New Romney
New Romney | ||
---|---|---|
Shire county | ||
Region | ||
Country | England | |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom | |
Post town | NEW ROMNEY | |
Postcode district | TN28 | |
Dialling code | 01797 | |
Police | Kent | |
Fire | Kent | |
Ambulance | South East Coast | |
UK Parliament | ||
New Romney is a market town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports, was once a sea port, with the harbour adjacent to the church, but is now more than a mile from the sea. A mooring ring can still be seen in front of the church. It is the headquarters of the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway.
Geography
New Romney is not significantly different in age from the nearby village of
History
In the latter part of the thirteenth century a series of severe storms weakened the coastal defences of Romney Marsh, and the South England flood of February 1287 almost destroyed the town, as it did destroy the nearby ancient parish of Broomhill. The harbour and town were filled with sand, silt, mud and debris, and the River Rother changed course to run out into the sea near Rye, Sussex. The mud, silt and sand were never entirely removed from the town, which is why many old buildings, especially the church, have steps leading down into them from the present pavement level.
New Romney is one of the original
During
New Romney is the main centre of population on the Romney Marsh. Founded in 1610 by John Southland and formerly known locally as just "Southland's", John Southland's Community Comprehensive School, the only secondary school in the area, was renamed The Marsh Academy in August 2007.
Town centre
Like many towns on the marsh it has an impressive Norman church, the Church of St Nicholas, in the centre of town. This church originally stood at the harbourside, and its entrances are several feet below ground level. The church is also notable for the boat hooks still evident on the side walls.
New Romney's historic high street has several small and interesting shops. A few businesses closed after the opening of a branch of supermarket chain
Three-quarters of a mile north of the town is the links golf course at Littlestone-on-Sea. The golf course was a favourite of Denis Thatcher, late husband of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, and has been used several times for the qualifying rounds of The Open Championship.
Transport
The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway has a station at the extreme east of New Romney, which as well as being a major tourist attraction was also used by students travelling to school until 2015. The station is about three-quarters of a mile east of the historic town centre.
New Romney was once serviced by the New Romney and Littlestone-On-Sea railway station which was part of the Lydd Line. The station was sited halfway between New Romney and Littlestone-on-Sea. As built the station had two platforms and a small goods yard with four sidings, a goods shed, cattle dock, coal wharves, end loading dock, water tower and other small buildings. The up platform was rarely used in latter years other than as a livestock loading dock. The station was originally called New Romney & Littlestone with on-Sea being added in October 1888. In 1927 a single line extension was built with an unprotected level crossing to an exchange siding with the adjacent Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway station on the opposite side of the Station Road; it was used to deliver coal to that railway. The signal box was taken out of use in the 1950s and goods service was withdrawn in 1964. The station was closed in 1967 and replaced with a bus service.
New Romney is easily accessible by road, sitting astride the A259 (which runs from Folkestone to Havant). Several bus services run to and through New Romney from Hastings, Folkestone and Ashford.
Media
New Romney has one dedicated weekly newspaper, the
Cinque Ports Radio 100.2FM is the community radio station for Romney Marsh and has been broadcasting since 7th March 2022 replacing Shoreline FM which now broadcasts online to the same area as Shoreline Easy and previously broadcast on 100.2FM since January 2020 [6]
In 1951 the Richard Burton, Roger Livesey, and Honor Blackman film Green Grow the Rushes was made on location in and around New Romney and in nearby St Mary in the Marsh.
Namesakes
In 1762 Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron named the town of Romney in present-day West Virginia in the United States after the town of New Romney.
Arms
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See also
References
- ^ "Town population 2011". Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 5 October 2015.
- ^ Historic England. "Town Hall (1068989)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Archaeology South East, UCL, report by David Martin, 2004
- ^ Victoria History and a report by Dr Gillian Draper in the possession of the writer
- ^ static.ofcom.org.uk/static/radiolicensing/html/radio-stations/community/cr103150ba1shorelinefm.htm
- ^ "Civic Heraldry of England". Robert Young. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2019.
External links
Media related to New Romney at Wikimedia Commons