A HISTORY OF SUSSEX 



Ports squadron of 30 ships of 3,340 tons, manned by 60 officers, 1,915 men, and 93 boys ; it was 

 paid for by the crown as extra to, and independent of, the charter ' service.' Here, Winchelsea 

 provides nine ships, of which one is of 160 tons, two of 140, and the four smallest each of 100 tons; 

 Rye sent four ships, of which one was of 240 tons, one of 170, one of 120, and one of 60 tons. 

 Neither Hastings nor any other of the remaining Sussex ports is represented, but if Winchelsea and 

 Rye had been able to maintain the standard of tonnage shown here the fall of the Ports might have 

 been long delayed. In 1337 one of three prizes, recently taken, was given by the king to the 

 inhabitants of Winchelsea, and in 1338 he was building a galley there. 1 



In 1338 and 1339, when France had joined the Scots, the balance of maritime war went 

 against England until the victory of Sluys in 1340 restored our supremacy for many years. In 

 1339 the French raided the south coast from Kent to Cornwall; on 27 May they landed at 

 Hastings, doing more or less mischief, and in July they appeared at Rye, burning some fifty houses, 

 but the town was saved by the arrival of an English fleet which chased away the assailants. 

 The Inquisitiones Nonarum of 1340* afford evidence of many raids important enough to the victims, 

 but too unimportant historically to be recorded by the chroniclers. In Friston 100 acres were 

 uncultivated, pro dubio Normannorum, as also another 100 acres in Eastdean ; Seaford had been 

 saepe et multiplidter destroyed by enemies from France, and in Patcham much land was uncultivated 

 because the men of the parish had been nearly exterminated. A three years' grant of dues for the 

 murage of Rye had been made in 1336, and another was given in 1343 to run five years, extended 

 for another five years in 1348.' This last mentions that the enemy's galleys came more often in 

 the vicinity of the town than anywhere else on the coast. New Winchelsea had been walled from 

 its foundation, and in 1321 had a murage grant for repairs. 4 By 1340 the continuous strain was 

 telling upon the English reserve of shipping, and the sheriffs of the maritime counties were ordered 

 to prevent any sale of ships to foreigners. 6 In consequence of the poverty of the coast towns it was 

 necessary for the crown to come to their assistance everywhere ; for a Cinque Ports levy in the 

 same year the Council promised to pay half the cost 'as an especial grace.' 6 In 1341 another 

 advisory council from the ports was convened at Westminster ; 7 the more important places, among 

 them Winchelsea, sent two delegates ; the others, including Rye, Hastings, Pevensey, Seaford, and 

 Shoreham, one each. The plan may have been found successful in conciliating and persuading 

 shipowners, and it was repeated in 1342, 1344, and 1347. In 1342 and 1344 the same towns, 

 together with Chichester, were summoned ; in 1347 Pevensey was omitted. 8 



In 1342 complications arose in Brittany, owing to the death of the duke without direct heirs, 

 leading to the despatch of a large fleet and army under Sir Walter de Mauny ; Edward himself crossed 

 later in the year. In one fleet there were 357 vessels, of which Winchelsea sent 24, Rye 5, Shore- 

 ham 2 1, Hastings and Bourne 2 each, and Pevensey, ' Codelawe,' and Seaford each one. 9 An undated 

 list, probably relating to another fleet prepared for this expedition, gives a total of 119 vessels, for 

 which Seaford, Ford, and Lewes sent two ships and a barge, Shoreham the same, Chichester and 

 Wittering (' Wycheryng ') two barges each. 10 After Edward's arrival many of the vessels deserted 

 from Brest, leaving the king and his troops ' in very great peril ' ; therefore writs were directed to 

 the bailiffs of the ports to arrest the deserters and seize their property. Two ships each of Rye, 

 Seaford, Bourne, and Shoreham, one of 'Codelawe,' and eight of Winchelsea are enumerated ; the 

 masters and mariners were to be committed to Newgate. 11 For the campaign of Crecy and the 

 siege of Calais a large armament was collected from 1,000 to 1,600 sail, say the chroniclers. 

 According to the Roll of Calais, which purports to be a copy of a Wardrobe Account of Edward III, 

 the fleet gathered for the siege included 21 ships and 596 men from Winchelsea, 9 ships and 

 156 men from Rye, 5 ships and 96 men from Hastings, 2O ships and 329 men from Shoreham, 

 and 5 ships and 80 men from Seaford. All the existing copies of this Wardrobe Account are of 

 the late sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries, and the character of the discrepancies affecting 

 many of the ports affords internal evidence that the original record was in some places nearly or 

 quite illegible when it was transcribed. In the case of Sussex the variations are not important. 



I Close, 10 Edw. Ill, m. 4 ; 12 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 19. ' Rec. Com. 1807. 



8 Pat. 10 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 37 ; 17 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 15 ; 22 Edw. Ill, pt. ii, m. 39. Holloway 

 (Hilt, cf Rye, 274) prints a grant for fortification he assigns to 5 Ric. I, but which is evidently Richard II, 

 probably wrongly transcribed as to the regnal year. 



4 Pat. 15 Edw. II, pt. i, m. 19. 6 Rymer, FoeJera, v, 210. 



8 Rot. Par/, ii, 1 08. 7 foedera, v, 231. 



"Ibid. 231, 405, 548; ibid. (ed. 1816), ii, 1193. The delegates were paid 21. a day (Close, 

 1 8 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. 1 8 </.) ' Chanc. Misc. &. "> Ibid. A- 



II Pat. 17 Edw III, pt. i, m. 17 d.\ Close, 17 Edw. Ill, pt. i, m. \d. 3 d. Codelawe is Cudlo Haven, 

 formerly a manor in Anesford hundred (Cal. Inq. p.m. (Rec. Com.), iii, 19 ; Rot. Hund. ii, 214). It existed 

 as a ' townlet ' in Leland's day (///. vi, 29), and is marked as ' Codlow,' on the western side of the 

 mouth of the Arun, in Wagenhaer's Mariners Mirrour of 1588, after which it disappears. 



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