St Thomas the Martyr Church, Winchelsea

In front of this historic village in East Sussex, the so-called Battle of Winchelsea or Les Espagnols sur Mer was fought during the Hundred Years' War.

Henry James wrote of Winchelsea, the town that once sought to rival the port of London:
The abstractly laid out avenues and intersecting streets wander blindly in the summer evening light and disappear into legend and mystery.
Ah yes, Winchelsea. Very, very quiet. Very pretty. And there really isn't much there, but it has charm!

The new town of Winchelsea was set out in a grid pattern during the reign of King Edward I. The town prospered, importing 737,000 gallons of wine in 1306 from Gascony in France. These were stored in the town's 70 cellars.

However, just like Rye, the town's fortunes faded as the harbour silted up and trade moved elsewhere. With fewer means of earning a living, people moved out too. By the end of the 16th century, Winchelsea had declined to little more than a village.