The route - allow about 1 and a half hours.

Begin at the stile, where old road south out of the town forks to join the A259 or continues south. Here the stark gable end forms the standing remains of St John’s Hospital, recently consolidated by the Trust. There were formerly three medieval hospitals in Winchelsea, and this evocative ruin looking down over Pewis Marsh is all that remains above ground. Follow the track across the field, descending a large bank which probably lies along the line of the old town wall.

Cross stile at the bottom of the field. Ahead can be seen the New Gate, the most isolated of the surviving gatehouses. The platform-like area on the hill in front of it is the site of the Holy Cross Hospital and beyond it, over the rise, that of St Bartholomew’s, razed in the raids of 1380. To the right is Wickham Manor farmhouse, now let by the Trust to farm tenants and run organically, but once belonging to the Penn family, founders of Pennsylvania in the US. The farmland attracts overwintering butterflies, and from April, migratory birds including warblers, buntings and housemartins.

Follow the fence line towards New Gate. The ditch and bank convey a sense of how extensive the medieval fortifications were. The New Gate, being at the lowest and most vulnerable point of town, was where the French stormed the town in 1360. Turn right at the road and follow it for a time, with views across to the area of Old Winchelsea. Take the stile on the left, crossing the marsh until you reach the Royal Military Canal, built in 1804 to strengthen defence against invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. This flat stretch conveys well the height and isolation of Iham Hill. Surmounted by a wall, the cliffs sheer and probably devoid of today’s vegetation cover would have presented an intimidating sight to potential invaders. At the road, turn left up the hill, arriving at the Strand Gate, with views out to Camber Castle and Rye.

A little bit further...
For an extension of the walk head down Mill Road at the north east of town onto the NT footpath leading to the site of a former church and subsequently a windmill blown down in the Great Storm of 1987. Follow the hollow way down the hill; this area represents the old village of Iham that predated Edward I’s planned town of New Winchelsea. Below the Brede flows silently by, but would once have thronged with the activity of a busy port.

Getting there

• By rail: Hourly trains to Winchelsea station from Hastings (20 mins) to Rye (5 mins) & Ashford (30 mins) every day including weekends.
• By bus: Hastings to Rye hourly bus service through Winchelsea.
• By cycle: the National Cycle Network (NCN) 2 (Eastbourne to Dover) passes through Winchelsea. Cycle hire facilities at Rye, with circular route to Winchelsea via Castle & Canal cycle route and NCN2).
• By car: off the A259 between Rye and Hastings.

Map:

• Explorer 124, 1:2500, Hastings and Bexhill.

Refreshments:

• There are two pubs in Winchelsea.

What else to see:

• Winchelsea Museum and the Great Hall (not NT).
• Camber Castle (English Heritage) is nearby.
• Lamb House, Rye (NT), former home of Henry James.