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Where Did Romneys Come From?

A Brief History and Notes from a Visit to Romney Marsh

by Steve Shafer

Howard Bates with his sheep by St. Thomas Becker Church, Romney Marsh

Howard Bates with his sheep by St. Thomas Becket Church, Romney Marsh

History

The millions of Romneys today all descend from sheep peculiar by the late 1700s to a small corner of southeastern England, 27 miles from France. The whole region of "The Marsh" (approximately 100 square miles) is the size of Martha's Vineyard. "Romney" comes from the Saxon for "marsh water." Like the Bay of Mont Saint Michel, the area is below high-tide sea level, but above low-tide. Diked piece-by-piece between 1150 and 1400, this outwash plain grows some of the world's most prized pasture.

The Marsh is important in English history. It holds four of the seven "Cinque Ports" confederated in the 12th C. for the defense of England --Romney, Hythe, Winchelsea and Rye. Portsmen spearheaded five sea battles against France or Spain between 1213 and 1350.

During the 13th C, the River Rother changed its course, with the final twist coming during the great storm of 1287. After this, the towns of Old and New Romney were no longer ports. Before 1700 all the rivermouth harbors of The Marsh had silted up. Rye, the last one commercially alive, supplied warships to fight the Armada in 1588, while landlocked Romney had to send a promise of cash. Around "the ports of stranded pride" sheep now grazed where ships had docked, where kings' warships had been built. Ever adapting, the Marshmen of the 17th and 18th Centuries traded English wool with France, not always paying the Crown duty. This industry held the area in thrall much as the Mafia held Sicily.

The lngoldsby Legends, a series of regional tall tales written around 1840 by the Vicar of Snargate, The Rev Richard Barham, tells us "The World, according to the best geographers, is divided into Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Romney Marsh. In this last-named, and fifth, quarter of the globe, a witch may still be occasionally discovered in favorable, i.e. stormy, seasons weathering Dungeness Point in an egg-shell, or careering on her broomstick over Dymchurch Wall."

Our Visit

Since joining ARBA I'd read about "Romney Marsh," how it's been mostly dry for centuries, kept from the sea by alluvial gravel bars and manmade sea-walls. It has 30-60,000 acres of the best grassland anywhere; some fields sustain 12-15 stock units per acre. As of 1940, most had been grazed unbroken since the 13th Century.

Elizabeth and I went there in January 2001. Train from London was easy, 1 .5 hours. Through the kindness of Angela Doughty, a member of both ARBA and its British progenitor, we met with Howard Bates and Frank Langrish. [Editor's note: an article by Angela appears on page 3 of the Winter 2001 Ramblings.] Howard, an 8th-generation farmer-grazer, has 1,200 ewes in Brookland, Romneys and Romney crosses. The sheep around St Thomas Becket Church, most photographed of the Marsh's renowned churches, are his. Howard lambs outdoors in April, with help only from his wife, Yvonne, a painter, and their three young children. His flock clip was recognized for 1992 as the best in Britain. It goes to domestic Axminster carpet-weaving.

St. Thomas Becket Church, Romney Marsh

Howard (phone 044 1797 344695) does a professional, sheep-person's tour. He knows other Marsh lore too biota, geography, history.

Frank runs 4,000 ewes in Pett Level, just southwest of Rye. His family has raised sheep for 350 years, the last hundred in The Marsh. Frank, too, lambs in April outdoors. He is Chairman of the British Wool Marketing Board, which centrally auctions two million kg every two weeks year-round. (www.britishwool.org.uk) The Board has great initiatives, e.g. wall insulation cost-competitive with fiberglass.

Reading history had not told me about Marsh magic -- green and silver planes; sky, cloud and lightscapes; sea air; the evident millennial struggle to hold land. Nor had it told me that sheep numbers and sheep land there have dropped since 1950 by 90%. There are now about 20,000 sheep in summer, on a few thousand acres.

You will love The Marsh, but go soon. A match of animal, place and custom unique for intensivity combined with the ecological fitness of grazing is being plowed up for crops that out-return sheep. We were honored by Marsh hospitality, a connection with place and people who bring an 800-year enterprise into the 21st Century, economically strained and held with skill, realism and devotion.

Our trip was in January 2001, well before the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that has had such a terrible impact on British sheep-raising. This article was submitted before restrictions on visiting the English countryside had been imposed. Readers will bear those restrictions in mind against my urging them to 'hurry.' Readers will, I hope, join in my fervent hopes and prayers for the well-being of British sheep and sheep-raisers, hit so hard in the last couple of years with problems for which they cannot be blamed. We owe so much to centuries of British sheep husbandry. Our hearts must be with those who carry it on.

Steve Shafer, March 18, 2001

Last updated 3/30/01

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