New-York tribune., 1908-08-16
SOUTH COAST WALK
The Romney Marshes-The Cinque
Ports.
Ronney, August :.

,f the Illusions OF q midsummer cruise.
% sea Of green dotted over with white
- ,,nere thousands of Romney sheep are
- gray in sunlight, and over il arches
- ,lusst of skies. with the encircling horizon
- backward in dreamy reaches as il is
: -ha face of the waters The lowlauds are
O. o. xss level. with streaks of shingle and
-hoaIs Of sand among the rich loans and moist
-..-,-ss These were the floors of broad tidal
ff~,.-,es between the chalk Of the North Downs
- the Hastings sandstone, when there was an
g. ,,,e Of beach from Fairlight TO the Shake
- Cliff. and they have remained unbroken
- of verdure. protected from encroaching
-. ~ sea wall and natural causeway, ex-
- 70 every wind from the North Sea to the
f..,--.sc and radiant in rich mists of sunlight
lever there is fair weather the south
-. Across this fertile expanse of pasturage,
=, f+s winding sweeps of white road and ribs
:. -sssy trench the holiday walker seems to
s-.4. :, leis1Irely tacks from one village to an
,,be- and the sea, when he reaches it at Dunge-
rsss is the fringe Of the marshland sheepwalk.
-.-o deeper tones of color. but white fiecked
still.
-be vsnderer among these grassy levels steers
.,s course from one church tower TO another.
ID ts reminded in every village anchorage of
,,e superior wealth as well as piety of bygone
,rs The medieval lords of the marshes were
.,btious church bpilders. and stately struct-
MOS remain for the use Of shrivelled village
.,,g-erations Six bells are rung at Appledore.
,,oa q river town with a foreign commerce and
-ow an inland railway junction, and many at
p-ookland. in a detached timber belfry beside
~ ancient church with high box pews. st.
Tr,nstsn,s. at snargate. is large enough to serve
+o- prosperous town in place of an insignih-
csn, village Old Romney which has always
han : farming village and never port like
Van Rounev has q spacious church for q dozen
,,sir- houses behind hedges. Lydd has a lofty
,ouer above E screen of foliage, and can be
sssn far aheId and the church is big enough TO
be STYLED the cathedral Of the marshes. Four
churches in New Ronney are neglected ruins
hui the fifth nluss stand for the survival Of the
Hrtest SO massive is the tower and so splendid
sre the monuments and screens. All these land
marks point to a storied past when marshmen
were pioneers Of sea power and Norman and
Augevfn kings were governing half Of France
with naval militia on guard in the Cinque
Ports.
From the time Of Julius Cesar the reclama-
tjon Of the marshes has been the consistent pol
4,r Of land holders. The broad sea wall running
bevond Dymchurch from Romney was con-
structed By the Romans If the foundations had
-ouId be flooded if il were not Systematically
repaired every year Saxons, Normans, abbots,
archbishops. royal wardens and medieval lords
followed The pioneer marine engineers in com
pleting the inning Of the marshes by embank-
nents from Appledore TO Romney and auxiliary
drainage works The land was saved at high
cost for the ports were ruined with the help Of
Dungeness and the eastward drift. The low
lands between Fairlight Down and the chalk
Gifts OF Dover and Folkestone were reclaimed
and the resources OF agriculture enlarged, but
the courses Of the rivers were changed. the har-
borg were ernptied through lack Of water for
securing them out, ports were left inland
through The shrinkage Of the sea and prosper
Gus towns we're impoverished. The Rother was
diverted from Romney 10 Rye and the seaward
channel gradually blocked. The future Of the
historic Cinoue Ports and the two ancient
towns Winchelsea and Rye. was clouded by per-
sistent efforts generation after TO convert tidal
marshes into arabic land. This is almost the
only district Of England where agriculture has
been favored at the expense OF commerce. The
Romney marshes are one Of the best sheep
walks in the kingdom, with focks increasing
from one decade TO another and with steady
Improvement in the quality of feeces
Dungeness is the least impressive headland
the south coast and Il has the most destructive
energies There are no beetling crags, ragged
rock spits and cavernous gorges- It is a natural
csuseway. built out in regular courses year by
year and century by century, with the swirl Of
the sand and the wash Of the Sussex rivers IN
the eastward drift. It is a barren stretch Of
gravel and shingis accumulated in ridges by
natural processes. yet IeveIled and regulated as
though mechanical crushes had been rolled over
Il. As its grip upon the sea has been strength
ened, the beaches on either side have been eaten
away, the harbors have been silted up and his
toric ports lave been hopeessly left inland. An
advancing wall Of heaped up shingle, it lies so
low that il can scarcely be seen among the
rnists from Romney but il has helped TO ruin
the Cincue Ports and changed the fortunes Of
the cast Insignificant as the broad headland
Is, there is deep water off its tanks where ships
car anchor: but Romney and Hythe. on one
sde, and Rye and winchelsea, on the other.
have been cut of from the sea after the glorious
traditions Of their history.
Even with its beautiful Norman church Rom
ney does not justify those traditions. With its
county court and annual cattle fair. and with
dull rows OF commonplace shops and cottages, il
does not differ essentially from other somnolent
towns in secluded corners Of rural England A
new marine suburb has been built the flank
q Dungeness and there belated efforts to
attract summer visitors II has become frankly
modern, Ike Hythe and Hastings, and lacks
both the pensive melancholy OF Sandwich and
the artistic beauty of WincheIsea; yet IT finds
difficulty IN keeping pace with Lydd in Denge-
marsh, which has given name 70 new high
explosive, has become the practising ground for
artillery and Is an encampnent for annual
muster of troops. When the sea has shrunk a
mile or more from the parish church there is
nothing 70 suggest the giories Of maritime his
tory The saunrerer after his drifting cruise