New Winchelsea Town Wall

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Winceleseia; Winchenesel; Winchelsay; Wynchelse; Yhamme; Ihamme; The Strand Gate; North Gate; Pipewell Gate; Land Gate; Ferry Gate; New Gate

In the civil parish of Icklesham.
In the historic county of Sussex (Modern Authority of East Sussex, 1974 county of East Sussex).

Piece of wall and three gates of a walled model town founded 1283. Most of circuit of defence may never have got beyong a ditch and bank. Murage first granted 1295. The licence to crenellate issued by Henry V in c.1415 was to permit a smaller line of defence to be fortified.
The Strand Gate; One of the medieval gates of the town. Late C13. Four round turrets joined North and South by side walls and East and West by two archways, each having a portcullis groove. Above the arches was a solid portion which had stone vaulting, now fallen away. Parapet over. Loop windows.
The Pipewell or Land Gate; The second of the medieval gates of the town, also at one time called the Ferry Gate. Rebuilt in the early C15 after the French had burned the town in 1380. Stone rubble. Two four-centred archways with the lower portion of a square tower over, though the centre of the roof above the archways has fallen in.
The New Gate; Ruin of the third of the medieval gates of the town which one stretched as far as this point. Late C13. Stone rubble. High four-centred archway with splayed flanking portions containing recesses

This site has been described as a;
Urban Defence.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Certain.
Major remains.

A Royal licence to crenellate was granted in 1415 June 5.

This site is a scheduled monument protected by law.
This site is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 410497, 410527, 410540, 410541, 410542, 410779)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is TQ904171

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 978700 etc

• Web site links
  • http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/adv_reference.asp?imageUID=73277
    http://www.winchelsea.net/visiting/winchelsea_history_pt9.htm
• Books
  • Creighton, O.H. and Higham, R.A., 2005, Medieval Town Walls (Stroud: Tempus) p18, 24, 72, 98-99, 139, 278
    Jones, R., 2003, 'Hastings to Herstmonceux: the castles of Sussex' in Rudling, D. (ed) The archaeology of Sussex to AD2000 (Great Dunham: Heritage Marketing and Publications) p171-8
    Martin, David, 2003, 'Winchelsea - A Royal New Town' in Rudling, D. (ed) The archaeology of Sussex to AD2000 (Great Dunham: Heritage Marketing and Publications) p179-190
    Salter, Mike, 2000, The Castles of Sussex (Malvern) p70-1
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p254-5
    Bond, C.J., 1987, 'Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Defences' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report) p92-116 [plan]
    Guy, John, 1984, Castles in Sussex (Phillimore) p118-121
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p476
    Barley, M.W., 1975, 'Town Defences in England and Wales after 1066' in Barley (ed) Medieval Towns in England and Wales (CBA research reports) pp57-71
    Turner, H.L., 1971, Town Defences in England and Wales (London) p176-9
    Salzman, L.F. (ed), 1937, VCH Sussex Vol9 p62-4
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co) p208-9
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p421
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1853, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol2 p157
    Cooper, 1850, History of Winchelsea (London) p95 and elsewhere
    Grose, F., 1756, Antiquities of England and Wales Vol5 p194-5
• Journal Articles
  • Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T.B., 1984, 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1983' Medieval Archaeology Vol28 p242
    Youngs, S.M., Clark, J. and Barry, T.B., 1983, ‘Medieval Britain and Ireland in 1982' Medieval Archaeology Vol27 p205
    Rudling, D.R., 1983, ‘Winchelsea’. Sussex Archaeological Society Newsletter 39 p323
    Rudling, D.R. and Leach, P., 1983, ‘Further fieldwork at Winchelsea, East Sussex' in Bedwin,O. (ed), ‘Rescue Archaeology in Sussex 1982: a ninth progress report on the Sussex Archaeological Field Unit' Bulletin of the Institute of Archaeology 20 p95–8
    Youngs, S.M. and Clark, J., 1981, ‘Medieval Britain in 1980' Medieval Archaeology Vol25 p213
    Homan, 1949, Sussex Archaeological Collections Vol88 p22-41 esp 37-8
    Chambers, G.E., 1937, 'The French bastides and the town plan of Winchelsea' Archaeological Journal Vol94 p177-206
    Ditchfield, P.H., 1924, 'The walls of Rye and Winchelsea' Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol30 p120-131
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1413-16) p368-9
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/barkseng.html#sussex18]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p457