Lydd in 1836
Lydd, or Lid, is in the hundred of Langport, in the lathe of Shepway. The hundred is one of those included in the liberty of Romney Marsh ; but Lydd is a corporate town and a member of the cinque-port of New Romney from which it is distant about three miles. The name is written in ancient records Hlyda, and is supposed to be from the Latin littus, 'a shore,' a name corresponding to its situation. It is upon the tongue of land, the termination of which is Denge Ness, about two miles from the sea ; but it is probable that the sea once came nearer to it. The parish comprehends 11,660 acres, with a population in 1833 of 1,357, more than half of which was agricultural. The town consists of houses irregularly built on an open flat and from its being quite out of any thoroughfare, and from the decline of the contraband trade, by which it was formerly supported, it is a dull decayed place. The church is a large building, with a fine tower in the perpendicular style and crocketted pinnacles.
The market is on Thursday ; chief employment of the townsmen is in fishing. The corporation, which is left untouched by the Municipal Reform Act, consists of a bailiff, jurats, and freemen. The bailiff and jurats are justices in the borough, which is co-extensive with the parish.
The living is a vicarage, in the diocese of Canterbury, exempt from the archdeacon’s visitation, of the clear yearly value of £1,247, with a glebe-house. There was, in 1833, only one school in the parish, a national school, of 116 children, with a lending library attached.
On the point of Denge Ness is a lighthouse 110 feet high, and a small fort. There is a spring of fresh water on this point, which is covered by the sea every tide.
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