Natural England

Romney Marshes

• A flat, open and agricultural landscape, with distinctive drainage dykes, marshes and open skies. The treeless, low-lying, reclaimed marshland is now maintained by manmade drainage and river floodplain improvements.

• A high-quality agricultural land of extensive arable fields and some traditional open wet pasture land grazed by cattle and sheep. Narrow, straight roads and widely dispersed settlements with distinctive churches combine with the overall open character to provide a sense of remoteness.

• Clumps of trees on pockets of higher ground around farmsteads, reed fringed ditches, patches of standing water and rushy pasture, all contribute to local diversity in a relatively uniform landscape.

• The area's high nature-conservation value is concentrated in the wet grazing marshes, dykes, mudflats and the less extensive but distinct sand-dunes and shingle ridges of Dungeness.

• Former sea cliffs, mainly of sandstone, mark the post-glacial shoreline and form a notable feature overlooking Romney Marshes at Rye, Winchelsea, Hythe and Pett. The Napoleonic Royal Military Canal runs along the base of this degraded cliffline for much of its length.

• 20th century development is evident in the towns along the coastal strip.

• The landscape displays a sharp contrast between the shingle coastal promontories, the extensive open, low-lying agricultural land behind and the inland backdrop of well-wooded rising ground. 

For further details on this character area and for an introduction to the region, please see the PDF documents in the box at the top right hand side of this page.