Romney Marsh is a sparsely inhabited marsh area in the counties of Kent and also East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers concerning 100 square miles (260 km2). A selecting ward in the exact same name exists. This ward had a population of 2,358 at the 2011 census. The Romney Marsh has been progressively accumulated over the centuries. The most substantial feature of the Marsh is the Rhee Wall (Rhee is a word for river), forming a noticeable ridge. This function was expanded as a river in three phases from Appledore to New Romney in the 13th century. Sluices managed the flow of water, which was after that released to purge silt from the harbour at New Romney. Ultimately, the battle was shed; the harbour silted up and also New Romney declined in relevance. The Rhee kept part of the old port open till the 15th century. The wall at Dymchurch was constructed around the exact same time; storms had actually breached the tile obstacle, which had actually shielded it up until that time. It is a typical misunderstanding that both these frameworks were developed by the Romans. In 1250 and also in the adhering to years, a series of storms broke through the coastal shingle banks, swamping significant areas as well as returning it to marsh, as well as destroying the harbour at New Romney. In 1287 water ruined the port community of Old Winchelsea (now situated some 2 mi (3 km) out in Rye bay), which had been under threat from the sea given that a minimum of 1236. Winchelsea, the 3rd largest port in England as well as a major importer of wine, was relocated on greater land, with a harbour consisting of 82 wharfs. Those very same storms, nonetheless, aided to accumulate more tile: such coastlines currently left virtually the whole seaward side of the marshland. By the 14th century, much of the Walland and Denge Marshes had actually been recovered by "innings", the procedure of throwing up an embankment around the sea-marsh as well as making use of the low-tide to let it run dry through one-way drains pipes established right into the brand-new seawall, running off right into a network of dykes called locally "sewers" in 1462, the Romney Marsh Corporation was developed to install water drainage as well as sea supports for the marsh, which it continued to construct right into the 16th century. By the 16th century, the program of the Rother had actually been changed to its network today; the majority of the remainder of the location had now been reclaimed from the sea. The tile remains to be deposited. Therefore, all the original Cinque Ports of the Marsh are now far from the sea. Dungeness Point is still being included in: although (particularly near Dungeness as well as Hythe) a daily operation remains in place to counter the improving of the roof shingles banks, using boats to dredge and also move the drifting tile. The Marsh became the property of the Priory of Canterbury in the 9th century, that gave the initial tenancy on the land to a man called Baldwin, sometime in between 1152 as well as 1167, for "as much land as Baldwin himself can enclose and also drain against the sea"; Baldwin's Sewer (drainage ditch) stays in use. The marsh has since become covered by a dense network of water drainage ditches and also when sustained large farming areas. These gutters are maintained and handled for lasting water levels by the Romney Marsh Area Internal Drainage Board. Romney Marsh adjoins the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is less developed than many other locations in Kent and also Sussex. The decrease in sheep prices meant that even the neighborhood supply (offered around the globe for reproducing for over 2 centuries) became unsustainable. Turfing had constantly been a minimal technique as a result of the grassland kept short by the lamb reared upon it, however ranches are enhancing in size to compensate for the decline in lasting livestock farming. Some view this as unsustainable due to the damage to soil ecology of the Marsh. The only other choice, since 1946, has actually been for farmers to look to cultivatable farming, altering the landscape from a patchwork of little family farms to a couple of substantial cultivatable manufacturing systems.