New Romney derives from the Saxon 'rumnea', meaning 'marsh water'. The word 'new' was added to differentiate the old village from the new harbour. The earliest record of Romney dates from 791 AD.
By 1140, it was a flourishing port extending along the north bank of the River Rother to form the 'Longport'. However, as the harbour silted up, activities centred at the seaward end. Old Romney diminished in importance, while New Romney grew. Until the 1100's, Old Romney and New Romney were linked, although the port at New Romney was moving further away from the old village as the coastline spread. As the creeping away of the harbour continued, the distance between Romney and its harbour became too great, and so the two villages separated.
As one of the Cinque Ports mentioned in a Royal Charter of 1155, New Romney had become the major village at this time. In 1287, a severe storm hit the Channel. Shingles from Dungeness piled up and blocked the outlet of the Rother at New Romney; the river changed its path to Rye and out into the sea. New Romney had its harbour devastated and shingles and mud flooded the streets. After this, the prosperity of the village declined.
St Nicholas was the first church built in New Romney, originally standing on the harbour side. Started in 1080 by Bishop Odo, half-brother to William the Conqueror, it was completed 50 years later in 1130. In the 13th and 14th Centuries, the church was owned by Potigny Abbey, and heavy investment was made in rebuilding the east end, with fine octagonal pillars, piscinae and sedilia in each of the three eastern chapels. New Romney was stranded by the great storms in 1287 and 1288, which led to the loss of the second harbour. Another visible consequence was of more than three feet of sand and gravel left behind, with the church entrances several feet below ground level. This resulted in the need for stone steps being installed, just to get to the church doors. The east end of the church was also badly damaged and rebuilt. The tower is later Norman, although building proceeded so slowly that the upper levels are in the later early English styles. Victorian attempts to carry out a heavy rebuilding in 1880 were stopped by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings which had been founded by William Morris in 1878.
On the 16th July 1927, the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway was opened, with a station at the extreme south of New Romney. It stretched for nearly 14 miles from Hythe to the fishermen cottage and lighthouses at Dungeness. The railway was built by Captain J.E.P Howey and Count Louis Zborowski to serve the local population and tourist trade.
