Cinque Port

Five towns originally comprised the Cinque Ports on the Kent and Sussex coast. These were Sandwich, Hythe[?], Dover, Romney[?] and Hastings. A Royal Charter of 1155 established the ports to maintain ships ready for the Crown in case of need. In return the towns received:

"Exemption from tax and tallage, Right of soc and sac,

tol and team, blodwit and fledwit, pillory and tumbril,

infrangentheof and outfrangentheof, mundbryce,

waives and strays, flotsam and jetsam and ligan"

In other words, the authorities would turn a blind eye to ships and sailors from these ports. This led to smuggling becoming a major local industry.

The towns also had their own system of courts, and the right to send barons to hold the canopy above a new Monarch in the Coronation Ceremony. While this custom no longer continues, the barons still have the right to attend the ceremony.

As time went by and some ports declined or silted up, others were added. Rye and Winchelsea[?] were attached to Hastings as "Ancient Towns" in the 12th century

Lydd[?], Faversham[?], Folkestone, Deal[?], Tenterden[?], Margate and Ramsgate[?] were all added as "limbs" in the 15th century

Recent Lord Wardens of the Cinque Ports

• Winston Churchill, 1941 to 1965
• Sir Robert Menzies, 1965 to 1978
• Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, 1978 to 2002

External Links Cinque Ports 1155-1500 (http://www.villagenet.co.uk/history/1155-cinqueports)