Rye Castle Museum

By Jill Eddison

Farming on the Marsh through the Ages

1. Land-use in the Saxon period must have been use of salt-marsh as pasture, which would have continued after parts of the Marsh had been ”inned”.
2. Around 1200, the demands of a dense and rising population meant that much of the Marsh was used as arable.
3. After the Black Death and later epidemics of the Plague, the Marsh reverted to pasture once again. This continued until the Second World War.
4. In World War II food was in short supply, and some of the Marsh was ploughed up. This showed how fertile the Marsh was.
5. As a result, from 1960  the Marsh was increasingly ploughed, so that now only about 10% remains as pastu re.

Dungeness and Dungeness Power Station

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In 1965 the first nuclear power station at this site , Dungeness A, was in operation. By 1983 Dungeness B, an advanced gas cooled reactor was producing power for homes, schools and factories. On a typical day, the power stations now produce 30 million kilowatt hours of electricity – enough to power the whole of South East England.

 Surrounded by a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which extends to land within the perimeter fence of the station, the Power Station is very aware of the needs for environmental protection and complies with all statutory requirements, as well as enhancing environmental awareness through active involvement of staff and public.

 In conjunction with English Nature, nature trails allow controlled access to the shingle ridges, and herbicides are no longer used, so that wildlife is conserved. Built on Dungeness, the Power Stations are on the largest surface area of shingle in Europe -some 12km by 6km in extent. This great mass of shingle ridges has taken more than 5,000 years to develop. Some 100,000 cubic metres of stones are carried round Dungeness Point every year, creating a ’ness’, nose, or cuspate foreland. 

Wave action from the SW carries shingle eastward; erosion of shingle on the south shore threatens to undermine the power stations, so it is necessary for a great fleet of lorries to constantly carry the shingle, built up on the eastern shore of the foreland, back to the western side. From here it is washed by sea action, round the point again, ready to be picked up and transported again…and again…and again.

 Water circulation–and bird life

Sea water for the power stations is drawn in at a rate of 100m litres per hour. Fish, seaweed and other debris is removed by filters and the water passes to condensers. The water circulates through tubes in the condensers and steam passes over the tubes, and condenses back into water before returning to the reactors’ boilers.
 

The water returning to the sea is about 12°C warmer, and emerges in upwellings or patches which attract many birds seeking food and roosting sites.

Folkestone and Dover Water Services Ltd abstract water from the aquifer of Dungeness to provide water to the coastal communities between Lydd and Hythe. Increased demand for water – some 2 million gallons a day, has resulted in a 370% increase in abstraction since 1960. The freshwater accounts for the exceptional biodiversity of Dungeness – so maintaining a balance between wildlife and human requirements, is essential.  

There are no rivers or streams in the area; rainwater drains quickly through the shingle so there are few areas of natural surface water. Gravel extraction has created areas of open water in the old gravel pits, and there is now close cooperation between the gravel extractors and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), to produce ’natura1’ habitats for wildlife.
 

On Dungeness, the RSPB manage close on 1,000 hectares, of which they own 650 hectares. Different habitats – freshwater wetlands, seashore, ancient and recent shingle ridges mean there is a wide variety of plant and animal life within the Reserve.

At least 300 bird species are listed with 180 bird species recorded annually. Some 430 plant species, 250 species of moths and butterflies (including the rare Sussex Emerald Green butterfly), more species of bumble bee than elsewhere in Britain, the largest colony of medicinal leeches, a wide variety of insects and thousands of invertebrates are all to be found in this unique area.

Preventing Shipwrecks

 By the 1600’s Dungeness was a huge foreland of shingle, extensive enough to cause numerous shipwrecks, with much loss of life and cargo.

It is thought that a Rye Jeweller , John Allen, first suggested a warning light be set up on the point, but he lacked the necessary funds, and the idea eventually took effect in 1615, under the direction of Sir Edward Howard, who held senior office in the Admiralty. The first lighthouse was 35 feet high and had a coal brazier at the top, the fuel being hauled up by a basket and pulley. 

The shingle of the ness continued to build up and in 1792, Trinity House demanded a new lighthouse, and a 116 foot tower, designed by Samuel Wyatt was constructed. Similar in design to Smeatons’ Eddystone light, this new one was seven stories high, tapering toward the top and with the lantern fuelled by oil burners.

Ships passing the point were expected to pay a halfpenny for every ton, but this was difficult to collect, so Sir Edward made over his rights officially to William Lamplough, and dues were collected by Customs when ships docked.

In 1635 Lamplough replaced the rather ineffectual light by a tower 110 feet high, built nearer the sea. This also had a coal beacon, and the two keepers, who were provided with living quarters at the base of the lighthouse, had to haul the 400 tons of coa1 annually up the tower to keep the light burning. This proved to be a problem during strong gales.

The lighthouse was eventually inherited by the wife of Thomas Coke of Holkham, Norfolk, and the ownership remained in the Coke family but run by Lydd men, until Trinity House bought out all the leases of the lighthouses in 1836.

Wyatt’s lighthouse used 900 gallons of oil annually, coming from sperm oil, then vegetable oil and finally petroleum, but to prevent the oil from congealing in winter, a coal stove was necessary. This third lighthouse had 17 Argon lamps each with silvered concave reflectors 20 inches in diameter

However by 1818 the foundations were threatened by decomposition, as the mortar had been mixed with seawater. Strong buttresses had to be erected round the base, and after a violent storm in 1821 other repairs had to be made to strengthen the tower. 

The lighthouse was painted in red and white stripes so that it was visible by day, and by 1890, living quarters and cottages were added.

 The first permanent use of electricity in lighthouses was at Dungeness in 1862, and it operated for 13 years before being considered inefficient and too expensive. Oil light was restored, and a new lamp with 850 candlepower and surrounded by glass prisms, could be seen for 16 miles.

Since 1635, fog whistles and bells were used to warn ships, but in 1860 a fog trumpet was installed next to the 1792 lighthouse, and this was operated by a steam engine.

Shingle continued to build up so that by the late 1880’s the light was a long way from the sea. A smaller Low Light was placed nearer the shore. This bright, revolving light flashed every 5 seconds and could be seen for 10 miles. A siren foghorn was housed here too.
 

 Still the shingle collected. A new lighthouse was built in 1904, 150 feet high with 169 steps. Using paraffin oil, this flashing light could be seen 18 miles. 670 glass prisms gave a magnification of 164,000 candle power, but the mechanism for turning the light was still hand wound.

1904 Light

Below the main light a red light showed that could only be seen in East Bay; red and green lights were visible in West Bay.

In 1932 the Low Light and fog signal were replaced by a white cylindrical tower, producing a flashing light using acetylene gas and the foghorn sounded 3 blasts every 2 minutes. This was pulled down in 1959 when the new Dungeness lighthouse was planned.

In 1959 electricity was again in use, successfully this time, but in 1961 it was decided to build a fully automated lighthouse, 130 feet ta11, and 12 feet in diameter.

Four banks of 4 x 200 watt Aga sealed beam lamps – (1920,000 candle power) gave a range of 24 miles. The inbuilt foghorn with automatic fog detector, sounds three times every 30 seconds, and there are sti1l red and green lights.

Lighthouse Remains 1904

Today the new, slim lighthouse stands close by the Old Lighthouse.  It is possible to climb to the top of the stairs of the old one (now privately owned) froom whence an excellent view of Dungeness is obtained.   The white house nearby is the base of the old 1792 lighthouse.

Lighthouse 1861

 The Rhee ‘Wall’

The so-called Rhee Wall crosses the whole width of the Marsh, running 7.5 miles from Appledore to New Romney . It consists of two parallel earth banks some 50 metres apart east of Snargate, widening to about 100 metres apart west of that. The ground between these banks is raised well above the marsh on either side.

The name Rhee meant ‘watercourse’ in Old English and, although it has not contained water since about A.D.1400, it was indeed constructed as a channe1 to convey water from Appledore to wash away the silt being deposited by the sea in the harbour at Romney.

In 1258 an already ‘ancient’ watercourse (perhaps no more than 50 years old) existed as far as Old Romney, and the King gave instructions to extend it to New Romney. One sluice was made to take in water at Appledore and two others were built to control the flow at Snargate and New Romney.

For over 100 years the flow was maintained, but the sea brought in its load of silt, which blocked and raised the channe1. As the silt grew higher, the walls had to be built even higher to prevent the water overflowing on to the marsh. By about 1400 the channel had dried out, and the Rhee ‘wall’ was left as a tract, usefully raised above the marsh and possible floods.  It is now followed by the Appledore to Romney road.

NOTE: There is NO evidence to support an old suggestion that the Rhee was a Roman sea wall!