Jill Eddison (Joint Founder of the Romney Marsh Research Trust)
This issue introduces someone educated as a geographer and geologist, but whose recent book, Romney Marsh, Survival on a Frontier, takes a multi-disciplinary approach. Combining geography with history and archaeology, the book brings together recent work to tell the story of human occupation of a very difficult environment over the last 2000 years. Jill Eddison’s involvement in all three disciplines is exceptional; how had this come about?
Growing up in Maidstone, Jill’s interest in history was sparked by her grandmother, who had read that subject at Royal Holloway College in 1903. She remembers poring over ‘Our Island Story’ and, later, ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’. Geological interest began when exploring north of Maidstone, where differences in the underlying rocks became apparent, where the sand at Penenden Heath contrasted with the chalk of the North Downs. She began to think about the landscape in terms of its geography and geology, and of its use by man. Perhaps ‘rocks’ were in the blood: a prospector great-uncle left her a box of 150 mineral specimens, and her early geology was self-taught.
While still at school she considered a career in Archaeology. But, told by a local source that ‘there’s nothing there for women’, she turned towards History. A last-minute change of heart led to Geography, and Jill went up to Oxford in 1957. “But I found their geography out-dated, and I realised I wasn’t going to get a rowing blue, so I applied to change to Geology, ignoring a comment that they needed a woman to make the coffee…”. She was one of only 2 women in a year group of 25.
After graduating, Jill left for Canada to work for a nickel mining company. Disliking the “concrete city” of Toronto, she asked to move north to a small mining town surrounded by bush on the Canadian Shield. After a variety of minor occupations, she eventually came to rest in a metallurgical laboratory, surrounded by colleagues from many different countries. Mostly recent immigrants fleeing the instability in Eastern Europe or the East Indies, their courage and endurance made a big impression on the young Jill… “These were people living on the edge of life, but with an enormous amount to give”.
When Jill returned home, she worked briefly for an oil company before becoming a school-teacher. Marriage followed, and bringing up her two sons meant a change of career, and a pause. “I really wanted to write…and eventually Faber took the bait”. The World of the Clinging Coastline appeared in 1973, combining Jill’s historical and geographical interests. It also made her realise the tremendous challenge and potential of a locality close to home – Romney Marsh.
Professor Steers encouraged her to write a paper for the Geographical Journal and ‘let her loose’ in the libraries at Cambridge. That led on to a lecture to the Royal Geographical Society in 1981, “a wonderful evening”.
I met a variety of specialists, all potentially interested in this fast moving coastline”. The destruction of exceptional medieval marshland landscape by ploughing prompted Jill to write to various academics. Professor Barry Cunliffe responded ‘positively’, “and, before we knew where we were, in 1983 we formed the Romney Marsh Research Group”. Initially a group of six, whose meetings were at the Society of Antiquaries, it expanded rapidly. Their first conference was at Oxford in 1986 and a monograph of the proceedings was published there, through the kindness of Barry. Three more conferences have followed, each resulting in a monograph. Jill edited one solely, and two jointly. Thus, importantly, the Romney Marsh papers, from whatever discipline, have been kept together.
In 1987, a charity, the Romney Marsh Research Trust, was formed to support and co-ordinate the work of the Group, with Jill as Secretary. The advent of developer-funded archaeology in the early ‘90s provided the opportunity to investigate the important zone between shingle and marsh in advance of gravel extraction, and altogether Jill was proud to have raised a quarter of a million pounds for the Trust during her 11 years. During that time, Jill also learnt something of archaeology ‘on the hoof’ from Dr Mark Gardiner, the medieval archaeologist, whilst her understanding of the medieval documents and their historical background was gleaned in summer schools in Cambridge. By 1998 she realised it was time to hand over to younger academics, and relinquished her role as Secretary and moving spirit.
Jill had long recognised the need for a more general book on the Marsh, and she sent a synopsis to Tempus. Their response was to ask when it would be finished! Based on the work of numerous colleagues, not least Mark Gardiner, and geographer Dr Antony Long, Romney Marsh, Survival on a Frontier appeared in 2000. Jill’s belief in de-mystifying the jargon of academia proved a winner: over 1500 copies sold in the first year. The British Association for Local History honoured her achievement in founding the Trust and making the research results accessible to all, with a personal award in 2002. Her ‘Marsh expertise’ was needed more recently when she had ‘great fun’ with a TV crew filming ‘Mysteries in the Landscape’ for BBC2 (screening 6th November).
Acquaintances she met after some time express surprise that Jill is ‘still studying the Marsh!’ But one thing leads to another. Her current research centres on monastic accounts, an untapped and particularly good source for 1270-1530, when the sea was most threatening. The battle between man and sea continues today, and Jill can’t resist admitting “I find it tremendously exciting when, as in the past, nature gets the upper hand!”
The Editor
Jill is to be the guest speaker after the 2004 KAS AGM, with the title ‘Romney Marsh: Survival on a Frontier’.