In February 1821 the "Battle of Brookland" took place between the Customs and Excise men and the Aldington Gang. The smugglers had sent 250 men down to the coast between Camber and Dungeness but the party was seen by the Watch House at Camber and a fight took place over Walland Marsh. Although the Gang successfully completed the unloading of the goods, they were harried right across the Marshes until they reached Brookland, where the Gang turned on the blockade force. Five men were killed in the fighting and there were more than twenty wounded.