Winchelsea

Winchelsea
The Court Hall, High Street
Winchelsea Location within East Sussex
Population	600
OS grid reference	TQ9017
• London	54 miles (87 km) NW
Civil parish	Icklesham
District	Rother
Shire county	East Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WINCHELSEA
Postcode district	TN36
Dialling code	01797
Police	Sussex
Fire	East Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
UK Parliament	Hastings and Rye
Website	http://www.winchelsea.com
List of places UK England East Sussex 50°55′30″N 0°42′32″E / 50.9251°N 0.7088°E / 50.9251; 0.7088

Winchelsea (/ˈwɪntʃəlsi/) is a town in the county of East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) south west of Rye and 7 miles (11 km) north east of Hastings. The current town, which was founded in 1288, replaced an earlier town of the same name, known as Old Winchelsea, that was lost to coastal erosion in the late medieval period. Winchelsea is part of the civil parish of Icklesham.

The mayor of Winchelsea is chosen each year from amongst the members of the corporation, who are known as freemen, rather than being elected by public vote. New freemen are themselves chosen by existing members of the corporation. Thus, in its current form, the corporation is effectively a relic of Winchelsea's days as a 'rotten borough' (when Winchelsea elected two MPs but the number of voters was restricted to about a dozen, sometimes fewer). The corporation lost its remaining civil and judicial powers in 1886 but was preserved as a charity by an Act of Parliament to maintain the membership of the Cinque Port Confederation. The mayor and corporation in Winchelsea now have a largely ceremonial role, together with responsibility for the ongoing care and maintenance of the main listed ancient monuments in the town and the Winchelsea Court Hall Museum.^[1]