Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 square miles (260 km2). The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until the 18th century. Due to its location, geography and isolation, it was important for smugglers between the 17th and 19th centuries. The area has long been used for sheep pasture: Romney Marsh sheep are considered one of the most successful and important sheep breeds. Featuring numerous waterways, and with some areas lying below sea level, the Marsh has over time sustained a gradual level of reclamation, both through natural causes and by human intervention.
Folkestone and Hythe is a local government district in Kent, England. It lies in the south-east of the county, on the coast of the English Channel. The district was formed in 1974 and was originally named Shepway after one of the ancient lathes of Kent, which had covered a similar area. The district was renamed in 2018. The council is based in Folkestone, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Hawkinge, Hythe, Lydd and New Romney, along with numerous villages and surrounding rural areas.
The Borough of Ashford is a local government district with borough status in Kent, England. It is named after its largest town, Ashford, where the council is based. The borough also includes the town of Tenterden and an extensive surrounding rural area including numerous villages; with an area of 580 square kilometres (220 sq mi), it is the largest district in Kent. Parts of the borough lie within the designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty of High Weald and the Kent Downs.
Bonnington is a dispersed village and civil parish on the northern edge of the Romney Marsh in Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is located eight miles (13 km) to the south of the town of Ashford on the B2067.
Lympne, formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Lympne Industrial Park then via the main settlement to Newingreen in the north, centred 11 km (7 mi) west of Folkestone, 2.3 mi (3.7 km) west of Hythe and 13 km (8.1 mi) ESE of Ashford.
Appledore is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village centre is on the northern edge of the Romney Marsh, 12 miles (19 km) south-west of Ashford town. The northerly part of this village is Appledore Heath.
Ham Street railway station is a Grade II listed stop on the Marshlink line in the village of Hamstreet, Kent, between Ashford International and Hastings. Services are provided by Southern.
Mersham is a mostly agricultural large village and civil parish near Ashford in Kent, England. The population of the civil parish includes the area of Cheesman's Green now known as Finberry.
Warehorne is a village and civil parish in the south of the Ashford Borough of Kent, England. It is a scattered community centred on the Hamstreet to Tenterden road (B2067) around seven miles SSW of Ashford. The Royal Military Canal passes through the south of the civil parish.
Orlestone is a mid-sized civil parish in Ashford District, Kent, England, with a population of 1,593. The centre of the parish is Hamstreet village which falls almost entirely within it but has a small fraction in the parish of Warehorne. The civil parish here reflects the very longstanding dominance of Orlestreet as its ecclesiastical parish boundary and provides a third alternative to most residents of Hamstreet to their village name, other than 'Ham Street'. Hamstreet is bypassed by the A2070 road, six miles south of Ashford.
Ruckinge is a village and civil parish in south Kent centred 5.5 miles (8.9 km) south of Ashford on the B2067 Hamstreet to Hythe road, with two settled neighbourhoods. It is, broadly defined, a narrow, fairly large rural parish of land which is about one quarter woodland.
Kenardington is a small clustered village and the centre of a relatively small rural civil parish of the same name, in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village is centred 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Ashford on the B2067 Hamstreet to Tenterden road.
The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, 163 miles (262 km) in total. This means that around Romney Marsh the route runs significantly inland from the modern coastline.
Kingsnorth is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Ashford in Kent, England. The civil parish adjoins the town of Ashford.
Stone-cum-Ebony is a large mostly rural and marshland civil parish centred 7 miles (11 km) SSW of Ashford, in the Ashford district, in Kent, England. It includes the village of Stone in Oxney and tiny community of Ebony. In 2011 it had a population of 460.
Woodchurch is a Kent village, the largest civil parish in the Borough of Ashford. It is centred 6 miles (9.7 km) from the market town of Ashford and 4 miles (6 km) from the Cinque Ports town of Tenterden, in Kent, South East England.
Snave is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Brenzett, in the Folkestone and Hythe district, in the county of Kent, England. It is on Romney Marsh in Kent, England centred close to the A2070 road 8 miles (13 km) south of Ashford. Its buildings are a few houses, barns and store sheds and the church of St Augustine which holds one service per year at harvest festival. In spring, the churchyard is heavily clad in daffodils. The church falls under the ecclesiastical parish of Orlestone with Snave, in the Diocese of Canterbury. In 1931 the parish had a population of 70.
West Hythe is a hamlet and former civil parish, now in the parish of Hythe, in the Folkestone and Hythe district, in Kent, England, near Palmarsh and a few miles west of the cinque port town of Hythe. In 2020 it had an estimated population of 566.
Brenzett is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe District of Kent, England. The village lies on the Romney Marsh, three miles (4.8 km) west of New Romney. The population of the civil parish includes the hamlet of Snave.
The A2070 is a major road running north–south through Kent from Ashford to Brenzett. It provides a strategic link between the M20 motorway and the A259, which runs along the East Sussex coast.
