6. Romney Marsh in the Roman Period
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6. Romney Marsh in the Roman Period Barry Cunliffe Introduction b) Between the coastal barrier and the mainland, a The question of the Roman occupation of Romney marshland landscape developed through which the Marsh has occupied scholars for nearly 150 years. The drainage channels of the Rother, Tillingham and first serious, but faltering, attempts to grapple with the Brede flowed. Some parts of this marshland were problem were made by Holloway in his History of Romney sufficiently elevated and well-drained to allow Marsh (1849). A few years later a major -paper - was Roman settlement to take place. published by James Elliott, an engineer who knew the In the Romney Marsh proper, Green makes a marsh well and was inspired by Charles Roach Smith's distinction between calcified and decalcified marshland, excavation of the Roman fort at Lympne to think of suggesting that the decalcified is the older. Significantly marshland topography in relation to the needs of the it is on the decalcified soils that the various areas of shore fort garrison (Elliott 1852). Much heated debate of Roman settlement are located. As a working hypothesis, little consequence followed. This was summed up, and therefore, we may tentatively take the distinction fully referenced, by Holmes (1907, 532-52). There between these two soil types to indicate the approximate matters rested until 1968 when the Soil Survey of divide between dry land and tidal marsh in the early England and Wales published their seminal account of centuries of the Roman period. The resulting map (Fig. the marshland soils (Green 1968). Green's work, for the 6.1) suggests a complex of drainage channels converging first time, provided a reliable physical framework within to form an inland lagoon which opened to the sea near which future discussion could be structured. It also Hythe. The drainage pattern between the lagoon and carried with it implications of change through time the mainland to the west is unknown and open to debate. which focused attention on the complex dynamics of It is possible that the various rivers flowed in individual evolving environment and changing land use. channels but it could equally well be that, by this stage, The present writer's involvement with the problem they had converged into one before entering the lagoon. began with a programme of excavations at Stutfall Only detailed geomorphological field-work will resolve Castle, Lympne in 1976-8 (Cunliffe 1980a). The results the question. of this work, and the inspiration provided by Green's That there were changes to the environment in the survey, led to the publication of a preliminary statement late Roman or immediate post-Roman period is clearly outlining, albeit tentatively, the evolution of the marsh shown at three sites: St. Mary's Bay, Ruckinge and (Cunliffe 1980b). The present paper is an attempt to Lympne. At St. Mary's Bay, Green (1968, 113-14) focus on the archaeological potential of the marsh in the showed that a Roman land surface had been eroded by a Roman period. minor creek and then sealed by up to 0.5 m of sandy loam. At Ruckinge, a Roman occupation level was sealed by 0.6 m of alluvium (information from Peter The physical environment Masters), while at Lympne, 2 m of alluvium accumulated during the time that the landslip, which The starting point for any discussion of' the Roman destroyed the Roman fort, took place (Cunliffe 1980a, settlement must be the physical form of the marsh in the 244-7). The simplest explanation of these observations is early first millennium AD. The question is fraught with that after the second-third century AD conditions in the difficulty but two basic assumptions can be made: lagoon changed and led to the deposition of a thick layer a) that there existed a coastal barrier of shingle, built of alluvium. The early stage in the formation of the by long-shore drift and anchored on Fairlight Head, alluvium to the south of Lympne was shown by diatom ending in a cuspate head south of Lympne. A major analysis to have taken place under marine conditions drainage channel existed between this head and the (Cunliffe 1980a, 258), but the exact chronological cliff to the north, and was kept clear by tidal water relationship of this deposit to the silts sealing the Roman entering and leaving the inlet, combined with the occupation at Ruckinge and St. Mary's Bay cannot yet outflow offresh water from the hinterland. While it be defined. is possible that there may have been another On balance, therefore, while it is possible that the late opening in the barrier in the vicinity of Romney (or alluviation of the lagoon took place as the result of sea- one may have developed during this time) there is level rise, other factors were also at work, such as the no positive evidence. blocking of the mouth of the inlet and the ponding up of water behind, or the realignment of the major river supplies may have gone overland using the road which channels to new outlets (? near Romney) and the runs from Hastings to Canterbury or Rochester but land consequent clogging of the old drainage system. It may transport was notoriously expensive. More to the point, eventually prove that a combination of all these factors if the Wealden iron and timber were to be supplied to the caused the late alluviation. The problem of chronology military zone in the north of Britain, then the only will be returned to again below. sensible means of transport was by sea using the east coast route to York or beyond. In this context a coastal base at or near Lympne, where there is clear evidence of the presence of the Classis Britannica in the second The cultural environment century, would have been particularly useful (Cunliffe In the late Iron Age the Romney Marsh area, the Weald 1980a, 284-5). The site of Lympne was well chosen to and much of the Sussex Downs and coastal plain seem to command the mouth of the lagoon with its protected have been cut off from the main centres of innovation. haven, while at the same time having good land The distribution of aristocratic burials, imported wine- connections to Canterbury and beyond. At such a point drinking and feasting equipment and the main oppida bulk commodities would have been trans-shipped from focus in central southern Britain, in the Solent region river barges to sea-going ships. Such a system would and in the east of the country, on either side of the assume that river transport brought the cargoes from the Thames estuary and the hinterland of the other rivers areas of production along the rivers Rother and Brede, flowing into the North Sea. These were the areas which through the marsh and across the lagoon. It is possible maintained direct contacts with Gaul and the Roman that the ill-known (and largely unpublished) riverside world. facilities at Bodiam, where the road crossed the Rother, The invasion of AD 43 did little to change the may have been the inland terminal of the system. The situation. In the period of Romanization which discovery of CL BR tiles here suggests an official status followed, urban centres and road systems developed but (Lemmon and Hill 1966). these were based essentially on the pre-Roman socio- Once a system of this kind had been established it economic pattern. In the whole of the coastal zone could have been used to transport other bulk goods, between the Roman towns of Chichester and civilian as well as hilitary. In this context one should not Canterbury, no urban centre emerged. The general forget that the shallow draught cargo vessel found in the backwardness of the region is further demonstrated by Thames at Blackfriars was carrying Kentish rag its reliance on locally-produced coarse pottery hand- building stone (Marsden 1967) of a type which could made in a native tradition (Green 1981). It is against this have been quarried quite close to the port of Lympne. background that the occupation of the marsh must be While the existence of a transport system of the kind seen. outlined is highly probable in the first and srcond centuries AD there is no indication of the volume of cargo carried, but if Cleere's calculations for iron production are accepted then it must have been Roman settlement pattern and land use considerable and in keeping with the demands of the Two aspects of the Roman utilization of the marsh can army. be discerned from the presently available evidence: on Clearly to test the hypothesis firm archaeological the large scale it formed an essential element in the evidence is required. It would be interesting to re- economic exploitation of the Weald; on the smaller scale, examine the riverside installation~at Bodiam and to its own special resources were exploited as part of a local locate the harbour works at Lympne. The possibility of economic strategy. discovering boat remains at both is high. It is also possible that some stretches of the river channels across the marsh may have been canalized or otherwise Wealden exploitation (Fig.6.1) modified. Here detailed field-work could produce It is now well established that iron production in the results. Weald developed very rapidly in the years immediately following the invasion and it has been-suggested that the Local economic strategies production centres of the eastern Weald may have been In the Roman period, as in later ages, the marshland under the direct control of the state, managed by the itself could have provided a useful range of economic British Fleet (Classis Britannica) (Cleere 1974; 1976).