Winchelsea 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 Court Hall, High Street
Sea defences, near Winchelsea
The Parish Church of St Thomas the Martyr – aerial view
The Parish Church of St Thomas the Martyr – view from the east
The Weald is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre, the clay "Low Weald" periphery and the Greensand Ridge, which stretches around the north and west of the Weald and includes its highest points. The Weald once was covered with forest and its name, Old English in origin, signifies "woodland". The term is still used, as scattered farms and villages sometimes refer to the Weald in their names.
View south across the Weald of Kent as seen from the North Downs Way near Detling
Geology of south-eastern England showing the High Weald in yellow-green (9a) and the Low Weald in darker green (9); chalk downland is in pale green (6)
The Forest of Anderida during the Roman occupation of Britain
Autumn, Weald of Kent (1904), by Benjamin Haughton
