Appledore and the Royal Military Canal

Although it’s about nine miles (14.5km) from the sea today, Appledore was a busy port on the estuary of the River Rother until the 14th century, when storms caused the river to change its course and the sea retreated following the reclamation of Romney Marsh. It was a busy trading centre for luxury products such as wool, silk, wine and lace, and was also the hub of a lucrative ship-building industry.

The Royal Military Canal is a reminder that Appledore was once strategically important. The Vikings brought 250 longships here and made the area a base for launching assaults on the surrounding countryside. During the Hundred Years War, French troops raided the coastline, sacked the village and burned down the church. An even greater threat came in the early 19th century, when it looked as if Napoleon’s army might invade. Martello Towers were built along the coast and, as a further line of defence, a canal was dug between Rye and Hythe. The 28-mile (45km) long canal was completed in 1809 at a cost of £234,000. The idea was that neither cavalry nor artillery would be able to cross the canal, so disrupting any large scale assaults.

A military road was built next to the canal, behind an earthen parapet, allowing troops to move about while being protected from enemy fire. Sluice gates were also added so that, if necessary, Romney Marsh could be flooded. The canal was never used against Napoleon, as by the time it was completed the threat of invasion had receded. It was, however, used by barges for many years and was fortified again during the World War II, when the country was once more threatened by invasion. You can still see pill boxes along your route. Although the canal never saw military action, guard houses were constructed at every bridge along its length and it was used effectively to control smuggling from Romney Marsh.

The canal was leased to the Lords of the Level of Romney Marsh in 1877 and is an important environmental site today. As you follow the canal path between Appledore and Higham Farm, look out for the iridescent blue flash of the kingfisher and hovering dragonflies, and listen out for the sound of noisy marsh frogs in the water-filled ditches.

From the village car park or where you have parked in main village street, walk south through Appledore and past the Church of St Peter and St Paul. Drop down to the canal and turn left just before the bridge, go through a kissing gate and follow the footpath all the way along the Royal Military Canal. It’s easy walking on a meandering grassy track, either up on the bank beside the canal or on the lower track with views across fields, and you don’t have to worry about where to put your feet.

The route eventually takes you up to a road, where you turn left, go past Higham Farm and take the footpath right over a plank bridge. Now follow the footpath diagonally left over the field, heading under the line of pylons and up towards Kenardington Church on the horizon. Go over a stile and continue across the field to a gate and enter the graveyard of the church. The site of the church was once the scene of a battle, when the Vikings were based at Appledore in the late 9th century, and it stands on the site of a small Saxon fort.

Return through the gate and turn right along the field-edge to a gate and lane. You are now on the Saxon Shore Way, which you follow all the way back to Appledore. Turn left for a few paces, then right through a gate and head straight across the field, keeping close to the left-hand edge and following yellow route markers on fence posts, soon to pass through two more gates to reach a sunken lane.

Cross the track, climb the steep steps and walk across the vineyard ahead, maintaining direction to reach the road. Cross over and walk diagonally across the field, over a small bridge, then ahead over more fields. Bear left and follow the Saxon Shore Way as it takes you on to the mound, a Bronze Age burial site. From the top you can see the chimneys of Hornes Place away to your right. The house that originally stood here belonged to the squire and was burned down during the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, when Wat Tyler’s men marched through Appledore.

With excellent views over Appledore and Romney Marsh to the distant Dungeness Power Station, go downhill, pass through a kissing gate and cross a small bridge. In the field, bear left diagonally and go through a gate in the corner at a track close to houses. Walk across the recreation ground to the main road, where you turn left and walk back into Appledore and your car.