Hastings, initially one of the foremost of the Cinque Ports, was by this period the furthest decayed of them, owing to the early silting of its harbour. So far as ship-service to the Crown was concerned, it had long since passed on the bulk of its contribution of 21 vessels to its former members, or limbs, Rye and Winchelsea; and, under an agreement made in 1392, it was now required to find only five ships, and even two of these were in fact to be supplied by other members.
No fortification in the British Isles has a longer recorded history than Dover castle, and the town on its doorstep shares its antiquity. Dover’s prosperity was firmly based on its position as the main port of embarkation for travellers to the continent. It suffered for a time in Edward III’s early French wars, owing to the absence of a secure port of landing on the other side of the Channel, but the capture of Calais remedied this lack, though it also provided a rival for control of the crossing.
From its days as the capital of Britannia Inferior in Roman times, York ranked as the second city of the kingdom, a position which its importance as an ecclesiastical, administrative, military and economic centre clearly justified. It commanded an impressive network of communications, some of which had been constructed by the Romans during their three centuries of occupation.
Scarborough owed its early and lasting strategic importance to a combination of geographical features, which not only gave it a fine natural habour but also provided an imposing hill site for fortifications and a signal station. Long before the Romans established a base there for defence against the Saxon invaders, Scarborough played a vital part in protecting the north Yorkshire coast.
Originally known as Wyke-upon-Hull, the port of Kingston-upon-Hull did not assume its second name until well after 1293, the date of its acquisition by Edward I from its previous owner, the abbot of Meaux. Wyke had been developed as a ‘new town’ by the monks for the export of their wool crop, and flourished so rapidly that by the late 13th century it ranked among the top four ports in England which dealt in that commodity. Its success was largely due to its geographical position at the confluence of the river Humber and a tributary, the river Hull, some 20 miles or so from the North Sea.
Worcester’s population in 1377 has been estimated at 2,336, a figure comparable with other cathedral cities such as Exeter and Winchester. The city appears to have been fairly prosperous at this time, thanks to its importance as a distributing centre for the west midlands, which depended largely upon its bridge. At the beginning of the 14th century there had been no other place to cross the Severn between Gloucester and Bridgnorth, and by then Worcester was already the converging point of many roads, including the direct route from London to mid Wales.
Wilton is situated in south Wiltshire, in a fertile triangle of land near the confluence of the rivers Nadder and Wylye. A local route centre, it also stood on the main road from London to Exeter. During the period under construction it was the second largest of the Wiltshire boroughs, its taxable population of 639 in 1377 being considerably greater than that of Marlborough or Malmesbury and more than twice that of Devizes or Chippenham. Wilton itself, however, was quite overshadowed by the city of Salisbury, only three miles away and five times as large.VCH Wilts. iv.
The city of Salisbury (often called New Salisbury to distinguish it from the much older settlement three miles away at Old Sarum), is situated in south Wiltshire, near the Avon and its confluence with the rivers Bourne, Nadder and Chalke. During the period under consideration it was an important route centre, and among the many roads passing through it were those from London to Exeter and from Southampton to the Midlands. Its taxable population of 3,226 in 1377 made it the seventh largest town in England.W.C. Hoskins, Local Hist. 238-9; VCH Wilts. iv.
Situated on a hill top some two miles north of the centre of Salisbury, Old Sarum (more correctly, Old Salisbury) consisted, even in the period under review, of no more than a few houses surrounding a royal castle which was already in decay. Although the borough still retained a parish church, its population had so declined that no more than ten residents were available for assessment for the poll tax of 1377. Save only as regards its privilege of returning burgesses to Parliament, Old Sarum was by then little more than a hamlet. Yet it had formerly been of considerable importance.
Situated on the river Kennet, and at the junction of roads from London to Bristol and from Winchester and the south coast to Gloucester, Marlborough was a route centre and the most important town in east Wiltshire. During the period under consideration it ranked about third in size among the numerous Wiltshire boroughs, its taxable population of nearly 550 (including those who lived in the ‘barton’) being exceeded in 1377 only by Salisbury and Wilton.
