This Easter Monday is the annual Winchelsea mayoring. There has been a mayor in Winchelsea for over 700 years. If you’ve visited the museum, you will see the names of the mayors that have served the town, from the very first one, Gervase Alard, who was appointed in 1295. It seems fitting that his magnificent tomb lies within our church where the mayoring now takes place each year.
Many visitors are surprised that Winchelsea still has a mayor, and its true that we almost lost that right in 1883, when an Act of Parliament abolished all municipal corporations (about two hundred of them), with the single exception of Winchelsea. Winchelsea was spared due to Frederick Inderwick, the local MP and six times mayor of Winchelsea, who managed to persuade his Parliamentary colleagues to add a special clause to the legislation which allowed Winchelsea Corporation to remain in existence. It removed its judicial and local government functions and all its responsibilities, save for the maintenance of the historic buildings in its care, and the fulfilling of Winchelsea’s function as a Head Port of the Confederation of Cinque Ports.
So, how is each new mayor chosen? Well, the decision is made by the freemen of the town. Currently there are over 30 freemen, and they represent a broad cross-section of Winchelsea residents. Once chosen, the mayor selects up to 12 freemen to be jurats. The Corporation of Winchelsea is now a charity, so the mayor and jurats form its executive board and serve as trustees. They are responsible for maintaining its traditions and carrying out the practical tasks surrounding the care and maintenance of the medieval Court Hall, the three town gates and the town well, together with the operation of the museum.
In reality, these appointments are made at the charity’s AGM. However, we still retain the traditional mayoring ceremony. It has always been held on Easter Monday, and still follows a format that would be recognisable to those attending in medieval times. The mayoring is actually called the Annual Sitting of the Hundred Court, a hundred court was the term used for a local medieval court. At the start of the ceremony, a roll call of freemen is called, there is a report from the previous mayor, new freeman and jurats take an oath of office and finally, this year the new Mayor David Page and the Deputy Mayor, Ian Kingham will be installed.
Present during the ceremony are the three important officers of the Corporation, the town clerk, chamberlain and sergeant at mace. The latter carry the town’s two silver maces, as a symbol of the mayor’s authority. Both maces are made from silver and are around five hundred years old. 2026 is a special year for Winchelsea, when our mayor becomes the speaker of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports. The office is held by the mayor of each of the head ports and two ancient towns in turn. It passes from one town to the next on 21 May each year, by a process quaintly described as the “septennial revolution”. The speaker acts as chair and principal representative of the Confederation.
It is not known exactly when the office was first created, but it has certainly existed continuously since 1357. Thus, it is older than the speakership of the House of Commons, which dates from 1376. The major event of the year will be Speaker’s Day, on Saturday 26 September, when all the Cinque Ports’ mayors, the Lord Warden and other dignitaries attend a church service in St Thomas’ Church, after a procession through the town. As a symbol of his or her office, the speaker wears a badge depicting the Ports’ coat of arms, encircled by an anchor and cable and surmounted by a coronet. The badge is made of gold with 14 diamonds around the perimeter symbolising the member towns of the Confederation. It was commissioned in 1971, at the instigation of Captain Herbert Lovegrove CBE RN, mayor of Winchelsea and speaker of the Cinque Ports for that year.
Our mayoring is one of those things that makes Winchelsea, unique and special. We hope you can join us in the church on Easter Monday at 11am.
Image Credits: Kt bruce , Jonathan Murphy .