11 A Walk around Winchelsea Look Inside

David Clarke has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998 to be identified as the author of A Walk around Winchlesea. Text, maps and photographs are Copyright © David Clarke 23 October 2018. rd All rights reserved. No reproduction permitted without the prior consent of the author. At the time of writing, all routes follow public rights of way or permitted paths. However, diversions can be made at any time and permissions withdrawn – for which I cannot be held responsible – and care should be taken to abide by any local restrictions after the writing of this walk. About public transport; changes to timetables can be made at any time and it is important to check the service and schedules before your walk. Similarly, landlords leave, pubs close and reopen and their character can change for better or worse for which I cannot take any responsibility. On these walks, you may need good walking shoes suitable for uneven, possibly muddy paths and sun protection and a hat for hot days and waterproofs for that hint of rain. This walk allow walkers to explore Winchelsea and to help preserve the walk for others, remember to: • Keep dogs under control • Protect wildlife, plants and trees • Take litter home or dispose of it appropriately • Take special care when walking by and crossing roads • Do not play music loudly or create excessive noise History Walks or David Clarke do not accept any responsibility for any injuries or losses which may occur on a Walk around Winchelsea. Walkers are advised to ensure that their personal insurance cover is adequate and are advised to carry their own basic first aid kit. Some helpful websites before you start: ▪ Stagecoach www.stagecoachbus.com/plan-a-journey ▪ Traveline www.travelinesoutheast.org.uk ▪ Weather Forecast www.news.bbc.co.uk/weather Information about the pubs, beers, contact details and opening hours are shown on the CAMRA WhatPub web site at: www.whatpub.com Cover: Back Lane, Winchelsea

History Walks No.11 A Walk around Winchelsea The Seal of Wincelsea This guide contains all the step by step instructions necessary to complete the walk successfully. Additionally, this walk has also been added to the Ordnance Survey Walking Routes and for a complete mapping experience, download the OS Map App, scan the QR Code and follow the route on your phone. This walk is bus friendly – a walk that you can get to by bus leaving the car at home. The bus trip may be part of your journey, sit back and enjoy the views and reward yourself with a pint the New Inn before the Stagecoach home.

THE COURT HALL CHURCH OF ST THOMAS THE MARTYR

Reflections This Walk around Winchelsea is an opportunity to imagine a life in a town whose ‘Grand Design’ has little changed in over 700 years. There are three medieval gates that guard the approaches, the old Court Hall that once acted as the gaol and the seat of the Mayor’s power, and a great church that promised so much, its grandeur and wealth reflects the affluence and influence of the town in the 14 century. th The stunning Georgian houses have their ancient founding roots in the medieval vaults that trace a history back to the town’s wine trade and, despite its difficult past, it has survived to capture a unique vision of King Edward I’s dream of a hilltop town. It is a walk into history. Winchelsea’s stagnation was arrested towards the middle of the 19 th century with the new Town Well, the restoration of the Church of St Thomas and the town became popular again when its decayed grandeur was discovered by artists and writers and Pre-Raphaelite Victorians. Turner and Millais painted, Thackeray, Ford Maddox Ford and Joseph Conrad wrote, actress Ellen Terry came for the quiet life, Beatrix Potter, rented Haskards, Elgar stayed to play golf and HG Wells wrote a short story called Miss Winchelsea’s Heart - all attracted by the town’s grace. In 1866, Dante Gabriel Rosetti said of the Mayor and Corporation’s procession it was “observed by a mob of one female child in the street and by us from the inn window”. It is little different today. Winchelsea 1000 years ago, the sea level was 15 feet higher with ‘islands of shingle’ guarding the Appledore Estuary. The sea swept inland, flooding the river valleys as far as Sedlescombe, Bodiam and Smallhythe, guarded in the west by the hill where Winchelsea now stands and by Playden on the eastern edge before Rye came to prominence. Now, there can be two no more picturesque towns in the country than Winchelsea and Rye, each perched on their hills separated by three miles of green marsh, split by a Tudor castle and linked by the Royal Military Canal. These two medieval towns, linked by history, prospered until the sea retreated and the rivers changed their course leaving New Winchelsea ‘high and dry’.

But first, there are the origins of Old Winchelsea to consider. The Appledore Estuary was well known as a safe haven and in Roman times, linked the bloomeries of East Sussex to the sea creating and easy transport link for the heavy iron. It would perhaps have been necessary to provide a ‘staging post’ and the shingle bank that stood at the mouth of the Rivers Brede and Tillingham would have been perfect. Later it is likely that the Anglo-Saxons would have utilised the same shingle bank which would be given the name Wincenesel from the OE ‘an island on a river bend’. A small fishing village developed, its harbour a safe haven for the beached fishing boats and boats from the Continent bringing trade sufficient for quays and wharves to be built and all the trappings of a port – squares and churches, shops and houses and over fifty inns with a sea wall to defend the town of 700 householders and a population approaching 5000. It must have been some shingle bank! Strategically, the Kent and Sussex coasts were the frontline in the defence of the realm. The coast had had a long history of attacks from the sea, from Saxon pirates, raiding Picts, Danes and Vikings but the relative peace of the Norman Conquest consolidated ‘seaside development’. The port received Royal Patronage when King William returned from Normandy to meet the threat posed by Eadric the Wild’s rebellion in Herefordshire in 1067 and two of the knights that rid Henry of his ‘turbulent priest’ landed at Winchelsea before riding to Canterbury in 1170. After the assassination, Winchelsea’s principal church was dedicated to St Thomas the Martyr and later, the tradition continued in New Winchelsea. Continued at Page 12 The Walk

Information Distance: 2.4 miles Bus: Stagecoach 101 – Hastings to Rye, Rye to Hastings Parking Winchlesea – on street Refreshments: Winchelsea – The New Inn, Connecting Paths: History Walks No 4: Hastings to Rye, Rye to Hastings History Walks No12: More Walks around Rye 1066 Country Walk Geography and Profile This is a mostly urban walk around the historic streets of Winchlesea with an excursion on public footpaths, across the fields, to the edge of the town to visit the New Gate, one of the three gates built to defend Winchelsea from the French. A Walk around Winchelsea is easy walking but the paths across the fields can be muddy after rain and you may need to consider what shows to wear. A Walk around Winchelsea 1. Start by the New Inn. Opposite, at the corner of German Street and High Street stands The Court Hall 2. The Court Hall is one of the town’s oldest buildings, parts of which date from the late 13 century, and although much restored in the 16 th th century there are still some medieval features such as the roof and the chimney. By 1666, the Mayor and Corporation had relocated to the two upstairs rooms and they are still the meeting place of the Corporation. A new Mayor is still elected on Easter Monday each year. By the 18 century the lower th rooms were used as the Town Gaol for prisoners, many of whom were smugglers sentenced upstairs by the Magistrates. By 1874, the gaol was in

such poor condition that the prisoners were referred to Rye. The Hall had a troubled life until 1890, when the Corporation undertook to change the building from court and gaol to a venue that could be used by the whole community. Now, the lower rooms are used for meetings and functions and the upper floor contains a Museum, with relics of the Cinque Ports, Winchelsea Corporation and oak boards that list all the Mayors of Winchelsea (complete from 1430 and partially complete from 1295 when Mayors first replaced the King’s Bailiffs). The museum is open throughout the summer. 3. Continue down High Street to Castle Street and turn left and walk to The Town Well. Before water pipes were laid in 1896, the Town relied on a water drawn from the six original wells and a new and powered Town Well sunk in 1851. Brick lined and 130 feet deep with a stone Well House, it was built with medieval archways, buttresses and iron gates of an arrow-head pattern to guard the wheel and pump inside. The cautionary notices remained valid until 1896 when the well fell into disuse. The water was tested during the Second World War and found to be drinkable.

THE TOWN PUMP THE ARMOURY Continued at Page 26

The New Inn Winchelsea The New Inn probably dates from the 17 century and has long been th Winchelsea’s best known and now only inn. Named to commemorate the new town built in 1288, it was first licensed as a coaching inn on the road from Hastings to Rye in the 18th century when it was rebuilt in 1722. There is a front room dining experience, set back in Georgian times for those who want that country house hotel feeling to which the New Inn aspires and with prices to match. The beef was very good but the vegetables reminded me of my mother’s Sunday lunches. Sash windows and lots of light and an open fire on my November Sunday. On Boxing Day, it was busy with drinkers and eaters and walkers taking advantage of the clear crisp day to walk off Christmas Lunch. The carpets suggest no muddy boots but all the boots were dry. For those wetter days there is a wooden floored room at the back and for sunny days a garden, Ruddles Best and Morelands Old Speckled Hen suggest a Green King house, as does the Beef and Ale Pie with Ruddles. The beers are well kept and although it may be a destination pub for eaters, there is still space for others to enjoy the reward for a good walk around Winchelsea.

The complete Guidebook to the walk contains history notes, maps and step by step walking instructions to make your life easier to enjoy the rich history of this Walk around Winchelsea. About the Author David lives in St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex, and walks, talks and writes about walking, local history and all things 1066. He is a member of the Outdoor Writers and Photographers Guild and considers that his membership of CAMRA, The Inn Sign Society, The Ramblers and the Long Distance Walkers Association to be a perfect match for walking. He is the author and creator of 1066 Harold’s Way, a 100mile long distance walk inspired by King Harold’s epic march to the Battle of Hastings, 1066. Long Distance Walks 1066 Harold’s Way Walking The High Weald - Three Castles and an Ironmaster’s House Books The Saxon Times History Walks around 1066 Country 1. A Green St Leonards on Sea Walk 2. Walks around Battle (Battle Circular Walks) 3. 1066 Bodiam Castle to Battle Abbey 4. Hastings to Rye 5. Secret St Leonards Walking Trail 6. Pub Walks in Hastings and St Leonards 7. 1066 William’s Way, Hastings to Battle 8. Rock a Nore to De La Warr 9. Pub Walks in 1066 Country 10. A Walk around Rye 11. A Walk around Winchelsea 12. More Walks around Rye

History Walks No.11 A Walk around Winchelsea This Walk around Winchelsea is an opportunity to imagine a life in a town whose Grand Design has little changed in over 700 years. There are three medieval gates that guard the approaches, the old Court Hall that once acted as the gaol and the seat of the Mayor’s power, and a great church that promised so much, its grandeur and wealth reflects the affluence and influence of the town in the 14 century. th Despite its difficult past, it has survived to capture a unique vision of King Edward I’s dream of a hilltop town. It is a walk into history. ‘A Walk Around Winchelsea’ is published by History Walks, Marine Court, St Leonards on Sea www.1066haroldsway.co.uk and printed by Instant Print www.instantprint.co.uk £3.00 February 2019

For more information about this book and other walks in the series of ‘Short Walks in 1066 Country’, visit History Walks Books and Talks: www.1066haroldsway.co.uk History Walks books are available by mail order from History Walks and from the following stockists: Hastings • Hastings Tourist Information, Muriel Matters House • Old Hastings Preservation Society, History House, Courthouse Street • Hastings Fishermen's Museum, Rock-a-Nore, St Leonards on Sea • The Bookkeeper, 1A Kings Road • Studio 4 Frames, Marine Court Rye • Rye Heritage Centre • Adams of Rye, 8 High Street Battle • British Design British Made, High Street • AHA Stationers, Mount Street Bexhill • De La Warr Pavilion • Bexhill Museum