The Romney Marsh / Dungeness Foreland depositional complex comprises an extensive tract of marshland and associated sand and gravel barrier deposits, located in the eastern English Channel. This monograph presents the results of a programme of palaeoenvironmental investigation aimed at improving our understanding of this internationally-significant coastal landform. The focus is on the evidence for landscape change during the late Holocene, from c. 3000 BC onwards, and on identifying the local, regional and global driving mechanisms responsible for the changes observed. The research details the results from two related projects, each funded as part of English Heritage's Aggregate Levy Sustainability Fund scheme. The first project concerns the late Holocene evolution of the port of Rye, located in the southeast part of the complex, and the second the depositional history of the gravel foreland. Topics explored include the vegetation and land-use history of the study area, methodological issues relating to the collection and interpretation of radiocarbon dates from coastal lowlands, the role of compaction in influencing landscape and sea-level change, and the effects of medieval storms on coastal flooding and landscape change. This monograph is intended for students and researchers interested in Holocene coastal evolution and sea-level change, coastal vegetation history and land-use history, and the development of new techniques for reconstructing past environmental change in coastal lowlands.

• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Tables
• Addresses of Contributors
• Summary
• 1 - Introduction
  • 1.1 Introduction
  • 1.2 This monograph
  • 1.3 The study area
  • 1.4 The projects
  • 1.5 Structure of the monograph
• 2 - The Rye Area: Pre-inundation Landscape and Vegetation History
  • 2.1 Introduction
  • 2.2 Study area
  • 2.3 Previous stratigraphic investigations of Holocene deposits in the Rye area
  • 2.4 Site selection
  • 2.5 Methodology
  • 2.6 Pannel Farm
  • 2.7 Pett Level
  • 2.8 Greyfriars
  • 2.9 Pewis Marsh
  • 2.10 West Winchelsea
  • 2.11 Roadend
  • 2.12 Cadborough Cliffs
  • 2.12 Southwest Rye
  • 2.14 Lea Farm
  • 2.15 Houghton Green and Saltbarn Farm
  • 2.16 East Guldeford
  • 2.17 Peasmarsh
  • 2.18 Data synthesis
  • 2.19 Archaeology
  • 2.20 Wetland evolution
  • 2.21 Dryland vegetation and land-use history
• 3 - The Rye Area: The Timing of Inundation and Post-breach Coastal Evolution
  • 3.1 Introduction
  • 3.2 A chronology for the end of peat formation
  • 3.3 Driving mechanisms: the role of sediment compaction
  • 3.4 The Rye area palaeochannels and their infilling
  • 3.5 The post-peat sediments of the Rye area
• 4 - The Depositional History of Dungeness Foreland
  • 4.1 Introduction
  • 4.2 Gravel barrier evolution and Dungeness Foreland
  • 4.3 Sampling and methods
  • 4.4 Gravel foreland depositional environments
  • 4.5 Depositional history of the gravel foreland
  • 4.6 Post-gravel marshland depositional environments
  • 4.7 Depositional history of the post-gravel marshland
  • 4.8 Discussion
  • 4.9 Summary
• 5 - The Chrono- and Biostratigraphy of the Natural Pits on Dungeness Foreland: Implications for Foreland Evolution and Vegetation History
  • 5.1 Introduction
  • 5.2 The natural pits–archives of vegetation history
  • 5.3 Methodology
  • 5.4 Wickmaryholm Pit
  • 5.5 Muddymore Pit
  • 5.6 Open Pit 1
  • 5.7 Chronological implications and foreland evolution
  • 5.8 Vegetation history from the Pits
• 6 - The Late Holocene Evolution of the Romney Marsh/Dungeness Foreland Depositional Complex
  • 6.1 Introduction
  • 6.2 Existing models
  • 6.3 Linking the stratigraphies of the Rye area and Dungeness Foreland
  • 6.4 The palaeogeographic evolution of the Dungeness Foreland/Romney Marsh depositional complex
  • 6.5 Driving mechanisms behind coastal evolution
  • 6.6 Conclusions
• 7 - Conclusions
  • 7.1 Late Holocene vegetation history
  • 7.2 A chronology for the end of peat formation
  • 7.3 Driving mechanisms of coastal change associated with the end of peat formation
  • 7.4 Tidal channels and landscape evolution in the Rye area
  • 7.5 A chronology for the formation of Dungeness Foreland
  • 7.6 Tidally laminated sediments across Dungeness Foreland and Denge Marsh
  • 7.7 The natural pits on Dungeness Foreland
  • 7.8 The late Holocene evolution of the Romney Marsh/Dungeness depositional complex
  • 7.9 Future research directions
• Appendix 1 - The Rye Area Project: Absolute Dating Radiocarbon Results
• Appendix 2 - The Dungeness Foreland Project: Absolute Dating Radiocarbon Results
• References
• Index