The ''Limenwara'' or ''Limenware'' were a people of Anglo-Saxon England whose territory formed a '' regio'' or early administrative subdivision of the

Kingdom of Kent la, Regnum Cantuariorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the Kentish , common_name = Kent , era = Heptarchy , status = vassal , status_text = , government_type = Monarchy ...

. The name means "Limen-dwellers", with "Limen" being the name of the former eastern arm of the River Rother, which at that time entered the sea at

Lympne Lympne (), formerly also Lymne, is a village on the former shallow-gradient sea cliffs above the expansive agricultural plain of Romney Marsh in Kent. The settlement forms an L shape stretching from Port Lympne Zoo via Lympne Castle facing Lympne ...

. The territory was based around two main settlements, with Lympne as the original

royal vill A royal vill, royal ''tun'' or ''villa regalis'' ( ang, cyneliċ tūn) was the central settlement of a rural territory in Anglo Saxon England, which would be visited by the King and members of the royal household on regular circuits of their kingd ...

and centre of royal administration and Lyminge emerging from an outlying estate as the territory's minster and centre of ecclesiastic administration. There is evidence of considerable continuity with earlier

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

occupation: Lympne was the site of the Roman Saxon Shore fort of ''

Portus Lemanis Portus Lemanis, also known as Lemanae, was the Latin name of a Roman Saxon Shore fort, settlement and port in southern Kent. The modern village of Lympne derives its name from the ancient port. History The first documentary mention of the site is ...

'', and the minster at Lyminge possibly occupying the site of an earlier

Roman temple Ancient Roman temples were among the most important buildings in Roman culture, and some of the richest buildings in Roman architecture, though only a few survive in any sort of complete state. Today they remain "the most obvious symbol of ...

. The territory of the ''Limenwara'' survived as one of the

lathes A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece to cr ...

of the later

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, originally taking its name from the Limenwara themselves, but later being renamed the lathe of Shepway.

References

Bibliography

* {{Heptarchy History of Kent Peoples of Anglo-Saxon England