Town welcomes lady Mayor

Last year Cynthia was John Spencer’s Deputy Mayor and is now the first lady mayor in the 700 years of mayor making in the town.

Her deputy is John Rodley who is also a jurat and one of the churchwardens.

The Mayor Making ceremony took place in the Upper Court Hall where it has been held since 1665.

Dignitaries who attended the ceremony include the High Sheriff Maureen Chowen, Deputy Lieutenant Phyllida de Salis, the Mayor of Rye and Deputy Mayor of Hastings, and members of Rother District Council.

Winchelsea is the smallest town in England to still have its own Mayor and Corporation.

It goes back to the time when King Edward I created the new town of Winchelsea on the hill after the original town and port was destroyed by a storm in 1287.

The new members on the corporation are David Merrifield appointed to jurat and Carol Scoines as freeman.

Although Winchelsea Corporation ceased to have a local government role a century and a half ago, this historic body is custodian 
of the medieval monuments of the town, including 
the gates and well.

Pictures by Sid Saunders and Sarah Lawlor.

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