St Thomas the Martyr Church, Winchelsea, East Sussex
The Church is named for St. Thomas the Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered in his own Cathedral in 1170. The first recorded mention of the church of St. Thomas in Old Winchelsea came in 1215. After floods later in the century the original town of Winchelsea was rebuilt inland. A new church was built near the centre. Work started in 1288 to build a magnificent Gothic church, with a chancel and choir, two side chapels, a central tower, transepts and a great nave. It is believed that the nave was burned down by the French in the 14th century. During the Napoleonic Wars several different regiments were barracked at Winchelsea‘s Barrack Square. The Church Register records that 72 soldiers belonging to various regiments were buried in the churchyard during the Peninsular War (1808-14). By the start of the 19th century the church had become so dilapidated it was declared ‘almost unfit for public worship. Restoration work began in 1850.
