The remains of a house lying beside the town’s cricket field of which only walls now stand.
Tradition says it belonged to the Dominicans – the Black Friars or Friars’ Preachers. There is an impressive 14th century cellar beneath this structure which has been recently excavated and access improved by the National Trust to permit occasional visits. The cellar wall at one end includes a very remarkable set of images of 12 ships of the period, scratched into the surface of the plasterwork.
The Black Friars came to Winchelsea in 1318 but did not acquire the house on this site until the middle of that century. Their house, together with that of the Franciscans – the Grey Friars – fell at the Dissolution and passed into private hands. The buildings were probably used to provide stone for the extension of Camber Castle in 1539.
