Winchelsea

Winchelsea
The Court Hall, High Street
Winchelsea is located in East Sussex
Winchelsea
Winchelsea
Location within East Sussex
Population600 
OS grid referenceTQ9017
• London54 miles (87 km) NW
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWINCHELSEA
Postcode districtTN36
Dialling code01797
PoliceSussex
FireEast Sussex
AmbulanceSouth East Coast
UK Parliament
Websitehttp://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 (/ˈwɪnəlsi/) 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]

  1. ^ "Visit us". Winchelsea. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 11 January 2021.