"The World, according to the best geographers, is divided into Europe, Asia, Africa, America, and Romney Marsh", wrote the Reverend Richard Harris Barham, writing as Thomas Ingoldsby, in The Ingoldsby Legends, his gothic tales of superstition and folklore, in the 1840s.

It's not hard to see why he described the area on the Kent/Sussex border on England's south coast as being an altogether separate part of the world. With its low lying marshland, all once under sea, Romney Marsh is an extraordinary part of England with an extraordinary history. Helen Mark discovers its strange beauty and hears how the area has always had to defends itself against the elements as well as against foreign invaders.
Romney Marsh Countryside Project

Helen meets archeologist Martin Brown on the beach at Cliff End near Hastings, the site of the shipwrecked Ann a casualty of an attempted French invasion in 1690. Martin explains how this part of the coast has always been on the frontline whenever there's been a threat of attack, and how the area has developed as a result. He takes Helen to the Military Canal, which was built as a line of defence during the Napoleonic wars in 1794 and shows her the heavily fortified Martello Towers that were built along the canal as an extra form of protection.
Martello Towers

The military canal is open to walkers and cyclers and boasts a variety of wildlife, as does the surrounding area, which is mostly cultivated farmland. Ecologist Patrick Roper points out some of the unusual species of flora and fauna that inhabit the marsh, including the marshmallow moth and the Hungarian Laughing Marsh frog that was introduced to the area around 70 years ago and has since multiplied. local residents complain that they're kept awake all night when the frogs emit their strange cackling croak during the mating season. Patrick says that walkers out late have been startled by the sound of the frogs, believing they were hearing some ghostly sound rising out of the evening mist.

The area is rich in folklore and many writers, historians and artists have found themselves drawn to the area. Local historian Alan Jones tells Helen why he loves the marsh even in the bleakness of mid-winter. He recounts some of the tales of the smugglers who took advantage of the remoteness of the marsh to sell and trade weapons and wool with the French over the centuries.