With the ravages of coastal storms, the 'Black Death', 'Malaria' (which was present across the Marsh from 1500 to 1730) and occasional invasion many hamlets and small communities across the Romney Marshes have disappeared over time. The following lost villages have all been identified for parish records, court records and other historical documents.

A map of the lost villages is available here.

The Lost Villages of Romney Marsh

• Midley (bottom centre) - Now just the remains of a church. A village from the 8th Century with the Church apparently established in the 15th Century but falling into disuse by the 16th Century. The village still existed in the 18th Century with births and deaths recorded at this time. Midley was apparently originally on the banks of the River Rother, when its original flow by Romney and Lydd. The Domesday book entry records the village as having 65 people.See Wood family records
• Dengemarsh & Galloways: Lydd is now the most southern town in Kent but it wasn't always. Just South of Lydd were the villages of Dengemarsh and Galloways, both closed when Lydd army ranges were started in WW2.
• Hope All Staints (bottom left) was in decline from the 15th Century and finally abandoned in the 17th Century although a population remained in 1848. All that remains now is the crumbling ruins of the Church but historic documents detail a Manor House and Parsonage with the bell of the Church now hanging at New Romney.
• Blackmanstone - referenced in the Domesday Book, with a population of 12 recorded in the 1377 census and population of 10 in 1848 (A Topographical Dictionary of England,edited by Samuel Lewis, publishing 1848) and referenced in census of 1851 and mentioned in now only marked by a bridge bearing its name. The Topolographical Dictionary of England references a Church being in ruins.
• Fawkenhurst, now just a stone cross on a stepped plinth.
• Snave - now just a Church.
• Orgarswick (bottom, far right)- mentioned in 1851 census and now marked by a cross of stone from the church. Chapel Cottage Farm just a short distance from the cross is aparently the location of the original village. As with Blackmanstone, above, by 1848 the church was already gone. (A Topographical Dictionary of England,edited by Samuel Lewis).
• Fairfield no further details
• Broomhill (sometimes called Proomhill or Promehill) is now just a scatter of stones, the village being lost to the sea during raging storms of 1287. 
• EastBridge (bottom 2nd from right) - now just a couple of houses and the remains of church but once a village with a population of 20+ and referenced in the Domesday book in 1087, it was again mentioned in Visitation Roll for Romney Marsh in 1292.
• Old Winchelsea - lost in the storms of the 13th century. Originally situated on a shingle bank in front of where Camber is today.

Pictures of Lost Villages

Recommended Books

• Lost Villages: Rediscovering Britains Vanished Communities, Bestselling author Henry Buckton goes in search of some of the Britain's more recent lost villages
• The Lost Villages of England, Leigh Driver examines the historical writings, documents and archaeological remains that bear witness to the past, and tells the story of the demise of each lost village

References: 

The Gift of the Sea Romney Marsh, Anne Roper, 2nd ed, ISBN: 0 9509736 7 X

Last update: 29-07-2008 19:13