Cinque Ports Castle, and whilst this office exists today, it is now a purely honorary title, with an official residence at Walmer Castle. The town of Hastings was the head port of the Cinque Ports in mediaeval times. The towns also had their own system of courts. All Freemen of the ports, termed "portsmen", were deemed in the age of Feudalism to be barons, and thus members of the baronage entitled to attend the king's parliament - a privilege granted in 1322 in recognition of their earlier support of the Despensers, father and son. Termed "Barons of the Cinque Ports", they reflected
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports of the Cinque Ports", they reflected an early concept that military service at sea constituted land tenure "per baroniam" making them "quasi" feudal barons. The early 14th-century treatise "Modus Tenendi Parliamentum" stated the Barons of the Cinque Ports to hold a place of precedence below the lay magnates but above the representatives of the shires and boroughs. Writs of summons to parliament were sent to the warden following which representative barons of the Cinque Ports were selected to attend parliament. Thus the warden's duty in this respect was similar to that of the sheriff who received the writs for distribution