The Royal Military Canal stretches for 28 miles hugging the old cliff line that borders the Romney Marsh from Hythe in the north east to Cliff End in the south west. It was built as a third line of defence against Napoleon, after the British Royal Navy patrolling the English Channel and the line of 74 Martello Towers built along the south coast. The Royal Military Canal was constructed in two sections. The longest section starts at Hythe in Kent and ends at Iden Lock in East Sussex. The second smaller section runs from the foot of Winchelsea Hill to Cliff End. Both sections are linked by the Rivers Rother and Brede.

Walk the Canal
Today the full length of the canal has a public footpath along it and makes an excellent waymarked long distance trail with numerous interpretation panels. The canal is also a haven for some of the special wildlife of the Romney Marsh, Kingfishers can be regularly seen and during the summer months the canal comes alive with patrolling dragonflies and noisy Marsh Frogs.

History of the Royal Military Canal
The first sod of the Royal Military Canal was dug at Seabrook, Kent on 30th October 1804. The canal was completed in April 1809 at a cost of £234,000 (£10 million in today's money), remarkably close to the estimate of £200,000.

The canal was dug by hand by “navigators”, workmen who travelled the country building the canals and railways during this period. The excavated soil was piled up on the landward side to form a parapet to enable troops to move along the canal protected from enemy fire. A narrower road was built on the seaward side as a towpath for the horses pulling the barges. At every 500 metres along the canal’s length a kink was made to enable cannons to be fired down each stretch.

‘Station Houses’ were built at every bridge along the canal, these were in fact guard houses and one of the roles of the soldiers posted in these houses was to control smuggling which was rife on the Romney Marsh at that time. The soldiers, however, were often corrupt and could easily be bribed by the smugglers with either money or contraband goods. Shortly after the construction of the canal, Preventative Officers were also employed on the Marsh to catch smugglers. While easy to bribe, the Officers were paid according to the number of smugglers they caught which provided a greater incentive to carry out their duties properly.

After the war, a barge service was established from Hythe to Rye. The Government abandoned the canal in 1877 and leased it to the Lords of the Level of Romney Marsh. The Canal is now used by the Environment Agency to manage water levels across much of the Marsh, and is vital to the areas flood protection.

As part of the Royal Military Canal Rural Access and Interpretation project, the Romney Countryside Project is developing a new website - www.royalmilitarycanal.com - to promote the canal and the surrounding countryside. The website will introduce you to the unique history and special wildlife of the canal and detail opportunities to enjoy it. It will also include information on nearby villages, local service providers and rural businesses. The launch of the website is planned for the spring of 2005.

How you can help
We are keen to hear from groups with an interest in the canal who may be able to help with the development of the project or who are interested in being promoted through the website. Do you have local historical knowledge of the canal or associated villages? Are you a local business in close proximity to the canal, such as a B&B provider? Or are you part of a group who enjoy the canal and surrounding areas for recreation, like anglers or walkers? If so, please get in touch with the project either by phone (01797 367934) or email (mail@rmcp.co. uk).

Partnership
The Royal Military Canal Rural Access and Interpretation project is supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and joins together a number of other partners who are supporting the project, including Kent County Council, East Sussex County Council, Ashford Borough Council, Shepway District Council, Environment Agency, South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) and Community Action in South Kent (CASK).

The Royal Military Canal walks pack
Early November 2004 saw the release of the project’s new walks pack ‘The Royal Military Canal’. The walks pack, which is also part of the Royal Military Canal project, contains 10 self-guided circular walks which explore the wildlife and history of the canal and its surrounding areas. The pack is priced at £3.95; you can obtain a copy by sending a cheque, made payable to Dover District Council, to the Romney Marsh Countryside Project, Romney Marsh Day Centre, Rolfe Lane, New Romney, Romney Marsh, Kent TN28 8JR

.

Other aspects of the Royal Military Canal project include: