"Old" Winchelsea, devastated by the worst of a century of storms in 1287, was originally called Gwent-chesel-ey, or the Shingle Isle on the Level , as a clear reference to its vulnerability and position. Its location, somewhere in what is now Rye Bay, has long since been lost. "New" Winchelsea, built on the nearby Hill of Iham, from 1288 onwards, naturally took the same name. The grid pattern layout is the first thing that strikes the visitor to Winchelsea. Unlike most towns and villages in England, Winchelsea is laid out in regular squares and it is this patterns that picks it out as a New Town, even though it was New in 1288 when it was founded, not the 1930s or 1950s. When Edward I ordered the planning of New Winchelsea this was the accepted design for new towns, notably the bastide towns of Gascony in France, of which Monsegur, founded in 1285, is the most akin to Winchelsea. Underneath "New" Winchelsea lies a large network of cellars the majority of which were built at the time of the construction of the town. These cellars, many of which can be accessed and visited  to this day, provide testimony to the town's importance to the wine trade in the 14th Century, when four million bottles a year passed this way. Outstanding examples of these vaulted cellars are those at Salutation Cottages (formerly the site of the Salutation Inn) and under Manor Plat, one of the oldest houses in the town. With a combination of Royal patronage and its membership of the Confederation of Cinque Ports, the new town of Winchelsea thrived again and became, during the 14th Century, one of the primary ports of the realm. Shipping and shipbuilding, travel and trading, fishing and, some say, wrecking and piracy, all contributed to the common good of the town and its people. The Corporation of Winchelsea maintains the historical traditions of the town and is also respeonsible for the upkeep of the ancient monuments and museum.

For more on the history of Winchelsea, click on the timline topics on the left of the screen to see: Winchelsea and the Confederation of Cinque ports   Old Winchelsea & the sea   New Winchelsea   Decline and Revival   Winchelsea at War

Historical anecdotes prepared by Malcolm Pratt, Town Clerk and Historian, in PDF format, are now available - please click on the links for the topic of interest:

Winchelsea & Smuggling (2.8Mb PDF)
Winchelsea & the Napoleonic Wars (0.5Mb PDF)

References: we recommend the two books by Malcolm Pratt (see below), the detailed archeological study by David & Barbara Martin, and the recent Queens University Belfast archaelogical study (QUB):
Pratt M (2005) Winchelsea: The tale of a mediaeval town. ISBN-13: 978-0953241118
Pratt M (1998) Winchelsea: A port of stranded pride. ISBN-13: 978-0953241101
QUB study - for the QUB historic maps and articles click here and select the Downloads option