Norman Walk

We went on a walk around New Romney discovering the Norman heritage of our town. The children could not believe that where Sainsbury’s stands now used to be a beach front area in Norman times where boats would be built and repaired, fish brought in and smoked and barrels made amongst other things. We walked down and saw St Martin’s Field where a church stood up until the mid 16th century. We also looked at The Old Priory on Ashford Road which was built in the mid 12th century.

Our walks took us across the high street to St Nicholas Church, not without first stopping to see the extracts of the Bayeux Tapestry on a wall along Church Approach. St Nicholas church has a magnificent Norman tower which would have been used as a lookout across both land and sea in its early days. The church and the tower suffered at the hands of the great storms of 1287-1288 which is why there are steps down to the church due to the amount of sand, gravel, shingle and rock brought in by the sea.

Further up Church Road, itself a historic medieval beach track, we stopped by an arched gate, behind which once stood St Lawrence Church which also suffered the same fate as St Martin’s Church and was demolished around the same time.

Our final two stops took us to the Cinque Port Arms, where traders would have met to buy and sell their wares, and The Town Hall and Gaol.

A lovely walk and one to help the children put their learning this term about the Normans into perspective.