| Lydd | |
|---|---|
 The Rype, Lydd | |
  Lydd Location withinKent | |
| Population | 6,567 (2011)[1] |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Romney Marsh |
| Postcode district | TN29 |
| Dialling code | 01797 |
| Police | Kent |
| Fire | Kent |
| Ambulance | South East Coast |
| UK Parliament | |
| 50°57′03″N0°54′23″E / 50.9509°N 0.9064°E /50.9509; 0.9064 | |
Lydd is a town andelectoral ward inKent, England, lying onRomney Marsh. It is one of the larger settlements on the marsh, and the most southerly town in Kent. Lydd reached the height of its prosperity during the 13th century, when it was a corporate member of theCinque Ports, a "limb" ofRomney. Located onDenge Marsh, Lydd was one of the first sandy islands to form as the bay filled in and evolved into what is now called Romney Marsh.
The parish of Lydd comprises the town of Lydd,Dungeness,Lydd-on-Sea and parts ofGreatstone-on-Sea.
Notable buildings in Lydd include the Gordon house longhall, a guildhall, and amedievalcourthouse. Chamberlains andchurchwardens' accounts of the 15th century survive alongside the town charters.
Lydd lies to the southwest ofNew Romney and east ofRye.
The place-name 'Lydd' is first attested in anAnglo-Saxon charter of 774, where it appears asad Hlidum. This is the dative plural of theOld Englishhlid meaning 'slope'.[2]
Lydd developed as a settlement on a shingle island during theRomano-British period, when the coast at the time cut off Lydd from the mainland.[3]
The settlement continued into the Saxon period, when the Saxon church used Roman materials as part of its early construction.[4] The town reached the height of its prosperity during the 13th century, when it was acorporate member of theCinque Ports, a "limb" ofRomney.[5]
Together with sites in the marsh, the town was a base forsmuggling in the 18th and 19th centuries.Lydd Guildhall, which originally accommodated some prison cells, dates to 1792.[6]
Before and during theFirst World War, Lydd Camp was important for artillery training and practice. Experiments with high explosives carried out on the shingle wastes around 1888 led to the invention of the explosiveLyddite. Lydd was at one time a garrison town. At one time it had an extensive narrow gauge railway network, and the area is still an important training ground for the armed forces. NearbyRAF Denge was established between the world wars. It has surviving concreteacoustic mirrors, developed during World War II to detect the sound of approaching aircraft before radar was perfected.
In the 20th century the hamlets of Lade[7] and Lydd-on-Sea developed along the coast east of Lydd. They mostly consist of holiday bungalows.
In September 1940, four young Dutch men landed on the coast between Hythe and Dungeness in a rowing boat. One was arrested for spying shortly after drinking at the Rising Sun pub.[8]
On 21 October, aDornier Do 17 ran short of fuel and was forced to land atRAF Lydd. The German pilot had been confused in his bearings whilst attempting to return to France. He had been using the recently inventedequipment devised to interrupt the homing beams sent from Germany to guide such planes. The Dornier was the first example of this new type of bomber to fall into the hands ofBritish Intelligence.RAF Lydd was situated north of the town. Only oneNissen hut now remains of the complex.
AVickers Wellington bomber had the misfortune to crash-land on 26 June on returning from a 1,500-plane attack onBremen. The 19-year-old pilot got the plane down safely near Lydd, and the crew survived the crash. They were not certain they had landed in England until rescuers came to their assistance.
On 27 November 1942, a train came under attack by twoFocke-Wulf Fw 190s. The train, hauled bySouthern RailwayD3 number 2365, was just departing fromLydd Town railway station. The engine's boiler was hit. The resulting jet of high pressure steam from the engine hit the plane, causing it to crash-land nearby. The German pilot was found dead, but no British railway staff or passengers were injured. The two planes had been heading over the coast after a raid onAshford and attacking a minesweeper off Dover.[9]
All Saints' Church, also known as Lydd Church or The Cathedral on the Marsh,[10][11] belongs to theDiocese of Canterbury. All Saints is the longest parish church in Kent at 199 feet (61 m); it has one of the tallest towers in the county at 132 feet (40 m). The church is thought to incorporate a smallRomano-Britishbasilica, possibly built in the 5th century. Most of the current fabric is medieval.[12]
It was associated with local fraternities orguilds in the 15th century and could seat 1,000 people at a time. Severely damaged by World War II bombing, the church was subsequently restored. In 1950 it was listed as a Grade I building.[11]
Lydd church, with its tall tower, was a major link in the chain oftrigonometric measuring points for theAnglo-French Survey (1784–1790). This connected theRoyal Greenwich Observatory and theParis Observatory. This eighteenth-century survey was led by GeneralWilliam Roy. It included a secondary base-line for checking purposes onRomney Marsh, betweenRuckinge andDymchurch. The primary base-line was onHounslow Heath. All Saints' Lydd was the main intermediate point on the south coast betweenFairlight Down to the west andDover Castle to the east.
The parish encompasses four electricity industry sites:Dungeness A & B Nuclear Power Stations, asubstation of theNational Grid, and a formerstatic inverter plant used by theHVDC Cross-Channel between 1961 and 1984. Dungeness A has now ceased electricity production and is in the process of being de-commissioned. The several sewers in the area include Dengemarsh Sewer, Jury's Gut Sewer, and Scotney Petty Sewer.
Lydd has two football clubs,Lydd Town established in 1885,[13] and Lydd United, established in 2009.[14] Lydd Town play in theKent Invicta Football League. United play in the Ashford and District Saturday League.
Lydd also has a kart/minimoto track called Lydd International Kart Circuit.[15] Lydd Cricket Club is based at the Banks, Dennes Lane.[16] Both the ground and pavilion belong to the Town Council.
Lydd Golf Club and Driving Range is on the Romney Road in Lydd. Apart from the 18-hole championship quality course, it boasts an 18-bay covered driving range, a 6-hole par 3 course, two chipping greens, and a putting green.[17]
Lydd has two subscription newspapers, theRomney Marsh Herald (published by Kent Regional News and Media),[18] and theKentish Express (published by theKM Group). Free town newspapers include theFolkestone and Hythe Extra. A fortnightly publication calledThe Looker is published by the owners of RMFM.[19] An alternate publication calledThe Marsh Mail was edited by Amanda Heath; it was published for only a couple of editions.The Looker 'has the largest circulation, comprising 15,000 copies every two weeks.
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC South East andITV Meridian. Television signals are received from theDover TV transmitter.[20]
The local radio station for Lydd isKMFM Shepway and White Cliffs Country. Lydd is also served by the county-wide stationsHeart South,Gold, andBBC Radio Kent.
Cinque Ports Radio 100.2FM is the community radio station for Romney Marsh and Rye. It has been broadcasting since 7 March 2022. This replaced Shoreline FM 100.2FM, which broadcast since January 2020. It is now an online service called Shoreline Easy, serving Romney Marsh, Rye, and Hythe.[21]
Lydd Club Day is the annual local carnival held on the Rype. It is the largest such festival on Romney Marsh,[22] and is held on the third Saturday of June.
It was established in 1868. Apart from a brief cessation during the war years, it has taken place annually ever since.[23] The day features a funfair, boot fair in the morning, stalls and children's dressing up in the afternoon, and floats in the evening. The evening ends with a firework display and the lit up funfair, as well as the annual crowning of the Queen Elect.
On the Friday evening before Lydd Club Day, a long-standing tradition supports Test Night, when the funfair opens at reduced prices for the evening.
A railway line fromDungeness toAppledore formerly had stations atLydd Town andLydd-on-Sea.[24][25]
This operated December 1881 to 1967. It was closed then to passenger traffic. The line remains in use for freight traffic. There has been discussion to reopen the line.[citation needed] By being included in theFolkestone and Hythe districtLocal Plan, the station is protected against development that could be prejudicial to the reopening of the line from Appledore to the public.
TheRomney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway has two stations within the Lydd parish: Romney Sands and Dungeness.
Lydd Airport, originally known as Ferryfield, and now also known as London Ashford Airport, was the first airport to be constructed in Britain after theSecond World War.[26]
The area was famously used as the setting for the filmThe Dark Man in 1951.
David Denne (1799–1861), of the family of that name from Lydd, was an Englishfirst-class cricketer, Deputy Lieutenant andJustice of the Peace for the County of Kent, and formerly Captain of the East Kent and Cinque Ports Yeomanry, and Bailiff of the town Corporation 23 times.[27][28]
Samuel Fisher (1605–1665), a noted lecturer at Lydd, resigned his lectureship to become Baptist and aQuaker. He was noted for his controversial religious views, and is notable for his bookRusticus ad Academicos: The Rusticks Alarm to the Rabbies. It is considered to anticipate some principles of modern biblical criticism. Fisher lived in Lydd from 1632 until 1660.[29]
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. TheKöppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate).[30]
| Climate data forLydd Airportweather station, 16mamsl (ICAO code:EGMD,WMO identifier: 03887) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7 (45) | 7 (45) | 9 (48) | 11 (52) | 14 (58) | 17 (63) | 19 (67) | 20 (68) | 18 (65) | 14 (58) | 10 (50) | 8 (46) | 13 (55) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.77 (36.978664) | 3 (37) | 3 (37) | 5 (41) | 8 (46) | 11 (51) | 13 (56) | 13 (56) | 12 (53) | 8 (47) | 5 (41) | 3 (38) | 7 (45) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 48 (1.9) | 41 (1.6) | 46 (1.8) | 36 (1.4) | 33 (1.3) | 41 (1.6) | 46 (1.8) | 51 (2) | 53 (2.1) | 89 (3.5) | 71 (2.8) | 71 (2.8) | 620 (24.6) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 86 | 84 | 79 | 75 | 76 | 75 | 74 | 75 | 77 | 82.999954545435 | 86 | 86 | 79.67 |
| Averagedew point °C (°F) | 4 (39) | 4 (39) | 5 (41) | 7 (45) | 9 (48) | 12 (54) | 14 (57) | 14 (57) | 13 (55) | 11 (52) | 8 (46) | 5 (41) | 9 (48) |
| Source 1: Weatherbase[31] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2:Time and Date (dewpoints and humidity, between 2005−2015)[32] | |||||||||||||
| Geographic | |
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| Other | |
