Saxon Seaxe Anglo Saxon History
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Map Position
This map shows the position of locations showing 'Saxon, Roman Actual named locations ' of type 'Roman Town, Roman Villa, Roman Major Fort, Roman Watch Tower, Roman Port, Roman Bloomery, Saxon Port' containing 'Old winchelsea, anderida, bodiam, dubris, durobrivae, durovernum, hythe, new romney, old hastings, portus lemanis, regulbium, romney, rye' centered on Iden in Sussex.
Map Logic
This map shows the Romney Marsh Area aproximately 1000AD during Later Saxon times.

The forest of Andredsweald is shown, which was impassable except where Roman Roads or rivers cut through it.

Roman roads are shown in black plotted from Ivan D Margary 'Roman Roads in Britain' published in 1955.

The red roads are taken from Ivan D Margary 'Roman ways in the Weald' published in 1948.

The Blue shaded areas show the paths of the rivers emerging into the Romney Marsh Area.


 
Icon Key:
Roman Major Fort
Saxon Port

A theoretical representation of the Romney Marsh Area aprox 1000AD

 

What do we know

In Roman times the Rother(Limen) passed along the northern edge of the Romney Marsh from Appledore through to Hythe with iron from the furnaces at Bardown near Stonegate being brought down the Limen to the current Port Lympne(Portus Lemanis).

Some time before the 8th Century the rother was blocked at Hythe.
There was in 566AD a major storm 'on the coafts of Kent, Suffex, and Hampshire', which was a likely cause of the blocking of the estuary at Hythe. The only other possibility was that it just silted up, but probably less likely.

The Rother then broke through the spit of land between the lagoon and 'Old' Romney(Rams Island) which became a major port.

The silt then started to block the new estuary at 'Old' Romney and in only a few centuries the silt had moved the Rother estuary a mile and a half further out to where New Romney was founded.(so this map is a representation of about 1000AD)

Old Winchelsea can be seen as a shingle bar just off the coast at Rye.

The shaded areas on the Marsh area are derived from research carried out at the University of East Anglia The "Kent A" cadastre - page 5 - Peterson 2002 the main data shows the differing soil types on the marsh - implying land at various points.



External References in no particular order :-
Anglo Saxon Chronicles
Online Anglo Saxon dictionary
Online Etymology dictionary
Open Domesday Book - The first free online copy of the Domesday Book
The Ermine Street Guard Roman re-enactment and research Society
The "Kent A" cadastre - page 5 - Peterson 2002
Archaeologia Cantiana Online
Romney Marsh Research Trust
Romney Marsh the Fifth Continent
VillageNet the reference guide to villages in Kent & Sussex
Global warming Flood Maps
The Anglo Saxon Chronicles
Google Maps - the core of the system
GeoPlaner - Useful site for plotting map data
Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars 55BC(Books 4 & 5)
Wikipedia - Caesar's invasions of Britain
Wikipedia - Portus Istus
The Geography of Claudius Ptolemy (Bill Thayers)
Roman Britain.org
Runetree Beowulf
Bayeux Tapestry Online
The Secrets of the Norman Invasion
Chronicles of John of Worcester
Battle Historic Society
Binsted village website(Mearcredesburnan Steðe)
The Spears of Andred
Find British Archaelogical Sites
Wealden Iron Research Group
Topographic Map of the UK

 

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Author: Simon M - Last Updated: 13/03/2024 13:12
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Data is derived from a number or sources including the Ordnance Survey Gazetter data overlayed onto Google Maps