The history of Winchelsea

Smugglers and preachers

One of the few industries to prosper in Winchelsea after its decline was smuggling, much to the distress of John Wesley (1703-1791), who castigated “that accursed thing smuggling”. Smuggling had brought personal tragedy to Wesley when his daughter’s fiancée, Captain Henry Haddock, commander of a Rye revenue cutter, was shot by a smuggler off Dungeness. It was at Winchelsea in 1790 that Wesley preached his last outdoor sermon, under an ash tree on German Street (he also preached in the Chapel established in Rectory Lane in 1785 and still there), famously describing his visit to “that poor skeleton of ancient Winchelsea”. Wesley’s ash tree blew down in 1927 but a new tree was grown from the seed of the original.

Smuggling reached its peak around Winchelsea in the 1820’s. In 1829, it was recorded that 70 or 80 men passed through Winchelsea at four in the morning each carrying two casks. It is claimed that the last smuggler killed in England in a fight with the coastguards was one Thomas Monk, a “poor fiddler” of Winchelsea on 1 April 1838. Thereafter, smuggling died down in the area, although the last entry about smuggling in the towns gaol book recorded that one Captain Parker of Winchelsea was fined for the offence.

In the 18th century, there was an attempt to build a new harbour for Rye in what is now Winchelsea Beach, which is actually closer to Winchelsea. It was linked to Rye by the River Brede. The harbour was authorised by an Act of Parliament in 1722. It took 63 years to build but was closed within weeks of opening in 1787, blocked by the shifting shingle that had destroyed the port of New Winchelsea. Much of it was built using stone from the ruins of Winchelsea’s churches and possibly the town wall. It is known as Smeaton’s Harbour after its architect and now lies under the Harbour Field football pitches in Winchelsea Beach.

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