The original Ship was built of mainly ship’s timbers brought from the old port of New Romney. The first recorded keeper is one Thomas Banne, who is described as an “ostler” of the parish of Romney. The word “ostler” is derived from the French word “hostelier” which signifies the host of an inn. The inn is mentioned in a will of 1579, when one Samuel Dunstare directed that “mye hospicume and tenemente at Romneye nowne by name and syne of the Ship, and lande and staybles theretoe belonginge, be deliverede up to mye wyfe Emma, who upon mye dethe shale inherite mye title and dedes”. It is recorded that Emma Dunstare kept The Ship for 31 years after the death of her husband.

In 1662 it is recorded that the inn underwent extensive alteration, the thatch, wattle and daub was removed in part and replaced with tiles and bricks. The present façade was erected in 1728.

At the height of the coaching era of the mid to late eighteenth century, The Ship was an established coach halt being situated on the main Rye to Dover route, and is mentioned as a compulsory stop in the timetable of 1802.

In the 18th and 19th cenuries, smuggling was an everyday way of life. The wide expanse of marshland with its many water courses and virtually uncontrollable coastline, undoubtedly provided excellent coverage for illicit activity. As only the unsuccessful activities of smugglers are recorded, it is hard to determine exactly when and how our tunnels were used. However one certain connection between The Ship and smuggling is that two members of the Ransley gang of 1820’s Thomas Denard and Edward Puteeney were taken prisoner on the evening of March 17, 1826 as they were leaving The Ship. They were wanted for their part in a smuggling run that had taken place the evening before near Romney Warren. They were lodged in Newgate Prison and sentenced to death in January 1827 at Maidstone Assizes. They were later reprieved and transported to Van Dieman’s Land.

More recently, for a period during the 20th century the Ship housed a cinema, until it moved to the Assembly Rooms in Church Approach. The cellar was also used as a public air-raid shelter in World War II.