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Winchelsea, Sussex

Historical Description

Winchelsea, a decayed town and a parish in Sussex, with a station on the S.E.R., 72 miles from London, and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Rye. Acreage of the civil parish, 758; population, 116; of the ecclesiastical, 686. Part of the ecclesiastical parish forms part of the civil parish of Icklesham. The original town stood 3 miles SE of the present one, and 2½ S of Rye; occupied a low flat island now partly submerged, and what remains is now used as a golf course. The town took its name of Winchelsea, signifying " Winchel's Island," probably from Wincheling, son of Cissa, founder of the South Saxon kingdom, possessed importance in the Saxon times, and was given by Edward the Confessor to Fecamp Abbey in Normandy. It was the landing-place of William the Conqueror in 1067, of Henry II. in 1188, and of two of the knights who shared in the murder of Thomas a. Becket; became a cinque port before the time of King John; was revoked from the monks of Fecamp by Henry III. by exchange for Cheltenham manor; took part with Simon de Montfort, made some resistance to the Crown even after Simon's death, and was taken and desolated by Prince Edward. It was the birthplace of Archbishop Robert de Winchelsea who died in 1313, and suffered three inundations in 1236, 1250, and 1287, the first and second of which did it vast damage, while the third utterly destroyed it. A new town was founded by Edward I. on an eminence of 150 acres, 2¼ miles SW of Rye, now skirted on the N by the Ashford and Hastings railway, and then washed on two sides by the sea; was aligned on a regular plan in 39 squares or quarters similar to the alignment of a Roman town; was protected on three sides by the natural strength of the ground, on the fourth side by a deep trench or moat, and had four gates, three of which, in a ruinous condition, are still standing. It had a Dominican convent and a St Anthony's preceptory which have left no remains; had also a Gray friary, some beautiful arches and windows of the choir of which still exist; had churches of St Giles and St Leonard, which have long disappeared; and also a church of St Thomas, the nave of which was destroyed in the 14th century, but the aisled chancel of which, in Early Decorated English architecture, still stands, was restored in 1850, and is now the parish church. It was long a chief port of embarkation for France; carried on a large commerce in the importation of French wines and other commodities. It continued to prosper till about the middle of the 15th century; began then to suffer decadence by the retiring of the sea and the choking of its harbour; continued still to make so imposing an appearance at a visit to it of Queen Elizabeth in 1573 that she was pleased to call it " Little London;" sank afterwards into such irretrievable decline as to be now a mere village in the midst of grim and wasted relics of its former greatness. The town sent two members to Parliament from the time of Edward III. till 1832, when it was attached to the borough of Rye, which was in turn disfranchised by the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885. For centuries the local government of the town was in the hands of the mayor, jurats, and freemen. The mayor and jurats were entrusted with the administration of justice, but the borough has been deprived of its magisterial jurisdiction and nearly all its corporate powers. There being, however, certain town revenues from king's rents, &c., exclusively the property of the borough, the corporation was allowed to continue in existence for the purpose of administering this fund, averaging about £20 per annum, which has been expended primarily in lighting the main thoroughfares. Winchelsea is now the only borough in the kingdom which has an unreformed corporation in any form. It still contains some good houses, and gives the title of Earl to the family of Finch-Hatton. Winchelsea Castle is called also Camber Castle, and has been separately noticed under that title. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Chichester; net value, £220 with residence. There is a Wesleyan chapel.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountySussex 
Ecclesiastical parishWinchelsea St. Thomas the Apostle 
HundredGuestling 
Poor Law unionRye 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Winchelsea from the following:


Maps

Online maps of Winchelsea are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Sussex newspapers online:

DistrictRother
CountyEast Sussex
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Postal districtTN36
Post TownWinchelsea

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