Winchelsea is a small town in the non-metropolitan region of East Sussex, within the historical county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald as well as the Romney Marsh, around 2 miles (3.2 kilometres) south west of Rye and also 7 miles (11 kilometres) north east of Hastings. The community stands on the site of a middle ages community, established in 1288, to replace an earlier community of the exact same name, occasionally called Old Winchelsea, which was lost to coastal disintegration. The town becomes part of the civil parish of Icklesham. It is asserted by some residents that the town remains in truth the smallest community in Britain, as there is a mayor and also firm in Winchelsea, however that case is contested by locations such as Fordwich. The mayor of Winchelsea is selected every year from among the members of the firm, who are known as freemen, as opposed to being chosen by public vote. New freemen are themselves picked by existing participants of the corporation. Thus, in its existing kind, the corporation is properly a relic of Winchelsea's days as a 'rotten borough' (when Winchelsea elected 2 MPs yet the number of voters was restricted to concerning a dozen, occasionally fewer). The firm shed its staying civil as well as judicial powers in 1886 but was preserved as a charity by an Act of Parliament to keep the subscription of the Cinque Port Confederation. The mayor and also company in Winchelsea currently have a greatly ritualistic function, along with duty for the recurring care as well as upkeep of the main noted ancient monuments in the town as well as the Winchelsea museum. Winchelsea makes up neither a local government district, civil parish nor charter trustees location.