Old Winchelsea Old Winchelsea was on a massive shingle bank that protected the confluence of the estuaries of the Rivers
Brede,
Rother and
Tillingham and provided a sheltered anchorage called the Camber. The old town was recorded as
Winceleseia in 1130 and
Old Wynchchelse in 1321. The Normans used to call the place
Wincenesel. After the
Norman Conquest, Winchelsea was of great importance in
cross-Channel trade (acting in particular as an
entrepôt for London) and as a naval base. In the 13th century, it became famous in the wine trade from
Gascony. There may have been, in the 1260s, over 700 houses, two churches and over 50 inns and taverns thus implying a population of thousands of people at the time. Prior to 1280 incursions by the sea destroyed much of the town until a
massive flood completely destroyed it in 1287.
Winchelsea In the late 13th century, the old town's population moved to the town's present location. In 1281
Edward I granted a charter for a
planned town, based on a grid layout, to be built on higher ground on the western edge of Romney Marsh and Camber Sands. The names of the town planners are recorded as
Henry le Waleys and Thomas Alard. The new town inherited the title of "Antient Town" from Old Winchelsea and retained its affiliation to the
Cinque Ports confederation together with
Rye and the five head-ports. The town had a
tidal harbour on the
River Brede. It flourished until the middle of the 14th century. It then suffered French and Spanish raids during the
Hundred Years' War (including the
Castilian attack on Gravesend) until the 15th century and was hit by the
Black Death. In 1350, the
Battle of Les Espagnols sur Mer was fought nearby. In 1360 the town was sacked and burnt by a French expeditionary force, sent in an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve their King
John II of France captured at the
Battle of Poitiers four years earlier. The town remained prosperous, although reduced in size until the 1520s. The silting of the harbour ultimately destroyed its prosperity.
Camber Castle was built by
Henry VIII in the early 16th century halfway between Winchelsea and
Rye to guard the approach to the Camber. Much of the stone used in its construction may have been taken from the demolition of the
Franciscan monastery of
Greyfriars. Winchelsea was greatly involved in the wine trade with
Guyenne and the extensive
wine cellars under the town may still be visited on open days. In the 1500s, Winchelsea hosted
a small community of Huguenots. Winchelsea 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 with the possible exception of Norwich and Southampton. 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. Another church, St Leonard's, was later the site of a
windmill, which was blown down in the
Great Storm of 1987. Some of the original 13th/14th-century fortifications can still be seen at the Strand Gate and Pipewell or Ferry Gate. The scale of the original plan for New Winchelsea can be judged by the site of the "New Gate", over half a mile outside the current town. 20160626T110859IMG 3575-HDR-2.jpg|The Strand Gate The Armoury and Town Well, Winchelsea - geograph.org.uk - 1412591.jpg|
The Armoury, Winchelsea 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 a museum, full of relics of the history of Winchelsea, the Corporation, and a model of the town. Nearby is the town well, dug in 1851 to save water being carried up the hill. It is thought to be 80 feet deep. At the foot of Strand Hill stands the town workhouse
Strand House just behind the port area of Winchelsea which runs along the river bank on the far side of the main road. This area contains the remains of several old buildings, such as the Old Malt House and Appletree Wick while Strand House itself was built around 1425 according to dendrochronology. These buildings made up the workhouse of the parish of Winchelsea being known as "The Old Poor Houses". The area was a subject of archaeological investigation in 2013 which found the remains of the medieval wharf and a medieval boat next to the Bridge Inn. Winchelsea stands on the main south coast road, the
A259. The
Royal Military Canal built in the early 19th century as a defence-line against the highly anticipated invasion by
Napoleon Bonaparte passes the eastern side of the town and connects to the river Brede. The town lends its name to the nearby seaside village of
Winchelsea Beach. ==Parish church of St Thomas the Martyr==