It is pleasantly situated on slightly rising ground near the river Rother.
The Royal military canal which runs along the inland border of Romney Marsh, and connects the Rother with Hythe, was constructed in 1807 as part of a scheme of defence in connexion with the martello towers or small forts along the coast.
It lies at the junction of two streams, the Rother and Hipper, in a populous industrial district.
But the open space where is now a memorial fountain was the Rother market, and Rother Street preserves its name.
The word signifies horned cattle, and is found in Shakespeare's own writing, in the restored line "It is the pasture lards the rother's sides" (Timon of Athens), '' where "brother's" was originally the accredited reading.