Romney Marsh Circular Walks

As originally produced (pre 1995) in printed form by Shepway District Council, the Countryside Commission, Kent County Council and  Romney Marsh Footpath Preservation Society.

The remoteness of Romney Marsh has proved an attraction to artists and writers over the years, who have attempted to capture the quiet beauty of the Marsh environment.
This series of walks offers the walker a chance to experience the solitude and to enjoy the flora, fauna and special character of this unique corner of England - described, in Barham's Ingoldsby Legends, as one of the world's five continents: 
              The world according to the best geographers is divided into Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Romney Marsh

The landscape of Romney Marsh has been by the changing sea levels of the last 10,000 years, during which time it has been reclaimed from the sea by the deposition of silt
and Rother, and drifting shingle which formed beaches, ending in the vast shingle headland of Dungeness. In Saxon times the River Rother entered the sea at New Romney, but the great storm of 1287 washed shingle across the mouth of the harbour causing the river to flow to the sea at Rye, and started the creation of the Marsh as we know it today. When the sea receded it left behind what became rich pasture land and for years the rearing of sheep has been a famous part of farming here.
The Marsh, protected behind great sea walls and below sea level at high tide, is covered with a drainage pattern of winding dykes, many of which will be encountered on these walks.

The flora and fauna of the Marsh is extensive, with a number of species unique to the area - the well known being the Marsh Frog, Rana Ridibunda, introduced in 1935 from Hungary, which is much larger than the common frog. Herons, swans, kingfishers and mallards inhabit the dykes, which in the spring are adorned with yellow irises.

Romney Marsh Walks

These circular walks across the exposed landscape of the Marsh have been devised to link the isolated small villages of Romney Marsh with their picturesque churches which form important landmarks to the walker.
For each of the six walks there is information which includes directional instructions and details of notable features along the route. Each walk can be started from one of a number of villages and can be undertaken in short sections or as a whole. 
 

Villages and towns visited on the circular walks

    Brookland     Burmarsh     Dymchurch    Ivychurch     Lydd    Newchurch    New Romney    Old Romney    St Mary in the Marsh