Old Winchelsea was on an island at the then mouth of the River Rother. The old town was recorded as Winceleseia in 1130 and Old Wynchchelse in 1321. At 1130, Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia (1127), then King of Sicily (1130). It is Roger II's distinction to have united all the Norman conquests into one kingdom and to have granted them a scientific, personal and centralized government. On the death of his elder brother, Simon, in 1105, he inherited the county of Sicily under the regency of his mother, Adelaide del Vasto. Roger claimed all Hauteville possessions in the peninsula and the overlordship of Capua, which had been nominally given to Apulia almost thirty years earlier. However, the union of Sicily and Apulia was resisted by Pope Honorius II and by the subjects of the duchy itself. At Capua in December, the pope preached a crusade against Roger, setting Robert II of Capua and Ranulf II of Alife (his own brother-in-law) against him. This plunged Roger into a ten-year war. The famous Bernard of Clairvaux, Innocent's champion, built up a coalition against Anacletus and his "half-heathen king." He was joined by Louis VI of France, Henry I of England, and the Emperor Lothair II. Meanwhile South Italy revolted. In 1132, Roger sent the lords of Capua and Alife to Rome in a show of force in support of Anacletus. While they were away, Roger's half-sister Matilda, the wife of Ranulf, fled to Roger. These lands were for the next seven centuries to constitute the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, or, as it was called later, the kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
During the years before the Second Crusade (1147-1148), Roger made Sicily the leading maritime power in the Mediterranean. A powerful fleet was built up under several admirals, or "emirs", of whom the greatest was George, formerly in the service of the Muslim prince of Mahdia. A series of conquests were made on the African coast (1135–1153). Tripoli was captured in 1146 and Cape Bona in 1148. These conquests were lost in the following reign and never formed an integral part of the kingdom.
Before the Norman Conquest, the town had its own mint. It was of importance in the wine trade. During the 13th Century the town was attacked several times by French marauders, while incursions by the sea destroyed much of the town until a massive flood completely destroyed it in 1287. The town had a tidal harbour on the River Brede, a tributary of the Rother. French raids continued into the 15th century, and little of the original town remains. It does, however, retain its town wall, and three gates. The parish church is dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr. Today's Winchelsea was the result of the old town's population moving to the present site, when King Edward I ordered a planned town, based on a grid, to be built. The complete plan was never completed, but the outlines are still visible today. It was at this time that the town, together with Rye, became one of the Two Antient Towns affiliated to the Cinque Ports.
WITHYHAM is a parish, 8 miles south-east from East Grinstead, and 7 south-west from Tunbridge Wells, in the Eastern division of the county, Hartfield hundred, East Grinstead union and county court district, Pevensey rape, Chichester diocese, and Lewes archdeaconry. The first mention of a church at Withyham was a grant was made by Edward I to Pope Nicholas IV of a tenth of all benefices to help pay for a crusade. Withyham was valued at 45 marks (about £30). At the outbreak of War with France, King Edward II took possession of property held in England by foreign relgious houses. At that time Withyham was attached to the Benedictine Priory at Morteyn in Normandy, It is doubtful whether the Prior ever regained his rights. The Church was a cell of the Benedictine Abbey of St. Martin of Tours. By charter of King Edward II the right of preferment (or advowson) was given to his son: John of Gaunt.
The church of St. Michael is a stone building, with square tower containing an excellent peal of 6 bells: in 1844 the interior was entirely renovated, and a new south aisle added: attached to the church, on the north-eastern side, is a private chapel, belonging to the ancient family of Sackville: here are the banners and arms of that family, beneath which is the vault, which for many centuries has been their place of burial: there are three fine monuments, executed by Nollokens, Flaxman and Chantry: in the north window, in stained glass, is the genealogy of the family, from the time of the Norman Conquest. The register dates from the yeare 1663. The area of the Parish is 8,086 acres, and the population in 1861 was 1,597. Nearby, the remains of the ancient house of Buckhurst, where the Lord Treasurer of Queen Elizabeth lived, and who was afterwards made Earl of Dorset: the heiress of that family is the Countess De La Warr (Baroness Buckhurst). Buckhurst Park, the residence of the Earl and Countess De La Warr; and Buckhurst, the seate of the Earl De La Warr...
CROWBOROUGH is a hamlet, partly in this parish, 3 miles south from the church, where there is a chapel of ease (St. John the Evangelist), with parsonage and school house adjoining, near to which are almshouses for six aged persons (widows and widowers), erected a few years since by the Countess De La Warr. GROOMBRIDGE, 3 miles, north-east, is principally in the parish of Speldhurst, and county of Kent, a small portion only being in this parish.
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