Hi, and welcome to our visit to the ancient, historic town of Winchelsea in East Sussex
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You can find Winchelsea in the southeast of England
in the historic county of East Sussex
It's a mere nine miles from Hastings and three miles from Rye
and you may want to check out Battle and Bodian Castle if you're in the area
but we're here to look at Winchelsea
an ancient town in the Cinque Port Confederation
which is served by a railway station which is just over half a mile outside town
and buses from Hastings and Rye
So without further ado let's take a look at Winchelsea
and you'll notice the town sign contains the emblem of the 12th-century Cinque Ports
although Winchelsea was one of the two ancient towns along with Rye
and in the centre of town is the church of St Thomas
With work starting on the church in 1288, and the stone coming from Caen in Normandy
and Winchelsea, as we know it today, was established by royal charter in 1281 by Edward I
and Winchelsea's history is shaped by the sea
and Saint Thomas's shows the scars of that
from the French raids in the 14th century
as part of the hundred years war
and neglect to the changing landscape which rendered Winchelsea's harbour redundant
and it wasn't until the 1850s when the church was restored
So we think it's worthwhile taking a look inside
The first thing that catches your eye are the amazing stained glass windows
and the vaulted ceiling
and those stained glass windows are once again a relatively new addition
gifted to the church from 1929 to 1933
and then as often catches my eye is the church organ
and this is a wonderful looking creation, once again from the 30s, 1931 I believe
and I've added the music for effect it wasn't actually playing while we were here
and as we step out into the cemetery there's one gravestone we're particularly interested in
and that's Terence Alan Milligan
better known as Spike Milligan
That comedy genius that leaves us with a smile
On his headstone in Gaelic is the phrase that translates "I told you I was ill"
but if you think I'm getting away with just one grave you're wrong
as you know Janis loves the cemetery so we wander through
and you may have noticed Winchelsea has laid down a grid pattern
we're on the High Street where it meets Thomas Street and Castle Street
and this is where we can start to dig into a little of the history of Winchelsea
and we'll start with Firebrand House
those open doors to the basement lead to a 13th-century vaulted cellar
and it's not the only one we're find in Winchelsea
and just along the High Street we'll find Winchelsea Farm Kitchen
which does a mean hot chocolate we're told
and we pass by Barrack Hill Square and we'll be back shortly
we're heading down towards Strand Hill
and it's here you can find one of the town's existing medieval gates - Strand Gate
and this 13th-century gatehouse would have been about a third higher and featured two portcullises
and city walls would have run up to it
This would have led down the hill to Winchelsea Harbour
I think what I find amazing now is it still stands and it's still regularly used by traffic
and that's a view of the Romney Marsh all the way around to the East Sussex coastline
did you catch our Romney Marsh road trip? I'll pop a link in the corner
and I'm also going to create an East Sussex road trip,
including Winchelsea, so don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss that
When the Strand Gate was built it would have been rendered white
it must have looked like an impressive entrance into Winchelsea
However, once the River Brede started to silt up, the importance of Winchelsea faded away
but as it is now, Winchelsea remained a popular place to live
one notable resident, Ellen Terry the renowned Victorian actress
and her partner Henry Irving lived here at Tower Cottage from 1892
and another of those 13th-century cellars below Stone Cottage on the corner of Barrack Square
and this is where the Duke of Wellington barracked some of his troops during the Napoleonic wars
we're gonna head around the corner now to Mill Lane
and if you wonder how I've gleaned so much information
including facts about five chimneys here
I'll drop you a link to Winchelsea.com in the description below
it's here you'll find information about the cellar tours that are available
and here's another one
built under what would have been the Salutation Arms
and this cellar, like so many in the town
predate the building that was constructed above it
and date from the 13th or 14th century
and built to store goods for either import or export
Imagine these full of wine from Gascony
another interesting building is the Town Well
built in 1851 at the expense of Thomas Dawes
gifted it to the town and it was in use until 1896 when water was piped to the town
and you notice I keep referring to Winchelsea as the town
well it is a town, a petite one, but it has a mayor nonetheless
and now we find Court Hall
one of the oldest buildings in Winchelsea
and parts of it date the origins of the town
although restored heavily in the 19th century
It was once the town jail
and is now home, during the summer months, to the town museum
and now the town's pub
the New Inn; an 18th-century coaching inn
now I didn't get a chance to pop in
but if you watch our forthcoming video on Rye then you may understand why
Another good reason to subscribe
I also want to take the opportunity to say there's no official town car park
however, you will find there are plenty of places to park sensibly in town
And Winchelsea has links to John Wellsey
the founder of the Methodist movement
Here he created a chapel and preached his last opening air sermon under the Wellsy tree just outside Saint Thomas's
and just across the road from John Wellsey's chapel
is the remains of the Blackfriar's barn
and below here is another medieval vaulted cellar
the Blackfriars, or Dominican order, and the Greyfriars, or Franciscans, lost their properties
in the dissolution of the monasteries in the middle of the 16th century
It's from here you get great views over the countryside to the west of Winchelsea
but we're not quite finished with the town yet
We've got to discover another town's medieval gates
and we've headed back towards St Thomas's church and turning left down Hiham Green
at the end of Hiham Green you'll reach School Hill
and from here it's a relatively short walk down to North Street
it's from here you'll get views over the countryside to Rye in the distance
it's just a short walk along North Street until you reach Pipewell Gate
and that brings this tour to an end
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Thanks again, stay safe, stay well, and happy travels