The name Cinque Ports, meaning five harbours in Old French, refers to a confederation that began as a desperate bargain between the Crown and coastal towns during the reign of Edward the Confessor. In the late 11th century, the towns of Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover, and Sandwich were granted local profits of justice in exchange for providing ships to the king. This arrangement was not merely a trade agreement but a strategic necessity to control cross-Channel traffic and purchase the loyalty of potentially troublesome ports. By 1135, the term Cinque Ports had come into use, and in 1155 a royal charter established the ports to maintain ships ready for the Crown in case of need. The earliest general charter granting liberties to the ports in common dates from 1260, and their liberties are also mentioned in the Magna Carta of 1297. The chief obligation laid on the ports, as a corporate duty, was to provide 57 ships for 15 days' service to the king annually, each port fulfilling a proportion of the whole duty. This system created a unique class of citizens known as Portsmen, who were deemed in the age of feudalism to be barons, and thus members of the baronage entitled to attend the king's parliament. The early-14th-century treatise Modus Tenendi Parliamentum stated the Barons of the Cinque Ports to hold a place of precedence below the lay magnates but above the representatives of the shires and boroughs. During the deposition of Edward II, the chronicles made a specific point of noting the presence of the Barons in the embassy of deposition, highlighting their political significance. Writs of summons to parliament were sent to the warden following which representative barons of the Cinque Ports were selected to attend parliament. Thus the warden's duty in this respect was similar to that of the sheriff who received the writs for distribution to the barons in the shires. The existence of common seals of the barons of the individual ports suggests they formed a corporation as the seal was designed to be affixed to charters and legal documents which would bind them as a single body. This no doubt related to their privileges as monopolies. The warden and barons often experienced clashes of jurisdiction, creating a complex web of power and responsibility that defined the early history of the confederation.
The Ancient Towns
By 1190, two further towns had joined the confederation, originally to assist Hastings in her provision of ships. In time they grew in prosperity, and by the 14th century were recognised as having the same head port status as the original five ports. In deference to the literal meaning of Cinque Ports, however, these two additional members were always distinguished under the title of the Ancient Towns, often spelled Antient Towns. The confederation is therefore sometimes referred to as The five Cinque Ports and two Ancient Towns. The Ancient Towns were Winchelsea and Rye. These towns were not merely appendages but became central to the confederation's operations, often taking on leadership roles in the absence of the original five. The Ancient Towns were granted the same rights and privileges as the head ports, including the right to send two Members to Parliament. This expansion of the confederation reflected the growing importance of these towns in the region's economy and defense. The Ancient Towns were also involved in the regulation of the annual autumn Herring Fair at Yarmouth, which was probably the main incentive for the individual ports to work together collectively in confederation. The ports therefore became closely involved in the regulation of the annual autumn Herring Fair at Yarmouth, and this was probably the main incentive for the individual ports to work together collectively in confederation. The Brodhull was a general assembly for representatives of the five head ports and two ancient towns. Brodhull is thought to have been originally a place-name, and presumably the original place of meeting, close to Dymchurch. The assembly subsequently met in Dymchurch, but after 1357 came to meet regularly in New Romney. One of the principal tasks of the Brodhull was the supervision of the Yarmouth Fair, and the appointment of bailiffs to manage it. By 1432 it met regularly twice a year. Meetings followed a parliamentary pattern, and were presided over by a Speaker: the speakership changed on the 21st of May each year, the right of appointment moving from port to port in geographical order from west to east. In the 15th and 16th centuries the name Brodhull gradually became corrupted through false etymology into Brotherhood, and in the post-medieval period the court was more usually known as the Brotherhood. The Guestling appears to have originated as a local meeting of the west ports, Hastings, Winchelsea and Rye, and perhaps their limbs. It probably took its name from the village of Guestling, a few miles west of Winchelsea, which may have been its original meeting-place. Over the course of the 16th century it developed into a more general meeting of all the head ports, ancient towns and corporate limbs, usually held annually and often in conjunction with the Brotherhood. As it represented a larger group of ports than the Brotherhood, it eventually became the pre-eminent assembly. However, in 1663 the Yarmouth service was suspended indefinitely, and thereafter both the Brotherhood and the Guestling fell into decline. The two courts continue to hold a nominal existence, but since 1866 have been held jointly.
Over the years, a number of further towns and ports joined the confederation as detached Limbs or Members of the seven head ports. They took a share in the burden of ship service, and a share in the privileges of the confederation. The limbs were often distinguished as either corporate limbs, whose status was confirmed by royal charter, and which enjoyed a considerable degree of self-government, or non-corporate limbs, which were more heavily dependent on, and governed by, their head port. The corporate limbs included Pevensey, Seaford, Tenterden, Lydd, Folkestone, Faversham, Fordwich, and Deal. Non-corporate limbs have at various dates included Grange, Bekesbourne, Bulverhythe, Northeye, Eastbourne, Hydney, Pebsham, and Petit Iham. The existence of common seals of the barons of the individual ports suggests they formed a corporation as the seal was designed to be affixed to charters and legal documents which would bind them as a single body. This no doubt related to their privileges as monopolies. The warden and barons often experienced clashes of jurisdiction, creating a complex web of power and responsibility that defined the early history of the confederation. In the 21st century the title Baron of the Cinque Ports is now reserved for Freemen elected by the Mayor, Jurats and Common Council of the Ports to attend a coronation and is solely honorary in nature. Since time immemorial, the barons had held the right to hold a canopy above the monarch during the procession on foot between Westminster Hall and Westminster Abbey. This procession was discontinued after the Coronation of George IV in 1821, but for the Coronation of Edward VII in 1902 the barons were found a new role. They were to process inside the abbey as far as the choir and there receive the banners of the monarch's realms, a function which they have repeated at all the 20th-century coronations. For the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla in 2023, fourteen barons joined the congregation in the abbey, representing the original five ports, the two ancient towns and the seven limbs. The Barons of the Cinque Ports were deemed in the age of feudalism to be barons, and thus members of the baronage entitled to attend the king's parliament. This privilege was granted in 1322 in recognition of their earlier support of the Despensers, father and son. The early-14th-century treatise Modus Tenendi Parliamentum stated the Barons of the Cinque Ports to hold a place of precedence below the lay magnates but above the representatives of the shires and boroughs. During the deposition of Edward II, the chronicles made a specific point of noting the presence of the Barons in the embassy of deposition, highlighting their political significance. Writs of summons to parliament were sent to the warden following which representative barons of the Cinque Ports were selected to attend parliament. Thus the warden's duty in this respect was similar to that of the sheriff who received the writs for distribution to the barons in the shires. The existence of common seals of the barons of the individual ports suggests they formed a corporation as the seal was designed to be affixed to charters and legal documents which would bind them as a single body. This no doubt related to their privileges as monopolies. The warden and barons often experienced clashes of jurisdiction, creating a complex web of power and responsibility that defined the early history of the confederation.
The Lord Warden
A Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports was appointed, an office frequently, and by the end of the 13th century permanently, combined with that of Constable of Dover Castle. The joint office survives to the present day, but is now a purely honorary title, with an official residence at Walmer Castle. The Lord Warden was the chief officer of the confederation, responsible for overseeing the ship service and maintaining the rights and privileges of the ports. The Lord Warden was also responsible for the administration of the courts of Shepway and Brodhull, which were the main judicial and administrative bodies of the confederation. The court of Shepway is first mentioned in the late 12th century. It was a local royal court of justice, effectively the equivalent of an eyre court, presided over by an officer of the Crown, and linked the confederation to central government. It met at Shepway Cross, near Lympne, where officers of the various members of the confederation were summoned to attend. The court met at irregular intervals, and over the course of the 15th century appears to have fallen into a slow decline. By the early 17th century it had effectively ceased to function. Nevertheless, it continued to hold a nominal existence, as it was at special sessions of the court that the Lord Warden was installed in office. The court of 1598, summoned for the installation as Warden of Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham, was held at his manor of Bekesbourne; and in the late 17th century the court was moved to Dover. The approximate site of the original meeting place is now marked by a war memorial erected in 1923, also known as Shepway Cross. The Brodhull was a general assembly for representatives of the five head ports and two ancient towns. Brodhull is thought to have been originally a place-name, and presumably the original place of meeting, close to Dymchurch. The assembly subsequently met in Dymchurch, but after 1357 came to meet regularly in New Romney. One of the principal tasks of the Brodhull was the supervision of the Yarmouth Fair, and the appointment of bailiffs to manage it. By 1432 it met regularly twice a year. Meetings followed a parliamentary pattern, and were presided over by a Speaker: the speakership changed on the 21st of May each year, the right of appointment moving from port to port in geographical order from west to east. In the 15th and 16th centuries the name Brodhull gradually became corrupted through false etymology into Brotherhood, and in the post-medieval period the court was more usually known as the Brotherhood. The Guestling appears to have originated as a local meeting of the west ports, Hastings, Winchelsea and Rye, and perhaps their limbs. It probably took its name from the village of Guestling, a few miles west of Winchelsea, which may have been its original meeting-place. Over the course of the 16th century it developed into a more general meeting of all the head ports, ancient towns and corporate limbs, usually held annually and often in conjunction with the Brotherhood. As it represented a larger group of ports than the Brotherhood, it eventually became the pre-eminent assembly. However, in 1663 the Yarmouth service was suspended indefinitely, and thereafter both the Brotherhood and the Guestling fell into decline. The two courts continue to hold a nominal existence, but since 1866 have been held jointly. The Lord Warden was also responsible for the administration of the courts of Shepway and Brodhull, which were the main judicial and administrative bodies of the confederation. The court of Shepway is first mentioned in the late 12th century. It was a local royal court of justice, effectively the equivalent of an eyre court, presided over by an officer of the Crown, and linked the confederation to central government. It met at Shepway Cross, near Lympne, where officers of the various members of the confederation were summoned to attend. The court met at irregular intervals, and over the course of the 15th century appears to have fallen into a slow decline. By the early 17th century it had effectively ceased to function. Nevertheless, it continued to hold a nominal existence, as it was at special sessions of the court that the Lord Warden was installed in office. The court of 1598, summoned for the installation as Warden of Henry Brooke, Lord Cobham, was held at his manor of Bekesbourne; and in the late 17th century the court was moved to Dover. The approximate site of the original meeting place is now marked by a war memorial erected in 1923, also known as Shepway Cross.
The Silent Harbours
The continuing decline of the confederation of the Cinque Ports may be ascribed to a variety of different circumstances. While they survived the raids from the Danes and the French, the numerous destructive impact of plagues, and the politics of the 13th-century Plantagenets and the subsequent War of the Roses, natural causes such as the silting of harbours and the withdrawal of the sea did much to undermine them. Much of Hastings was washed away by the sea in the 13th century. During a naval campaign of 1339, and again in 1377, the town was raided and burnt by the French, and went into a decline during which it ceased to be a major port. It had no natural sheltered harbour. Attempts were made to build a stone harbour during the reign of Elizabeth I, but the foundations were destroyed by the sea in storms. New Romney is now about a mile and a half from the seafront. It was originally a harbour town at the mouth of the River Rother. The Rother estuary was always difficult to navigate, with many shallow channels and sandbanks. In the latter part of the thirteenth century a series of severe storms weakened the coastal defences of Romney Marsh, and the South England flood of February 1287 almost destroyed the town. The harbour and town were filled with sand, silt, mud and debris, and the River Rother changed course, now running out into the sea near Rye, Sussex. New Romney ceased to be a port. Hythe is still on the coast. However, although it is beside a broad bay, its natural harbour has been removed by centuries of silting. Dover is still a major port. Sandwich is now from the sea and no longer a port. 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. By the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the Cinque Ports had effectively ceased to be of any great significance, and were absorbed into the general administration of the realm. Queen Elizabeth I sanctioned the first national lottery that was held in 1569 in an effort to raise funds for the crumbling Cinque Ports. Nevertheless, in 1689 the Cinque ports were among those specifically called following the Glorious Revolution to elect representatives to attend the Convention Parliament which enacted the English Bill of Rights. Select Documents of English Constitutional History, Adams and Stephens, Eds. (1916), p. 464. With the advance in shipbuilding techniques came a growth in towns such as Bristol and Liverpool and the wider development of ports such as London, Gravesend, Southampton, Chichester, Plymouth and the royal dockyards of Chatham, Portsmouth, Greenwich, Woolwich and Deptford. A further reason for the decline of many older ports may be ascribed to the development of the canal, turnpike and railway networks across Britain, and the increased quantity of overseas trade these could distribute from the new major ports developing from the 18th century. Local government reforms and Acts of Parliament passed during the 19th and 20th centuries, notably the Reform Act 1832, have eroded the administrative and judicial powers of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports, when New Romney and Winchelsea were disenfranchised from Parliament, with representation provided through their counties alone, while Hythe and Rye's representation was halved. In 1985, HMS Illustrious established an affiliation with the Cinque Ports. In 2005, the affiliation was changed to HMS Kent.
The Heraldic Banner
The traditional coat of arms of the confederation is a shield divided per pale, vertically, depicting on the dexter side, viewer's left, three gold half lions passant gardant on a red field; and on the sinister side, viewer's right, three gold half ships' hulls on a blue field. These arms are also flown as an heraldic banner, and form the basis of the banner of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. The earliest certain evidence for the use of the arms is on a common seal of Dover dating from 1305, but they also appear on the common seal of Hastings which may be a few years earlier. They are thought to have been first introduced in 1297. There has long been an assumption that the arms were created through a process of heraldic dimidiation, that is to say, by combining half of the royal arms of England, the three lions, with half of an unidentified coat of arms depicting three ships. However, none of the earliest representations of the arms, all on seals, show the vertical partition of the field, suggesting that it was originally of only one colour. It therefore appears more likely that, while certainly alluding to the royal arms, the arms of the Cinque Ports were devised from the outset as a design depicting three half-lion-half-ships, probably on a red field; and that only at a later date, probably in the mid-14th century, was the field partitioned into two colours. There has historically been some confusion as to whether the three ships should be depicted as gold, or, or silver, argent: both variants are found in reputable heraldic sources from the late middle ages to the 19th century. The modern consensus is to depict them as gold in the confederation arms, although silver ships appear in some of the derivative arms borne by individual member ports. The traditional arms and banner may only officially and lawfully be displayed by representatives of the confederation itself, or by the local authorities for its member ports. However, in 2017 the Cinque Ports Authority registered with the UK Flag Registry a flag of three gold ships' hulls on a blue field as a regional or community flag, which may be flown by anyone who wishes to express identity with the Cinque Ports. Several of the member ports have their own coats of arms, which in some cases are modified or derivative versions of the confederation arms. Thus, Sandwich bears arms identical to those of the confederation, but with the three ships' hulls silver. Hastings bears a variant on which the central half-lion-half-ship is replaced by a full lion, and the two ships' hulls are silver. Deal bears a version of the confederation arms differenced by a chief on which the Lord Warden's oar of Admiralty appears. New Romney bears three gold lions on a blue field. Others incorporate elements from the confederation arms, or otherwise allude to them. Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, never a member of the confederation but closely associated with it through its herring fishery and fair, bears a variant on which the three half-ships are replaced by three fishes' tails.
The White and Black Books
The early history of the confederation is poorly documented, and can generally be traced only through incidental mentions in the charters granted to individual ports, or in other external records. One important early document, first compiled in the 13th century, but which survives only in the form of later and variant copies, is the so-called Domesday of the Ports, a list of the then-members of the confederation and the services they owed. The confederation's activities are much better documented from 1432 onwards, when minutes of the proceedings of the Brotherhood and Guestling began to be taken consistently. Meetings are documented in two books, known respectively as the White Book, covering the years 1432 to 1571, although the earliest portion, to 1485, comprises a transcript made in 1560, and the Black Book, covering the years 1572 to 1955. The White and Black Books were held at New Romney until 1960, when they were transferred to the Kent Archives Office, now the Kent History and Library Centre, in Maidstone. A comprehensive calendar of the two books was published in 1966. The White Book and Black Book are the primary sources for understanding the history of the Cinque Ports, providing detailed records of the meetings, decisions, and activities of the confederation. The White Book covers the years 1432 to 1571, although the earliest portion, to 1485, comprises a transcript made in 1560. The Black Book covers the years 1572 to 1955. The White and Black Books were held at New Romney until 1960, when they were transferred to the Kent Archives Office, now the Kent History and Library Centre, in Maidstone. A comprehensive calendar of the two books was published in 1966. The White Book and Black Book are the primary sources for understanding the history of the Cinque Ports, providing detailed records of the meetings, decisions, and activities of the confederation. The White Book covers the years 1432 to 1571, although the earliest portion, to 1485, comprises a transcript made in 1560. The Black Book covers the years 1572 to 1955. The White and Black Books were held at New Romney until 1960, when they were transferred to the Kent Archives Office, now the Kent History and Library Centre, in Maidstone. A comprehensive calendar of the two books was published in 1966. The White Book and Black Book are the primary sources for understanding the history of the Cinque Ports, providing detailed records of the meetings, decisions, and activities of the confederation.