Winchelsea
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- This article concerns the town in the United Kingdom. For the town in Victoria, Australia see Winchelsea, Victoria.
  Map sources for Winchelsea at grid reference TQ9017
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Winchelsea is a small town in East Sussex, England, between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh. The present town replaced an earlier town of the same name, sometimes known as Old Winchelsea. The town is part of the civil parish of Icklesham.
The Corporation of Winchelsea claims that it is the smallest town in Britain to have its own mayor. Winchelsea constitutes neither a local government district, civil parish or charter trustees area, and so therefore the mayor traces continuity back to the pre-reform Corporation, which lost its civil and judicial powers in 1886 but was preserved as a charity by an Act of Parliament in order to maintain the membership of the Cinque Port Confederation. The mayor and corporation of Winchelsea now have a purely ceremonial role. In any case, Fordwich in Kent has a population of 300 and definitely does have a mayor.
In 2006 a group of local residents requested Rother District Council to review the parishing arrangements of Icklesham, with a view to creating a separate Winchelsea Parish. The Parish of Winchelsea Action Group submitted a petition in favour from 228 electors. Other survey and polling evidence suggest the residents of Winchelsea are in favour by a majority of up to 2-1, but that the remainder of Icklesham parish was against the idea by a wide margin. Further background may be found at the Rother Council Committee report of 16 November 2006. Located here.
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[edit] Old Winchelsea
Old Winchelsea was on a massive shingle bank that protected the confluence of the estuaries of the rivers Brede, Rother and Tillingham River Rother and provided a sheltered anchorage called the Camber. The old town was recorded as Winceleseia in 1130 and Old Wynchchelse in 1321.
[edit] History of Old Winchelsea
Before the Norman Conquest, the town had its own mint. After the Conquest, it was of great importance in cross-Channel trade (acting in particular as an entrepot for London) and as a naval base. It was famous in the wine trade from Gascony.
There were, in the 1260s, over 700 houses, 2 churches and over 50 inns and taverns implying a population of 4,000 to 5,000 people. During the 13th Century the town was attacked several times by French marauders, while incursions by the sea destroyed much of the town until a massive flood completely destroyed it in 1287.
[edit] "New" Winchelsea
Today's Winchelsea was the result of the old town's population moving to the present site, when King Edward I ordered a planned town, based on a grid, to be built. The new town inherited the title of "Antient Town from Old Winchelse and retained its affiliation to the Cinque Ports. Indeed, it became its most important member.
The town had a tidal harbour on the River Brede. It flourished until the middle of the 14th century. It then suffered French raids until the 15th century and was hit by the Black Death. In 1350 the Battle of Les Espagnols sur Mer was fought nearby. However, it remained prosperous, although reduced in size until the 1520s. It was the silting of the harbour ultimately destroyed its prosperity.
Winchelsea uniquely retains its medieval setting on a hill surrounded by largely empty marsh, the original layout of the planned town and the largest collection of medieval wine cellars in the country. It also retains three of the four town gates and several original buildings, including the parish church, which is dedicated to St Thomas the Martyr.
Across the road from the churchyard stands the Court Hall, one of Winchelsea's oldest buildings, the lower floor once being the gaol. The first floor is now the museum, full of relics of the history of Winchelsea Corporation, and a model of the town.
Winchelsea stands on the main south coast road, the A259. Winchelsea railway station is located 0.25 miles to the north in the Brede valley, on the Ashford, Kent to Hastings "Marsh Link" line.
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