St Mary in the Marsh
It is probable that there was a Saxon church on the site originally known as "Siwold's Circe". This was superseded after the Norman invasion by a stone built church St Mary the Virgin with a splendid three tier tower of Kentish ragstone. The oldest parts of the church are about 1133 AD.
Next to the church there is one of the oldest pubs on the Marsh, The Star Inn public house.
Author of the famous childrens' book 'The Railway Children' Edith Nesbit, born in 1858, is buried in the churchyard of St Mary in the Marsh.
John Coleman, born in St Mary in the Marsh in 1798, won the Victoria Cross (VC) at the siege of Sebastopol in the Crimean war. He was 57 years old, and a sergeant in the British Army, 97th Regiment (Queen's Own Royal West Kent) during the Crimean War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.
The seaside village of St Mary's Bay is about 2 miles to its east and the town of New Romney is about 3 miles to its south east.
Aerial view of St Mary in the Marsh (Ack. 48)
