Romney Marsh earthworks
In 1991 and 1992 earthwork surveys were carried out over a san1ple area of 26 hectares of Romney Marsh old pasture to assess the research potential and value for such recording. Work took place at seven locations, all on Romney Marsh Level and included land of both "old" and "new" soils as defined by the Soil Survey. Simple ground plans were drawn at a scale of 1:500 with relief indicated by hachures. A grant from the Romney Marsh Research Trust enabled maps and plans to be drawn to publication standard to accompany a paper giving a descriptive account of these surveys and discussing their interpretation within a wider context.
Romney Marsh was once famous for its rich pastures that fattened more sheep to the acre than any other land in England. Today few old pastures survive, but where they do, the fields have a curiously uneven surface. These lumps and bumps so characteristic of the old pasture of the Marsh are relics of a much older environment. Unploughed for centuries, traces of ditches and banks still survive on the ground and mark out ancient field systems and other features in earthwork form. They represent a palimpsest of the Marsh's evolution, a rich resource of evidence about the past waiting to be tapped.
Aerial photographs reveal an extensive network of tiny fields that pre-date the earliest maps of the area (Fig. I). These field systems are compatible with the most ancient features in the landscape, and other archaeological features appear to post-date them. In old pasture some
of the former field boundaries are still evident on the ground as earthwork ditches. These old fields, many as small as one or two acres, were basically rectangular and form a grid-like pattern, but there was no overall uniformity. Furthermore, the distinct and possibly unique pattern formed by the fields holds clues for understanding the chronology of inning and the nature of early settlement in the area. In the east the direction of inning and colonisation advanced north and west from the old soil areas gradually moving towards the contracting floodplain of the Limen. It is believed that this area was first settled between the ninth and eleventh centuries. Here a succession of wavelike frontiers can be seen; thus, although the field boundaries are frequently curving and regular, and seem to have been proceeded in a piecemeal fashion, they also appear to have been simultaneously planned (in direction at least) to some extent. Similar, but less dramatic advances were made towards the Limen from the north.
Roman finds confirm that this land on the old soil areas was settled much earlier. Although progressive innings show no abrupt dislocation at the interface between old and new soils, the main focus of activity must have occWTed in the Late Saxon period when favourable climatic and environmental conditions would have assisted the inning process. By Domesday the framework of the Romney Marsh landscape was lrud out and becoming intensively settled. Some small enclosures may have been created later in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries by dividing and draining grazing land as population pressure mcreased and more arable land was needed. The Early Medieval farmstead with contingent field system recorded at Twelve Acres Burmarsh, may be an example of this (Fig. 2).
In some places a complete medieval (or perhaps earher) landscape has been preserved in earthwork form. Ditches and banks mark out field systems and enclosures, and mounds locate the sites of former buildings. Other features discovered include a previously unrecognised medieval moated site at Dymchurch which overlays and, therefore post-dates the sWTounding field system; sites of medieval buildings near Dymchurch and in the former parish of Eastbridge; a possible mill mound near Lympne; and walls and sluices associated with Late Saxon land drainage in Burmarsh and Eastbridge.
Thus much new evidence has been accrued. which in turn has made an essential contribution towards understanding the evolution of the Romney Marsh landscape and the activities of its inhabitants. Only detailed field survey can reveal the full complexity of the features in the landscape and their relationship with one another and the natural environment.. It is therefore imperative that such work continues before much valuable evidence is lost. Toe area of pasture on Romney Marsh is declining year by year. In 1940 84% of the Marsh was permanent pasture. By I 985 this figure had fallen to 32%. Today it is even lower and only a small proportion of that permanent pasture is old pasture_- Where old pasture still survives today, it continues to be at risk from ploughing and other development. Fortunately the Romney Marsh Research Trust has been able to allocate funds in 1995 to continue recording earthworks in old pasture on Romney Marsh.
Anne Reeves.
