A possible northern course of the Rother

A buried channel crossing the north of the Marsh, mapped in 1968 by the Soil Survey as a possible early course of the Rother or Limen, has been examined in the area between Ham Street in the east and Appledore in the west.

It has now been established firstly that the channel tapers sharply from east to west, and shallows from 3 metres to under 1 metre deep. These dimensions are totally inconsistent with those of the old channel of the river near Smallhythe. Secondly, sandy sediments containing laminae produced under medium energy tidal conditions become increasingly silty westwards, and the l ami nations eventually disappear. Thirdly, the microfauna contained in the channel sediments indicate near-marine conditions changing westwards to intertidal mudflats and high marsh, together with increasingly restricted low-energy conditions in a progressively brackish environment. The microfauna shows no evidence of a significant freshwater imput.

It is concluded that this channel developed as a restricted arm of a tidal lagoon, and the idea that the Rother or a major distributary of it, has flowed across this area since the formation of the peat layer, some 3000 years ago is rejected.

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[fg]png|Sections across the buried Channel as shown on the map opposite|Image[/fg]