Camber Castle was built approximately between the ports of Rye and Winchelsea on the south coast of England, overlooking a body of water called the Camber, at the mouth of the Brede, Rother and Tillingham rivers. The two towns were part of the Cinque Ports, a strategic chain of maritime towns responsible for providing ships to the king's navy, although Winchelsea's harbour had silted up by the 16th century, limiting its utility, and similar problems were beginning to impact the port of Rye. The mouth of the Camber had also begun to silt up in the late medieval period, although in this case the process had created an important new anchorage for ships.