Winchelsea pictured from above in the 1920s

Winchelsea appears to be a pretty, well-cared-for village with numerous buildings of historic interest.

In fact it is not a village but a town and one of the Cinque Ports. Its history is closely interwoven with that of England itself.

The History section of our website traces the story, from Old Winchelsea swallowed up by the sea, to New Winchelsea secure on its hill.  Find out about our past as a major medieval trading port, declining as the coastline moved and the harbour silted up, and reviving again in the modern era, though on a much smaller scale.