Romney Marsh is a sparsely inhabited wetland location in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 square miles (260 km2). A selecting ward in the same name exists. This ward had a population of 2,358 at the 2011 census. The Romney Marsh has been gradually accumulated over the centuries. The most substantial attribute of the Marsh is the Rhee Wall (Rhee is a word for river), developing a noticeable ridge. This feature was prolonged as a waterway in three phases from Appledore to New Romney in the 13th century. Sluices controlled the circulation of water, which was after that launched to flush silt from the harbour at New Romney. Eventually, the battle was shed; the harbour silted up and also New Romney declined in value. The Rhee maintained part of the old port open till the 15th century. The wall at Dymchurch was built around the same time; tornados had actually breached the shingle obstacle, which had secured it until that time. It is an usual misconception that both these structures were developed by the Romans. In 1250 and in the following years, a collection of violent storms broke through the seaside roof shingles financial institutions, flooding considerable areas and also returning it to marsh, and ruining the harbour at New Romney. In 1287 water ruined the port community of Old Winchelsea (currently found some 2 mi (3 kilometres) out in Rye bay), which had actually been under threat from the sea given that at least 1236. Winchelsea, the third biggest port in England as well as a significant importer of red wine, was relocated on greater land, with a harbour including 82 docks. Those exact same tornados, nonetheless, helped to build up more shingle: such coastlines currently ran along practically the entire seaward side of the marshland. By the 14th century, much of the Walland as well as Denge Marshes had actually been recovered by "innings", the procedure of throwing up an embankment around the sea-marsh and also utilizing the low-tide to let it run dry using one-way drains pipes established right into the new seawall, escaping right into a network of dykes called locally "drains" in 1462, the Romney Marsh Corporation was developed to set up drainage as well as sea supports for the marsh, which it remained to construct right into the 16th century. By the 16th century, the program of the Rother had been altered to its network today; most of the remainder of the area had actually now been reclaimed from the sea. The roof shingles remains to be deposited. Therefore, all the original Cinque Ports of the Marsh are currently much from the sea. Dungeness Point is still being included in: although (especially near Dungeness as well as Hythe) an everyday operation remains in place to respond to the improving of the shingle banks, making use of watercrafts to dig up and relocate the drifting roof shingles. The Marsh became the home of the Priory of Canterbury in the 9th century, that gave the initial tenancy on the land to a man called Baldwin, at some time in between 1152 and 1167, for "as much land as Baldwin himself can enclose as well as drain versus the sea"; Baldwin's Drain (drain ditch) continues to be in operation. The marsh has actually given that become covered by a thick network of drain ditches as well as as soon as supported large farming communities. These watercourses are kept as well as managed 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 much less developed than lots of various other locations in Kent and Sussex. The decline in sheep costs indicated that also the regional stock (marketed around the globe for reproducing for over 2 centuries) ended up being unsustainable. Turfing had actually constantly been a lower method as a result of the grassland kept short by the sheep reared upon it, yet farms are raising in dimension to compensate for the decline in lasting livestock farming. Some view this as unsustainable because of the damages to dirt ecology of the Marsh. The only other option, given that 1946, has been for farmers to resort to cultivable farming, changing the landscape from a jumble of small family ranches to a few comprehensive cultivatable production units.