Dover was the most important of the Cinque Ports and, by the beginning of Elizabeth’s reign, had already enjoyed several centuries of strong and independent local government. Parliamentary elections were conducted in the common assemblies, consisting of mayor, jurats, common council and freemen.
By the 16th century Winchelsea was the least important of the Cinque Ports. Originally a member or ‘limb’ of Hastings, it had achieved, like Rye, the status of an ‘ancient town’ with the standing of a ‘head port’, but the silting up of its harbour had ruined its trade. Although an Act of 1549 for the towns of Rye and Winchelsea (2 and 3 Edw. VI, c.30) forbade the dumping of ballast in the Camber, only Rye profited even temporarily, since the creeks leading to Winchelsea were already almost blocked.K. M. E. Murray, Const. Hist. Cinque Ports, 1, 69, 209, 210; W. D.
Rye was one of the more prosperous of the Cinque Ports at this period, although its harbour was beginning to silt up. Since the end of the 14th century it had been free from its dependence on Hastings, and with its one ‘limb’, Tenterden, was by 1509 an integral part of the ports organization. The crown bailiff, who had earlier taken precedence of the mayor, had declined in importance and although, as in the case of John Shirley (whose appointment was confirmed in 1509), he might have been a household official, he was more likely to have been a prominent jurat of Rye or a local gentleman.
Sandwich was still a relatively prosperous port despite the decline in its Mediterranean trade and the growth of the sandbanks threatening its harbour. Following an inquiry of 1512 it was said that 500 or 600 boys might be ‘harboured’ and that a further 60 could ‘at every tide take in horses’, but an Act of 1515 (6 Hen. VIII, c.17) to deepen the Stour and neighbouring waterways for the benefit of Sandwich’s domestic trade was ineffective.
New Romney was the general meeting place for the Brotherhood of the Cinque Ports but had so far declined economically through the silting up of its harbour that it was less prosperous than its ‘limb’ Lydd. Old Romney and much of the new town formed part of the archbishop of Canterbury’s manor of Aldington, and the archbishop appointed the bailiff of Romney at least until the exchange of lands with the crown made by Cranmer in April 1540 by which property in both Romneys was surrendered.
Until its incorporation later in the 16th century as the mayor, jurats and community, Hastings was governed by a bailiff and 12 jurats chosen by him. As in other ports, the bailiff was the representative of the crown but only at Hastings was he also the elected head of the town government: in the 15th century the crown’s appointment of Thomas Stoughton was successfully challenged by the elected bailiff John Tamworth.
Hythe had a comparatively prosperous fishing industry and was still trying to keep its harbour free of shingle, but was none the less found by Leland to be greatly decayed. At the time of the Domesday survey it was a borough appurtenant to the archbishop of Canterbury’s manor of Saltwood and remained under archiepiscopal lordship until April 1540 when Archbishop Cranmer exchanged Salt-wood and the bailiwick of Hythe with the crown.
The most important of the Cinque Ports by the early 16th century, Dover had received a number of charters, the earliest known being in 1328. In addition to its long-standing rights and privileges in the Brotherhood of the Cinque Ports the town had a generally effective local government, vested in a mayor, jurats and common council, but limited by the authority of the King’s bailiff.
The new town of Winchelsea had been founded on a hill-top site by Edward I in the 1280s, following the destruction of the original town by stormy seas. The following half-century was a period of prosperity, but thereafter Winchelsea declined. By 1342 its population had shrunk noticeably, and the widespread destruction done by the French, when they captured and sacked the town in 1360 and again in 1380, led to further decay.
One of the five original Cinque Ports, Sandwich was under an obligation to render to the Crown the same ship-service as Dover, that is, 20 ships for 15 days each year. Its early development as an important port was due to its excellent harbour and to the formation of the Wantsum channel (providing vessels with an easy route from London to the straits of Dover).
