Tickets £30 for one day or £50 for both days - includes a buffet lunch and refreshments.
A major two-day conference looking at the history of the Cinque Ports from the 13th century to the present day, hosted in the medieval splendour of Dover’s Maison Dieu. Including short talks by academics, historians and archaeologists exploring the role of the Cinque Ports in the defence of England, their governance and administration and the lives of those living in the Cinque Ports towns.
Delegates may also join special tours of the Maison Dieu and other historic sites nearby, as well as viewing displays of Cinque Ports artefacts and documents and finding out about the role of the Confederation of the Cinque Ports today. Full programme listed below.
Cinque Ports Conference - Evening reception
Friday 26 June, 6.30 to 8pm
Tickets £15 - includes a welcome drink and canapes
Join the mayors and officials of the Confederation of Cinque Ports for canapes and drinks in the Neo-gothic splendour of the Maison Dieu's recently restored Connaught Hall, as they celebrate the end of the first day of the Cinque Ports Conference and the Confederation's long association with the magnificent building. Relax and chat to guests as you listen to live music. The evening will include short speeches by Dover representatives and David Page, Speaker of the Cinque Ports and Mayor of Winchelsea, who will be accompanied by the Admiralty Sergeant, carrying the Cinque Ports silver oar. Cinque Ports banners and items of memorabilia will be on display.
This event is organised by the Kent Archaeological Society Maritime Kent Group, the Confederation of Cinque Ports, the Maison Dieu, Dover District Council, Dover Town Council and Dover Museum. Including speakers from the University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University, the University of Southampton and Kings College, London.
Full programme:
Friday 26th June Timetable
- 9.30am Doors open
- 9.30am - 10.00am Registration and coffee
- 10.00am - 10.20am Welcome
- 10.20am - 11.30am Session 1 - Administration of the Cinque Ports. 2 papers, plus questions
Justin Croft – The custumals of the Cinque Ports c. 1290-1500
Sheila Sweetinburgh – Maintaining authority: the role of church and hospital in the Cinque Ports
- 11.30am Coffee
- 11.50am - 1.00pm Session 2 - Administration of the Cinque Ports. 2 papers, plus questions
Rob Blackmore – Maritime Predation and the Cinque Ports, 1450‒1640
Craig Lambert – The Cinque Ports, c.1320-c.1630: The Myth of Decline
- 1.00pm - 2.00pm Lunch
- 2.00pm – 3.00pm Session 3 - Maison Dieu Highlights tours
- 3.00pm - 4.10pm Session 4 - Defence and the Royal Navy. 2 papers, plus questions
Susan Rose – ‘That we bee maysteres of the narowe see’ Did the successful implementation of this policy by English medieval monarchs depend on the ships of the Cinque Ports?
Chris Ware – `The Wealth Safety and Strength of this Kingdome is soe much concerned’ - Articles of War, 1661
- 4.10pm - 4.30pm Coffee
- 4.30pm - 5.40pm Session 5 - Defence and the Royal Navy. 2 papers, plus questions
Andrew Lambert – Dover and the Duke: Shaping Grand Strategy, 1815-1914
Andy Plumbly – The Naval Brewhouse at Dover - a well-kept secret
- 5.40pm - 6.00pm Closing remarks and response
- 6.30pm – 8.00pm Evening Reception (ticket cost £15.00) Speeches and live music. Welcome drink and canapes included.
Saturday 27th June Timetable
- 9.30am Doors open
- 9.30am – 10.00am Registration and coffee
- 10.00am - 10.20am Welcome
- 10.20am - 11.30am Session 1 – Cinque Ports Maritime Communities. 2 papers, plus questions
Gillian Draper – ‘People and Places : the Cinque Ports, London and other connections’
Claire Bartram – “We are both friends to Dover Harbour”: Scripting Performances of Community in late Elizabethan Dover
- 11.30am Coffee
- 11.50am - 1.00pm Session 2 – Cinque Ports Maritime Communities. 2 papers, plus questions
David Carpenter – Hubert de Burgh castellan of Dover, earl of Kent and saviour of England
James Lloyd - "The Runaway Armorial of the Constables of Dover"
- 1.00pm - 2.00pm Lunch
- 2.00pm – 3.00pm Session 3 - Maison Dieu Highlights tours
3.00pm - 4.10pm Session 4 – Cinque Ports Maritime Communities. 2 papers, plus questions
Daisy Turnbull – A wreck! A wreck!’, 19th-century Coastal Cultures of the Cinque Ports and their Shipwreck Shore
Jon Iveson – The early modern history of Dover harbour
- 4.10pm to 4.50pm Closing remarks and response