In the time of Henry VIII there is reference to their being used to provide sustenance to the drivers of the wagons whose job was to take cannon balls made in the ironworks of Fairwarp and Buxted to the ships waiting to fight the French at the Isle of Wight. A long slow journey with no guarantee of food along the way, the winkles were parched on shovels on the foundry fires and packed into material bundles easily manageable on the journey.