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The Cinque Ports in Kent and Sussex

Monday, 24 September 2012 - 01:30 pm (CET/MEZ) Berlin | Author/Destination: Great Britain / Großbritannien
Category/Kategorie: General Reading Time:  4 minutes

🔊 Listen to this Post The Confederation of Cinque Ports (pronounced “sink” ports, not as the French “cinq”) is a historic series of coastal towns in Kent and Sussex. It was originally formed for military and trade purposes, but is now entirely ceremonial. It lies at the eastern end of the English Channel, where the crossing to the continent is narrowest. The name originates in Norman French, meaning “five ports”, which are: Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover and Sandwich.

The five ports are supported by the two men who are so-called “Antient Towns” of Rye and Winchelsea whose councils traditionally maintained defence contingents for the realm of England.

Apart from the five ports and the two Antient Towns, there are eight other members of the Confederation, which are considered to be Limbs of the other towns. These are: Lydd (Limb of New Romney), Folkestone (Limb of Dover), Faversham (Limb of Dover), Margate (Limb of Dover), Deal (Limb of Sandwich), Ramsgate (Limb of Sandwich), Brightlingsea (Limb of Sandwich) and Tenterden (Limb of Rye).

There are in addition some 23 towns, villages and offices which have varying degrees of connection to the ancient Liberties of the Cinque Ports. Pevensey was once a Limb of Hastings, and the coastal confederation during its medieval period consisted of a confederation of 42 towns in all.

King Edward I of England granted the citizens of the Cinque Ports special privileges, including the right to bring goods into the country without paying import duties; in return the Ports would supply him with men and ships in time of war. The associated ports, known as ‘limbs’, were given the same privileges. The five head ports and two antient towns were entitled to send two Members to Parliament. A Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was appointed, and also held the title of Constable of Dover Castle, and whilst this office exists today, it is now a purely honorary title, with an official residence at Walmer Castle. The town of Hastings was the head port of the Cinque Ports in mediæval times. The towns also had their own system of courts.

Ongoing changes in the coastline along the south east coast, from the Thames estuary to Hastings and the Isle of Wight inevitably reduced the significance of a number of the Cinque port towns as port authorities. However, ship building and repair, fishing, piloting, off shore rescue and sometimes even ‘wrecking’ continued to play a large part in the activities of the local community.

Read more on Cinque Ports and Wikipedia Cinque Ports. Learn more about the use of photos. To inform you about latest news most of the city, town or tourism websites offer a newsletter service and/or operate Facebook pages/Twitter accounts. In addition more and more destinations, tourist organizations and cultural institutions offer Apps for your Smart Phone or Tablet, to provide you with a mobile tourist guide (Smart Traveler App by U.S. Department of State - Weather report by weather.com - Global Passport Power Rank - Travel Risk Map - Democracy Index - GDP according to IMF, UN, and World Bank - Global Competitiveness Report - Corruption Perceptions Index - Press Freedom Index - World Justice Project - Rule of Law Index - UN Human Development Index - Global Peace Index - Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Index). If you have a suggestion, critique, review or comment to this blog entry, we are looking forward to receive your e-mail at comment@wingsch.net. Please name the headline of the blog post to which your e-mail refers to in the subject line.

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