For many, Dymchurch is synonymous with smuggling, as immortalised by authors
Russell Thorndike and Rudyard Kipling. Indeed, Kipling’s poem “A Smuggler’s Song”
even references Dymchurch’s sea defences, beseeching a child to turn a blind eye
and “watch the wall my darling while the gentlemen go by”. Yet there is so much
more to the area than a smuggling past.
In 1908, the biographer and newspaper editor Walter Jerrold told his readership that Dymchurch was “a delightful place, far from the madding crowd”. Other influential literary figures clearly agreed, with the likes of HG Wells, George Bernard Shaw and Edith Nesbitt as well as Thorndike all spending time here.
At this time, St Mary’s Bay did not exist; all that was here was a farm with a few scattered
outbuildings. Events in World War I, however, provided an unlikely springboard for its
development, whilst tourism was behind a massive change for both communities throughout
the rest of the 20 th century. Nevertheless, many of the buildings that so captivated Jerrold
remain. The large sandy beaches are still amongst the finest in England, and the wonderful
Romney Hythe & Dymchurch Railway – which has now endured for nearly a century – offers
an out-of-the-ordinary connection to other parts of the unique Romney Marsh. On top of all
this, forming part of the Invasion Coast, the area has played a key role in the defence of the
nation. The history of these two villages is truly fascinating, and is fully explored within this
book. It measures 24.6 x 19cm, runs to 289 pages and contains 11 maps and 375 photos (192
in colour).
