 11.3) (see also Tatton-Brown would have to be provided for. 1988, eds.). A curious feature of the record is that it does The right to navigate tidal rivers and channels was in not mention the corporation of New Romney. Did the common law open to all, a parallel to the freedom of Port Liberty follow the old trench and, if so, was it to be movement obtaining along the king's highway. It was transferred to the new one? There is no certain answer to asserted successfully in suits brought against those such a question, yet the phrase "the soil of the trench is committing obstructions, and many issues raised by held by ..." is to be noted; it suggests that other rights these suits are examined in the case-histories edited by pertaining to the channel, such as the right of transit and Flower ( 19 15, 1923). He quotes a passage relating to the of jurisdiction over those in transit, may have rested river Limene. It comes from the Kent Eyre of 11 Henry elsewhere. 111,5 at which a jury of Blackbourne hundred made a A suitable candidate for the exercise of such authority presentment that weirs constructed in the Limene, which was the bailiff of Romney Corporation, whose duty it was the king's highway for the passage of ships, formed was according to the custumal of Daniel Rough (see encroachments (depurprestris dicunt quod in aqua de Limene Eleanor Vollan~

Table 11.3~.Expenditure on New Romney Harbour and on two harbour sluices, 1387-1415.

Year Digging kJd

Maintenance of 'Slow' I The 'Slow' and some other items, unspecified 13 6 8 In the Rhee 3 15 0 Work by a mason, his men, and a carpenter 26 13 4 A panel for the 'Slow' 18 0 Unspecified small items Repair of the house of the 'Slow' A visit by John Rone of three days, "coming from Flanders to make the Sluice" A delve for the barge ? 4 new harbour (nouum 41 6 6 porturn) Planks, timber, carriage, labour, for the repair of 210 7 Ilesbridge and digging at the Sluice A new gate for the 'Slow' 621 In the Rhee 9 14 3 Construclion of 'Slow' 2 (known as the 'Great Sluice') Men labouring in the new Sluice To a Hollander (Gerard Matthyessonne) in part payment of El00 for the Sluice Carpenters and labourers drawing timber to the Sluice near Jeffs Saltcote Men making the dammes for the site of the Sluice Walling around Jeffs Saltcote and digging about the Sluice To Gerard Matthyessonne 43 0 0 To the same, final payment 22 2 5 In the port 21 15 9:

quod est chiminium domini regis ad naves portandas facta sunt a master carpenter of ships "of new passage" 12d was gurgites) (Flower 1915, xxvi). It was a strict judicial rule due; from a carpenter of houses, by the week, rd, and that offences had to be brought before the court of the from a ship carpenter, by the week when at work, also hundred in which, as alleged, they had taken place. id; from the master fisherman of every boat, weekly td, Most of Blackbourne hundred lies well to the north of and from the other men of the boat, each week one Romney Marsh, and that part of the Limene which farthing. Among the commodities sold in the market and harboured the offending weirs must have flowed across coming in by sea, was coal, for which one farthing was the la~idsof Appledore, and possibly also those of paid on every two seams; and an abundance of fish, Kenardington. Thus this brief entry in the assize roll of including porpoises, for which the vendor paid one 1226-7 is a welcome, though isolated, pointer to the penny for every beast cut up. Other details of the port's course of the Limene in the early thirteenth century, and a trading, still unfortunately with little context, come from firm indication of the importance of its waterborne lists of royal licences in the Exchequer Rolls. In 1366, for traffic. example, licences were issued for men to ship in Romney and sell abroad "to make profit" corn (100 quarters), cheese (200 weys), butter (100 tuns) and beans and oats Romney harbour and the link (100 quarters) (Cal. Pat. Rolls 1364-67, 195, 246, 377). In 1371, William Seford of Romney was among those with Appledore c. 1400-1 450 authorized to ship corn to Gascony "for his profit and the The Port sustenance of the king's lieges"; two years later, a licence The first record extant of the Corporation of New is given for butter and cheese from Romney to be sold in Romney is Daniel Rough's memoranda book (Murray Flanders (Cal. Pat. Rolls 1370-74, 136, 333). Romney 1945) which, among other material, contains a list of exported wool, sometimes with due payment of the dues (maltotes) which were levied on those practising customs required, sometimes not. Among the imports, trades, and on market transactions. Useful as the list is, it wine was prominent; an officer of the king's household, does no more than hint at the life of the port. Thus, from appointed to buy wine, was often responsible for the New Romney and the 'River of Newenden'

Table 11.36 Expenditure on Snargate sluice, and associated receipts from Snargate and 'land between the walls'. 1400 - c. 1440.

Year Ls d

Expenditure 140142 New gates for the sluice at Snargate 1409-10 Material for repairing the sluice For carpenters and labourers there For divers countrymen digging there and for the wages of the keeper For the repair of "our house" there and for the wages of the keeper 1413-14 For the repair of "our houses" at Snargate for three years past 1433-34 Expenditure on the common house 1433-34 For "trouble on the 'Slow' at Snargate" 1434-35 For carriage of timber from Snargate to Romney 143637 For carriage of timber from Snargate to the Great Sluice

Receipts i) Snargate 1403-10 The common house at Snargate is rented several times, for sums from 10.0d to 17.6d The common house is rented for three years, for 35.0d The sluice house (Slouesshouse) is rented for five years, for the yearly sum of 10s Received for the barn and garden belonging to the community at Snargate For the gate of the sluice sold at Snargate for 40s, part payment Small receipts, including "for the tenement of the community" For stone sold to the men of Snargate

ii) 'Land between the Walls' 1433-34 For rent of land between the walls 1437-38 For rent of pasture, Ilesbridge to New Romney 1438-39 For the same, Ilesbridge to Old Romney bridge

Source: Historical Manuscripts Commission, 5, 533-54. Notes 1. According to later entries, the payment for unskilled labour was 4d per day. 2. A new barge was bought in 13967 for the sum of £53.6.8. 3. Ilesbridge had been made (of wood) in 1388-9, for which New Romney paid 7s.10d. It carried the traffic between and New Romney and its maintenance was shared between the two. Ilesbridge has persisted as a place-name. Its mention in Table 11.3a helps to place the site of 'Slow' 1, and in Table 11.3b makes clear that, the water-course between Old and New Romney having dried up, 'Slow' 1 had ceased to function. 4. The three payments to Gerard Matthyssonne listed here fall short ofthe L100 contracted: some items have been omitted. 5. A list of the materials used in the construction of 'Slow' 2 has been omitted. combined transactions of Rye, Winchelsea and Romney attention. In 1353, a ship loaded in Flanders with (Cal. Pat. Rolls 1348-50,60,349; 1354-58, 107; 136 1-64, merchandise for London foundered on the coast of 174). Romney; in 1361 a cog from la Rochelle was driven This is the merest sketch of Romney's interests. There ashore by Romney and broke up. The year before a were also vessels sailing the English Channel which had 'great ship' and a cog laden at Bruges and sailing for no business with the Kentish coast unless they had the Genoa had been wrecked on a sandbank near the shore misfortune of being driven there. Some indication of this at Dengemarsh by Romney, and the cargoes plundered; traffic is given by numerous claims for compensation for another version, not necessarily compatible with the cargoes plundered from shipwreck, brought to the king's first, says that the vessels had been boarded at sea by men Eleanor Vollans from the port. In 1364 a similar fate befell a ship from harbour and would very likely have extended the hours Lescluse in Flanders, sailing for Brittany, which "by of departure. accident got on the sand at Dengenesse by Romeneye The demise of 'Slow 1' and of the Snargate sluice is and there remained for two days high and dry in the apparent in the timing of expenditure. Over a period of marshes" (Gal. Pat. Rolls 1350-54, 520; 1358-61, 482, twenty years (1387-1407) about £50 is spent on repairs 483; 1361-64, 150, 536). All these were voyages and at the harbour sluice, £41 on the digging of a new cargoes in the time of Daniel Rough, who notes that harbour, and at least £13 simply for 'digging in the Romney was entitled to a fourth part of all the wrecks Rhee' (Table 11.3a). The last major expenditure on between Denge and Hythe. Snargate sluice was £16.10.9 for new gates to be made For the sailing vessels of the fourteenth century, the (1401-2), and another £5 was spent later on small headland of and the marshes and sandbanks repairs of which 'digging to cleanse the gates' accounts by Romney offered a particular kind of danger; these for more than half (1409-10) (Table 11.3b). While these were low shores lying in the path of Channel traffic, and sums were undoubtedly a drain on the Port's finances, especially of vessels heading south from Flanders. Single- the severity of the burden can only be assessed in relation masted ships, relying on a large, square sail, could not to other charges; at this period, the costs of keeping make headway against adverse winds, and needed oars shipping at sea would seem to have exceeded by far the to negotiate awkward channels; most harbours could be costs of the harbour works. After the first mention of a entered and left only on the right tidal flow (McGowan new harbour sluice (1409-10), there come items of 1981, 9). These were the vessels for which, at the end of receipt, notably "from moneys assessed by the the fourteenth century and in the early fifteenth century, community for making the Sluice anew", £33.6.8. New Romney sought to maintain its harbour. (1410-1 l),and later from several donors "a gift this year The account books of the Corporation begin in the to the Sluice" (1412-13). Under the guidance of a 1380s and from then yearly entries continue with few Hollander, by name Gerard Matthyssonne, the new breaks throughout the following century. Receipts sluice ('Slow 2') is all but completed in the space of three include the annual sums regularly paid by freemen, and years, and its completion coincides with the accession to ad hoc items such as fines, proceeds of sales and gifts. the throne of Henry V. Items of support for the king's There are notes of matters affecting finance, such as campaign in France follow, together with lesser tasks agreements, leases and court rulings. But it is the such as walling and 'groynynge' to strengthen the sluice expenditure accounts which point to the constant efforts (1415-16). of the jurats to maintain the port. The disappearance of the sluice at Snargate belongs to the period 1426-50, though evidence of its dismantle- ment is only circumstantial. A sluice-gate was sold at Snargate in 1426-27 for the sum of 40s and it is probable The Rhee Channel and Sluices: Snargate to Romney that the stone sold there eight years later, for £4.6.8, also Table 11.3 shows items of expenditure arranged came from the sluice. Between 1434 and 1437 there are chronologically by subject-matter. The presence of a two entries for the carriage of timber from Snargate, the harbour sluice at Romney ('Slow 1') and of a sluice and first to Romney and the second to the Great Sluice other property at Snargate maintained by the ('Slow 2'); these are items which suggest the possibility of Corporation, is attested. These are logically the outcome the banks of the Rhee being used for carted traffic. After of Nicholas de Hadlo's proposal of 1258. The function of many separate lettings the sluice-house in Snargate the Snargate sluice is not specified in the authorization belonging to New Romney was sold in 1452-53. which Nicholas de Hadlo received from the king, but a The fate at this time of the Rhee between Snargate petition from Romney to the Crown, c. 1316, shows that and Old Romney, whether drained or undrained, by the operation of the sluice, water was diverted into remains obscure, but the closure of the Rhee between the channel leading to Romney harbour. The complaint Old and New Romney can be dated closely. By 1431, the of the Portsmen was that a sluice-gate set up at Snargate 'land between the walls' of the Rhee offered pasture; two had been broken down by the Marshmen, with the result men of the Marsh put their sheep to graze only to be that the haven at Romney had been left dry and useless6 distrained by the men of the Port. In what was evidently (Teichman Derville 1936, 44). The function of the regarded as a test-case, William Kene agreed to pay for harbour sluice, according to the 1258 proposal, was to his occupation of the land, and the Port jurats agreed to prevent the tide from entering the walled channel which let the same parcel to him and to his assigns. In this way ran up from Romney to Snargate. The channel would the title of the Portsmen to the land was re-stated. A few therefore discharge river water when the tide was ebbing years later, there appear in the accounts several items of and, possibly, at times chosen to suit the harbour traffic. land and pasture at rent 'between the walls', and these Whether the discharge was intended to help scour the items recur at intervals for the rest of the century. harbour channel is not clear. What seems plain is that, Among them, leases of pasture from Ilesbridge to New by shutting out the tide from the channel upstream, the Romney (1437-38) and between Ilesbridge and Old sluice may have raised the level of high water in the entry Romney bridge (1438-39) show that the channel channel and harbour basin and, by discharging water recommended by Nicholas de Hadlo in 1258 had now during the ebb, it would have assisted vessels leaving the effectively dried up. New Romnty and the 'River of Newenden' 139

The harbour sluice built by Gerard Matthyssonne ment were known and practised in the countries poses as many questions as the one which it replaced. It bordering the Rhine delta. This is a topic which lies was sited near Jeffs Saltcote and not very far from the outside the scope of the present paper. Quenhalle, but these names have disappeared (see, however, Scott Robertson 1880, 279). It provided a convenient passage to the salt-marsh beyond, so much so The Rhee Channel aboue Snargate that the way could be closed and payment exacted. Thus What was happening upstream along the Rhee in the men carrying and riding beyond the Sluice in 'sprot- early fifteenth century is more conjectural at present. time' pay 6s Od (1414-15). Some years later, John Bate Given the evidence of reclamation in the neighbourhood pays 4s Od for going beyond the Sluice and for his pasture of Fairfield, Snargate and Appledore (Dugdale 1662, on the salt-marsh, 20s Od, and John Harneys pays one 86), it seems probable that from c. 1400 the flow of bushel of white salt (1427-28). For as long as these inland and tidal water reaching Snargate from the comings and goings persisted, tracks must have direction ofAppledore was diminishing year by year. On converged on an entry point into the marsh made the other hand, the Speringbrook drainage, possibly possible by the Sluice. The first edition of the OS 1: 10560 joined by that of the Sedbrook, would probably have maps shows that in the nineteenth century the land continued along the Rhee (subject perhaps to the known as Romney Salts lay well to the east of the operation of the Snargate sluice). After the closure of the Dengemarsh Sewer; and the 1562-63 survey of the Rhee at Old Romney, an outlet for this discharge may common lands of Romney placed the Sextry Salts, have been found by making an exit from the Rhee which did not belong to Romney, on the west side of the upstream of Old Romney (possibly into what is now the Romney salt-marsh (Scott Robertson 1880, 270-1). Cutters Bridge Petty Sewer), or else by making the West of the Dengemarsh Sewer, the lands attached to Appledore Gutt leading into the Appledore estuary just Belgar had been extensively reclaimed by the tenants of below Appledore. By the middle of the sixteenth Bilsington Priory, as is shown by the 1381 terrier century, as an order made by the commissioners of (Neilson 1928, 207-9). Thus there is a strong indication sewers for Kent shows, the latter outfall was replaced by that Matthyssonne's sluice controlled the outflow from a course across Woodruff to an outlet lower down the Dengemarsh. Since this was known as the Great Sluice, estuary. From that time, the landowners of the Five however, it may have controlled more than one Waterings of Romney Marsh were to be responsible for watercourse. West of the Lydd-Ilesbridge road is a tract the combined discharges of their waterings at one exit of land once known as King's Marsh which is now across the Rhee at Arrowhead Gutt and so by a further drained in three directions, westwards by the White pinnock and gutt into the sea (L.P. Hy V111 1544, 172). Kemp, southwards by the Jury's Gut and north- In 1452, some years after the sluice at Snargate ceased eastwards by the Cutter's Bridge Sewers. It is this north- to be mentioned in the Port's accounts, New Romney east flow, bridged by the Lydd road, which would have sold property in Snargate. Yet, as indicated by the led barely half a mile further on to Linkhook, and so to customary duty of the Port bailiff to act as coroner, New the Sluice. If this Great Sluice was intended to function Romney retained its jurisdiction along the Rhee. No in the same way as its predecessor, that is, to raise the doubt more than one consideration gave rise to this level of water in the harbour channel at crucial periods tenacity; the main justification, however, is likely to have and assist vessels leaving on the ebb, as has been argued, been a continuing use of the banks of the Rhee to then Matthyssonne must have sought as large a accommodate traffic. catchment area as possible, and this could easily have Such a use would have served several purposes. included the drainage from the land of King's Marsh. Between Snargate and Old Romney, side roads reached Unfortunately, there is no direct evidence about what the Rhee from lands, including the innings of Baldwin was intended, or about the actual construction of the and St. Thomas, which had been the concern ofJohn de Sluice. Lovetot in 1288. As subsequent inquisitions showed, So far, nothing has been discovered of Gerard roads were not necessarily present across newly Matthyssonne's life before or after his work at Romney. reclaimed land to the shore of the Appledore estuary: to His name may be written in one of the lists of safe- maintain new innings, ad hoc access had to be provided. conducts to trade in this country issued to foreign Thus the banks of the Rhee would have continued to merchants. Aliens were also granted permits to reside. offer a useful route for the export of corn, wool and dairy Among these, licensed "to inhabit the realm peaceably produce from the ecclesiastical holdings lying to the and enjoy their goods", were three men who had been south. born in the district of Litge and who were living c. 1430 New Romney itself had reason to value a direct route in Appledore and Romney Marsh (Cal. Pat. Rolls to the upper reaches of the Appledore estuary and the 1429-36, 569, 572, 583). Items such as these are one margins of the Weald. Near Appledore, the Port Liberty aspect of the strong trading links which existed between extended over the lower slopes of Redhill, one of several the Cinque Ports and the Low Countries. They suggest sites along the estuary where ships were built and rigged. that the employment of a Hollander by Romney In 1400-01, New Romney bought a barge in Corporation was an informed choice, based on the Smallhythe, and there is a later mention, in 141 7, of the recognition that advanced techniques ofwater manage- town having sent "our ship" to 'Apuldreflet' for re- 140 Eleanor Vollans fitting. But wider interests were involved than the The closing of the Rhee below Old Romney is closely trading concerns of the Port and those using its harbour. dated. It followed the completion of the new sluice The administration of drainage on both sides of the Rhee c. 1412-15, sited at or near the exit of the Dengemarsh entailed the regular meeting of jurats and an Sewer into the Romney estuary. About this time, unremitting inspection of banks and sea walls. To the digging round the Islesbridge sluice and in the Rhee journeys of the marsh bailiffs were added those of the came to an end. In and after 1438, the 'land between the king's commissioners, charged with one aspect or walls' from the harbour to Islesbridge and Islesbridge to another of coastal defence. All these interests would have Old Romney was leased regularly for pasture. gained by the use of the Rhee as the king's highway. 2. Between Snargate and Old Romney, the Rhee There remains the question of how the corridor consists of three or four almost straight lengths, each between Appledore and Snargate (Fig. 1 1.3) came to be meeting the next at an angle little short of 180 degrees, defined as part of the Port Liberty; in other words, of and the whole consistent with having been planned and how New Romney's jurisdiction established or re- dug in assigned portions. It cannot have been built later established itself within fixed limits. The shape of the than the Old Romney-harbour channel which forms its corridor, with its irregular outlines and varying width, continuation, and may have been made much earlier. suggests that it was of composite origin. Towards Some support for the latter view is found in the absence Snargate, winding bends preserve the form of an early of documentation. An oblique reference may lie channel; towards Appledore, relatively straight portions concealed in complaints about the king's eschaetor may have incorporated the forelands of banks or (Richard de Clifford) having extracted sums of money causeways. Flanking as it did the Liberty of Romney from the manor ofAldington to pay for 'the king's work', Marsh, which lay to the north, this zone of transit must which is otherwise unspecified. The complaints relate to have been increasingly constricted by enclosures in the the period 1270-74 and are recorded in the Rotuli Woodruff lands to the south. Somehow, during the Hundredorurn. Yet supposing that the king's work was fifteenth century, the corridor came to be accepted as a indeed directed to the channel between Snargate and part of the common lands of New Romney and, with the Old Romney, it might as easily have been concerned rest of the Rhee, it was referred to as 'the land between with improvement as with construction. Nevertheless, the walls'. As such it was formally granted to the town by the role of the king, not only as ruler responsible for the Elizabeth I in 1563 (Cal. Pat. Rolls 1560-63, 499). defence of the Kentish coast but also as feudal lord in Aloesbridge hundred, needs further consideration. (See also Tatton-Brown 1988, eds.). 3. Between Appledore and Snargate, in the marshes Conclusion swept by the storms of the later thirteenth century, the The link between Romney and Appledore, which owed course of the 'river of Newenden' has been lost, perhaps its origin to the 'river of Newenden', had a lasting effect without trace. The recognition by the Prior of Christ upon the geography of the Marsh as a whole. The Church, Canterbury, and the Abbot of Robertsbridge, Liberty of Romney Marsh proper, of which the in an agreement of 1390-1400 (Dugdale 1662,86), that beginning dates back to the mid-thirteenth century, was some boundary marks between the two townships had made to terminate along the Rhee. 'The land between been obliterated long ago by the sea, speaks plainly. the walls' running from Romney harbour to the old cliff- Edward 111's licence of 1337, for the filling-in of an old line at Appledore was granted formally to New Romney trench, showed that shipping made use of whatever by Elizabeth I, and the boundary of the Port Liberty, channel was open. It seems probable that New thus defined, has persisted into the present century. Romney's interest attached itself to the new channel In summarizing the history of the 'river of Newenden', without need of formal permission from the king: in subsequently known as the Rhee, from the thirteenth to principle, the right of passage on a tidal river was open to the fifteenth centuries, three sections can be recognised, all. But there is no evidence that Romney claimed the each with a distinctive history. These sections banks of the channel along which shipping passed; respectively link New Romney harbour to Old Romney, between Appledore and Snargate its jurisdiction was not Old Romney to Snargate, and Snargate to Appledore. fixed territorially as it was below Snargate. During this 1. An artificial channel, from Old Romney to the period of changing shorelines and fluctuating reclam- harbour, was planned in 1258 and was constructed then ation there was every opportunity for conflict between or soon afterwards. Part of the plan was to build a sluice the Marshmen and the men of the Port. towards the harbour end of the channel to keep out the In 1259, the boundary of Romney Marsh proper had sea. The harbour sluice of c. 1400 was sited near been fixed along the Appledore embankment, and this is Islesbridge, and on the assumption that it fulfilled the the line which appears to have withstood the storm function intended in 1258, this would have been the limit flooding of 1287-88. The Appledore banks continued to of the flowing tide. Boats making the passage upstream protect the Marsh long after this date, but details of their to Snargate, and perhaps too even those moving history, especially the early and late chapters, need to be downstream, would have needed to be poled or rowed, sought in the records of the ecclesiastical lords of the or towed from the banks, and this in turn would have Marsh. Until this has been done, the alignment of 1259 lent importance to the maintenance of a path and the must remain uncertain, and the possibility of later re- right of passage along the banks. alignment has to be recognized. New Romney and the 'River of Newenden'

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