| By Andrew Leaning,
on 12-04-2008 15:32
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Views : 18936  |
Extra: Smuggling Gangs of South East England Smuggling across South East England is thought to have started amongst the towns and coastal ports of Romney Marsh and surrounding areas. In 1155, a royal charter established the 'Cinque Ports' - towns along the coast of Kent that would maintain ships for the Crown for use in times of war, in return they were granted the right of self-government, self policing and exemption from taxes. With a blind eye turned to activities from these ports, the foundations were laid for smuggling. The advent of Customs in the 13th Century (a tax of £3 being introduced on bags of wool leaving England) and the short distance across the Channel to France from these same Kent ports gave locals the incentive and opportunity for the tranfer of goods without paying taxes and the opportunity to make a comfortable profit. Clandestine smuggling took off, with alcohol, Silks, wool (from Romney Sheep), tea, brandy and tobacco the prime goods trafficked during dark nights to avoid tolls levied by the Government.
Brandy, Wool Silk Smuggling
Smuggling flourished across Romney Marsh over the centuries, peaking in 1780 and lasting until the late 1800's, with several notorious smuggling gangs active on Marsh during this period. A report mentioned in the The House of Commons Journal for 16981 for example documents the seizure of clandestine trade from Lydd: "from 1690 to 95, 330 Packs of Wool, and about 1,500 l. worth of Silks; the Wool he seized in Kent, and the Silks in Canterbury and Lydd", an article in the Times newspaper from August 26th 1791 reports the seizure of Brandy2, while assize records record the seizer of 1500lbs of Wool3 both at Lydd. 
Many Marsh smugglers, known as Owlers due to the Owl like noises they made to communicate at night, fought and died in pitched battles with customs officers, the memorial stones for many can be seen in local churches, notably smugglers George Walker and Francis Sisley in All Saints' graveyard, Lydd, with St Peter and St Paul at Dymchurch graveyard also featuring a number of smugglers graves. But churches didn't provide just a last resting place for smugglers. Most were used as a safe hole or store for contraband. The churches at Ivychurch, Snargate and Dymchurch in particular were known for their nocturnal activities. A picture of a galleon painted on the wall opposite the South doorway in Snargate Church reportedly informing smugglers that the church was a safe hiding place.  Many inhabitants Marsh towns were openly sympathetic towards smugglers with considerable documentary evidence in the form of court records detailing smuggler activities by the populations of Marsh towns. The population of Lydd in particular was famous for its support of smugglers to the extent that the town was effectively under the control of smugglers by 17344. One tale from 1721 tells how Jacob Walter and Thomas Biggs, two smugglers from the Mayfield Gang, were caught by customs officials in Lydd and held prisoner in a locked room in The George Pub (now the George Hotel) and guarded by six men armed with 20 'firelocks'. Despite this, the gang leader Gabriel Tomkin and several locals attacked the pub, firing their guns as they burst in, while 100 others waited outside. In the ensuing gunfight Tomkin and three of the officers were injured. Old Bailey records record how on August 13th 1746, Arthur Gray - another leader of the Hawkhurst Gang - and seven others "at the parish of Lyd, in the county of Kent , did, with fire-arms, and other offensive weapons, riotously, unlawfully, and feloniously assemble themselves together, in order to be aiding and assisting in the running, landing, and carrying away uncustomed goods, and goods liable to pay duties, which had not been paid , or secured"6.
Another tale recounts how smugglers chased one of the local officials out of the town threatening to murder him if caught, while another records how in 1819 local smuggler Geoge Walker was being matched from the Court House to the Jail (now Woolleys hardware store and the Guild Hall respectively) when a supportive crowd jostled officers and enabled him to escape. He was chased into nearby New Bigging Street (now New Street) and killed by a Lieutenant5. His epitaph in Lydd churchyard reads: Let it be known that I am clay
A base man took my life away
Yet freely do I him forgive
And hope in heaven we both shall live. Hawkhurst Gang, Rye No history of smuggling would be complete with mentioning Rye. This ancien Sussex town was hugely popular with smugglers, particularly the Hawkhurst Gang, with its location, narrow streets and close set houses and shops - many with interconnecting passageways and tunnels making it a ideal for hiding and distributing smuggled goods. Many of the towns Inns where resting spots for smugglers, with the Mermaid Inn, The Red Lion, Flushing Inn all having numerous tales, while the Ypres Tower was temporary home to more than a few smugglers while they awaited sentence, deportation or worse and several shops in the town have secret tunnels, the Market Street bakery even has a lift to haul goods into hidding places in the attic.
Evidence heard at the Old Bailey on 11th July, 17506, in a case against members of the Hawkhurst Gang for tax offenses against the King, for example details how 30 or 40 members of the Gang stayed at the George Pub and many more elsewhere in the town between 14th and 19th October 1746 while waiting for a cutter carrying tea and brandy to arrive at Camber. This wasn't the only pitch battle between customs officers, smuggling gangs and locals in the area. In perhaps the most famous incident, the Aldington Gang was caught while unloading goods (1000 gallons of foreign geneva, and 1000 gallons of foreign brandy) at Camber during the early hours of February 11th 1821. In the fierce fight that later became known as the 'Battle of Brookland', 200 gang members fought a running battle with customs men across Walland Marsh finally ending in a fight at Brookland7. Old Bailey Court records from 11th April, 1821, recorded that the Gang "shoot off and discharge divers guns and pistols, loaded with gunpowder, slugs, leaden bullets, and shot, at Edward Digby , John Jones , and Charles James Franklin Newton , John Churcher , John Jackson , William Crockford , and Joseph Bone - the said Edward Digby , John Jones , and Charles James Franklin Newton , being officers of his Majesty's Navy, and deputed officers of his Majesty's Customs". The battle came to an end when about 20 smugglers emerged from Brookland on foot and horse and challenged the customs officers with the words "Come along, we will see what we can make of you."8 By the end of the battle, 25 men lay injured and 5 dead (four smugglers and one seaman) and the then leader of the Aldington Gang - Cephas Quested - captured. Ironically, his capture came about when he mistook a naval officer for one of his gang and handed him a loaded musket saying "take this and blow some officer's brains out". Cephas was tried at the Old Bailey on April 17th and later hung at Newgate Prison on 4th July.
Another incident in Lydd occurred in 1688, when William Carter was openly attacked in the town by a group of Owlers just hours after he'd arrested them. By the 1730s, the problem had escalated to the point where authorities installed a company of Dragoons in the town but this failed to deter inhabitants and in 1829 smugglers were so confident that they laid on a convoy of contraband and paraded it through the town, to the applause of townsfolk. Although not as common as it once was, smuggling is still thought to take place with open support from many village residents around the coast villages of the Marsh and was certainly the case until recently. A customs office dispatched to Littlestone (near New Romney) in 1932 reported: 'between Dymchurch and Dungeness positively reeked with smuggling, and he considered New Romney and Lydd nothing more than a nest of contraband runners; that he had been shadowed continually wherever he went, and that with the exception of the old coastguards and a few others, he considered that there were few residents who were not directly or indirectly connected with the smuggling activities. 
Many of the beaches bordering Romney Marsh with their sand dunes providing natural hiding places for smugglers
| One of the main attractions of Romney Marsh and surrounding marsh land to smugglers is the isolation. The coasts of Dungeness and Camber in particular where of particular appeal, Dungeness with its remoteness and Camber with its many dunes providing the perfect hiding spot for illicit goods. During the 1700's, smugglers lured the Alfresia, Spanish vessel, aground off Dungeness; slew its crew and plundered its cargo of spirits - the Pilot Inn Dungeness was originally built from timbers of the ship. Skip forward 100 years and 12,000 gallons of brandy were smuggled ashore on the same strip of coast in a single weekend9. |
One of the many famous writers who made a home on the Marsh was Rudyard Kipling, who wrote poetry about Smuggling ("Smugglers Song" & "Poor Honest Men"). Notably, he referred to smugglers as 'Gentleman' and did much to reinforce the romantic vision of smugglers. If you wake at Midnight, and hear a horse's feet,
Don't go drawing back the blind, or looking in the street,
Them that asks no questions isn't told a lie.
Watch the wall, my darling, while the Gentlemen go by!
Five and twenty ponies
Trotting through the dark -
Brandy for the Parson.
'Baccy for the Clerk;
Laces for a lady, letters for a spy,
And watch the wall, my darling, while the Gentlemen go by!
A Smuggler's Song, Rudyard Kipling
To be drowned or be shot
Is our natural lot,
Why should we, moreover, be hanged in the end —
After all our great pains
For to dangle in chains
As though we were smugglers, not poor honest men? Poor Honest Men, Rudyard Kipling
1: Journal of the House of Commons: volume 12 2: The Times Digital Archive, 1785-1985 3: Calendar of Assize Records: Kent Indictments Charles II 1676-1688, J. S. Cockburn, pg: 10 4: Something to Declare, 1000 years of Customs and Excise, Graham Smith: pg 44 5: Lydd Town Trail, Romney Marsh Countryside Project 6: Old Bailey, ref: t17500711-31 and t17480420-23, The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London 1674 to 1913 7: Wikipedia page on the Aldington Gang. 8: Old Bailey, ref: t18210411-64, The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London 1674 to 1913 9: Smugglers Britain Last update: 16-07-2008 08:28
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Man on the Marsh 
