Publications
The back-barrier and barrier depositional history of Romney Marsh, Walland Marsh and Dungeness, Kent, England, by Antony J. Long and James B. Innes, published September 1995 in Journal of Quaternary Science (vol. 10, issue 3, article, pp.267-283) View Online
Abstract:Previous stratigraphical investigations of Romney Marsh have tended to be local in scale, and this has hindered efforts to establish a unifying stratigraphical framework for this area. This paper addresses this problem, by describing the results of a 12-km transect across Romney Marsh, linking previously studied back- and fore-marsh sites (Horsemarsh Sewer and Broomhill respectively), and presenting additional pollen, diatom and radiocarbon data from an intermediate, mid-marsh site (Brookland). One main organic unit is recorded across much of Romney Marsh, although its age, altitude and composition varies. Microfossil and radiocarbon data from Brookland and elsewhere on Romney Marsh show that this organic unit accumulated under a general removal and return of marine conditions that took place between ca. 5100 and 2000 yr BP.
A recently proposed model of barrier development is used to investigate the history of back-barrier sedimentation in Romney and Walland Marshes. This model suggests a three-phase life-history for gravel barriers, which consists of initiation, stability and breakdown. Although there are problems in relating back-barrier deposits directly to barrier dynamics, nevertheless the Romney Marsh data do, for the most part, agree with the expected number and sequence of sea-level tendencies predicted by this model. The back-barrier stratigraphical data suggest that initiation, stability and breakdown of the Dungeness foreland occurred between ca. 6000 and 5000 yr BP, 5000 and 2000 yr BP and 2000 yr BP and present, respectively.
A recently proposed model of barrier development is used to investigate the history of back-barrier sedimentation in Romney and Walland Marshes. This model suggests a three-phase life-history for gravel barriers, which consists of initiation, stability and breakdown. Although there are problems in relating back-barrier deposits directly to barrier dynamics, nevertheless the Romney Marsh data do, for the most part, agree with the expected number and sequence of sea-level tendencies predicted by this model. The back-barrier stratigraphical data suggest that initiation, stability and breakdown of the Dungeness foreland occurred between ca. 6000 and 5000 yr BP, 5000 and 2000 yr BP and 2000 yr BP and present, respectively.
Romney Marsh: Environmental Change and Human Occupation in a Coastal Lowland , by Jill Eddison, Mark Gardiner and Anthony Long, published 1 December 1998 (220 pp., Oxford University School of Archaeology, ISBN-10: 0947816461 & ISBN-13: 9780947816469) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/500170]
Abstract:Twelve papers exploring the development of Romney Marsh, a spit of land battered by some of Britain's stormiest seas. Topics range from the physical evolution and sediment layers to landscape transformation in late medieval and early modern times, and malarial trends. There are four papers on geomorphological developments, one about field archaeology and seven historical entries
Sedimentary response of Pagham Harbour, southern England to barrier breaching in AD 1910, by A. B. Cundy, A. J. Long, C. T. Hill, C. Spencer and I. W. Croudace, published August 2002 in Geomorphology (vol. 46 nos, 3-4, article, pp.163-176) accessible at: University of Sussex Library