Copyright Kent Past 2010
Kent Past
The History of Kent
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History of New Romney
New Romney comes from the Old English 'ea', meaning 'river' combined with a priest’s name – a priest named Romanus (anglicised to ‘Ruman’) owned land in this region in the 7th century – therefore, ‘Ruman’s river’. The prefix 'new' distinguishes New Romney from Old Romney. Romney first appears in 791AD as Rumnea.
By the beginning of the 12th century, Romney’s flourishing port extended along the
north bank of the River Rother to form the 'Longport'. However, as the harbour started
to silt up, activities centred at the seaward end. During the 1100’s the harbour
gradually moved further away from the old village until the distance became too great
and the villages split into the old and new.
As one of the Cinque Ports mentioned in a Royal Charter of 1155, New Romney had become
the foremost 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 course 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.
New Romney parish church is a Grade: I listed building, dedicated to Saint
Nicholas. Bishop Odo, half-
The great storms of 1287 and 1288 stranded New Romney leading to the loss of the
second harbour. With more than three feet of sand and gravel left behind, the church
found itself below ground level and required steps to get to the door. The east end
of the church also needed rebuilding. In 1665, there is a record of five bells in
the tower, when John Hodson augmented them to six. In November 1748, Robert Catlin
cast a new ring of eight bells. In 1798, Edward Hasted described the New Romney church
as being a ‘very large and handsome, consisting of three isles and three chancels,
having a square tower, with four pinnacles on it, at the west end, in which hang
eight bells. The church is antient, the pillars between the isles being very large,
with circular arches and Saxon ornaments. The tower at the west end seems still more
so, having several ranges of small circular arches on the sides, and at the bottom
is a circular arch, over a door-
New Romney railway station opened, at the extreme south of the town, on the Romney Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, on 16 July 1927.