Rye is a small town and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in the
Rother district
Rother is a local government district in East Sussex, England. Its council is based in Bexhill-on-Sea. The district is named after the River Rother which flows within its boundaries.
History
The District of Rother was formed on 1 April 1974, u ...
of
East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the
Rother Rother may refer to:
General
*Rother (surname) (also sometimes spelled Röther)
*Rother District, a local government district in East Sussex, England
*Rother FM, an independent local radio station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England
*Rother Kup ...
, the
Tillingham
Tillingham is a small village and civil parish with 1,015 inhabitants in 2001, increasing to 1,058 at the 2011 Census, located from Burnham-on-Crouch and from Bradwell-on-Sea, in Maldon District and the ceremonial county of Essex in England. ...
and the
Brede. An important member of the mediaeval
Cinque Ports confederation, it was at the head of an
embayment
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...
of the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
, and almost entirely surrounded by the sea.
At the 2011 census, Rye had a population of 4,773. Its historical association with the sea has included providing ships for the service of the Crown in time of war, and being involved in smuggling. The notorious
Hawkhurst Gang
The Hawkhurst Gang was a notorious criminal organisation involved in smuggling throughout southeast England from 1735 until 1749. One of the more infamous gangs of the early 18th century, they extended their influence from Hawkhurst, their base i ...
used its ancient inns
The Mermaid Inn
The Mermaid Inn is a Grade II* listed historical inn located on Mermaid Street in the ancient town of Rye, East Sussex, southeastern England. One of the best-known inns in southeast England, it was established in the 12th century and has a long ...
and
The Olde Bell Inn, which are said to be connected to each other by a secret passageway.
Those historic roots and its charm make it a tourist destination, with hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, tea rooms, and restaurants. Rye has a small fishing fleet, and Rye Harbour has facilities for yachts and other vessels.
History
![Kent Cinque Ports](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Kent_Cinque_Ports.svg)
The name of Rye is believed to come from the
West Saxon ''ieg'' meaning island. Medieval maps show that Rye was originally located on a huge
embayment
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a na ...
of the English Channel called the Rye Camber, which provided a safe anchorage and harbour. Probably as early as Roman times, Rye was important as a place of shipment and storage of iron from the Wealden iron industry.
Rye, as part of the Saxon Manor of Rameslie, was given to the
Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy by King
Æthelred
Æthelred (; ang, Æþelræd ) or Ethelred () is an Old English personal name (a compound of '' æþele'' and '' ræd'', meaning "noble counsel" or "well-advised") and may refer to:
Anglo-Saxon England
* Æthelred and Æthelberht, legendary prin ...
; it was to remain in Norman hands until 1247. The town of Rye is recorded in the 1086
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...
as possessing 189 households, marking it as a significant settlement at the time. The cellars of the Mermaid Inn date from 1156.
As one of the two "Antient Townes" (
Winchelsea
Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...
being the other), Rye was to become a ''limb'' of the
Cinque Ports Confederation by 1189, and subsequently a full member. The protection of the town as one of the Cinque Ports was very important, due to the commerce that trading brought. One of the oldest buildings in Rye is
Ypres Tower
Rye Castle, also known as Ypres Tower, was built in the 13th or 14th centuries, and is situated in Rye, East Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building and has been scheduled as an ancient monument.
History
The exact date of construction ...
, which was built in 1249 as "Baddings Tower", to defend the town from the French, and was later named after its owner, John de Ypres. It is now part of the Rye Museum.
Rye received its charter from
King Edward I
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassal ...
in 1289, and acquired privileges and tax exemptions in return for ship-service for the crown. The "Landgate" (the only surviving one of four original fortified entrances to Rye) dates from 1329 in the early years of the reign of King
Edward III. It is suitable only for light vehicles. In 2015, some 25 tonnes of pigeon excrement that had built up had to be removed from Landgate Arch for fear of damaging the ancient structure.
The
River Rother originally took an easterly course to flow into the sea near what is now
New Romney. However, the violent storms in the 13th century (particularly in 1250 and
1287) cut the town off from the sea, destroyed Old Winchelsea, and changed the course of the Rother. Then the sea and the river combined in about 1375 to destroy the eastern part of the town and ships began use the current area (the Strand) to unload their cargoes. Two years later, the town was sacked and burnt by the French, and it was ordered that the town walls be completed, as a defence against foreign raiders.
![The South Gate at Rye by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/The_South_Gate_at_Rye_by_Samuel_Hieronymus_Grimm.jpg)
Rye was considered one of the finest of the Cinque Ports, though constant work had to be done to stop the gradual silting up of the river and the harbour. Also, a conflict arose between the maritime interests and the landowners, who gradually "inned" or reclaimed land from the sea on Romney and Walland Marsh, and thus reduced the tidal flows that were supposed to keep the harbour free of silt.
Acts of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of parliament be ...
had to be passed to enable the Rother to be kept navigable at all.
With the coming of bigger ships and larger deepwater ports, Rye's economy began to decline, and fishing and particularly
smuggling (including
owling, the smuggling of wool) became more important. Imposition of taxes on goods had encouraged smuggling since 1301, but by the end of the 17th century, it became widespread throughout Kent and Sussex, with wool being the largest commodity. When luxury goods were also added, smuggling became a criminal pursuit, and groups – such as the
Hawkhurst Gang
The Hawkhurst Gang was a notorious criminal organisation involved in smuggling throughout southeast England from 1735 until 1749. One of the more infamous gangs of the early 18th century, they extended their influence from Hawkhurst, their base i ...
who met in
The Mermaid Inn
The Mermaid Inn is a Grade II* listed historical inn located on Mermaid Street in the ancient town of Rye, East Sussex, southeastern England. One of the best-known inns in southeast England, it was established in the 12th century and has a long ...
in Rye – turned to murder and were subsequently hanged.
Since 1803,
lifeboats
Lifeboat may refer to:
Rescue vessels
* Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape
* Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues
* Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen
A ...
have been stationed at Rye although the lifeboat station is now at
Rye Harbour
Rye Harbour is a village located on the East Sussex coast in southeast England, near the estuary of the River Rother: it is part of the civil parish of Icklesham and the Rother district. Rye Harbour is located some two miles (3.2 km) down ...
about downriver from the town.
The worst disaster in RNLI history concerning a single vessel, and in the 20th century, occurred in 1928, when the lifeboat
''Mary Stanford'' sank with all hands; 17 men were drowned. The incident is recorded by a tablet at
Winchelsea
Winchelsea () is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex, within the historic county of Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately south west of Rye and north east of Hastings. The ...
church, by the imposing memorial at Rye Harbour Church and by the folk song "The ''Mary Stanford'' of Rye". A new
''Mary Stanford'' was commissioned by the RNLI two years later, and stationed at
Ballycotton
Ballycotton () is a coastal village in County Cork, Ireland, situated about east of Cork city. It is a fishing village that sits on a rocky ledge overlooking Ballycotton Bay and has a sandy beach that stretches for about east to Knockadoon Hea ...
on the coast of Ireland. Since 2010, the RNLI has operated an
Atlantic 85-class inshore lifeboat at Rye Harbour.
[
Between 1696 and 1948, six ships of the ]Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
have borne the name .
During the 1803–1805 Napoleonic
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader wh ...
invasion threat, Rye, Dover, and Chatham were regarded as the three most likely invasion ports, and Rye became the western command centre for the Royal Military Canal
The Royal Military Canal is a canal running for between Seabrook near Folkestone and Cliff End near Hastings, following the old cliff line bordering Romney Marsh, which was constructed as a defence against the Napoleon's planned invasion of t ...
. The canal was planned from Pett Level
Pett is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located north-east of Hastings on the edge of Pett Level, the one-time marshes stretching along the coast of Rye Bay.
The road through the villa ...
to Hythe
Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to:
Places Australia
* Hythe, Tasmania
Canada
*Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada
England
* T ...
, but was not completed until long after the threat had passed.
From 1838 to 1889, Rye had its own borough police force. It was a small force, often with just two officers. Rye police frequently had difficulties on Bonfire night
Bonfire Night is a name given to various annual celebrations characterised by bonfires and fireworks. The event celebrates different traditions on different dates, depending on the country. Some of the most popular instances include Guy Fawkes ...
(5 November) and special constables were recruited to help deal with the problems bonfire gangs caused. After amalgamation with the county force in 1889 a new police station was provided in Church Square.[ In 1892 the strength of the town police, now amalgamated, was one sergeant and three constables.][Sussex Police Forces: A pictorial history from 1836 to 1986 by Neville Poulsom, Mike Rumble and Keith Smith (Middleton Press) (1987) ]
In May 1940, during the darkest days of World War II, the Rye fishing fleet was invited to participate in Operation Dynamo
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
, the seaborne rescue of the stranded British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk, but refused to do so.
Rye Royal
Rye, being part of the Cinque Ports Confederation and a bastion against invasion on the Channel Coast, has always had close links with the crown. King Edward III and the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...
defeated the Spanish in Rye Bay in 1350 in the battle of Les Espagnols sur Mer
The Battle of Winchelsea or the Battle of Les Espagnols sur Mer ("the Spaniards on the Sea") was a naval battle that took place on 29 August 1350 as part of the Hundred Years' War between England and France. It was a victory for an English ...
, but Queen Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
gave the town the right to use the title "Rye Royal" following a visit in 1573. King Charles I described Rye as "The cheapest sea-towne for the provision of fish for our house". George I George I or 1 may refer to:
People
* Patriarch George I of Alexandria (fl. 621–631)
* George I of Constantinople (d. 686)
* George I of Antioch (d. 790)
* George I of Abkhazia (ruled 872/3–878/9)
* George I of Georgia (d. 1027)
* Yuri Dolgor ...
whilst returning from visiting his continental possessions in 1726 was grounded on Camber Sands and spent the next four days in Rye, being accommodated at Lamb House
Lamb House is a Grade II* listed 18th-century house situated in Rye, East Sussex, England, and in the ownership of the National Trust.
The house is run as a writer's house museum. It has been the home of many writers, including Henry James ...
.
Governance
Historically, Rye was an independent borough granted rights of governance under its charter of 1289, with its own appointed Mayor of Rye
The following were mayors of Rye, East Sussex, England:
*Aug. 1390–1, 1393–4, 1395-7: John Baddyng
*Aug. 1405-6, 1407–10; jurat 1413-14: William Long (died c.1426), William Long
*August 1411–12 and approximately 1418–21: John Shelley (MP ...
and chosen jurats (magistrates). These independent powers were terminated by the Local Government Act of 1972 and, although officially considered to be a rural parish, Rye's governing body – because of its history – is that of a Town Council. That Council has one electoral ward, electing 16 members, one of whom then is elected mayor of Rye. In Rye Town Hall, the list of the mayors of Rye is unbroken going back to the 13th century. Two gruesome relics of Rye's violent past include the gibbet
A gibbet is any instrument of public execution (including guillotine, executioner's block, impalement stake, hanging gallows, or related scaffold). Gibbeting is the use of a gallows-type structure from which the dead or dying bodies of cri ...
cage which was famously used to display the hanged body of the murderer John Breads in 1742, and the pillory last used in 1813 in the case of a local publican who assisted the escape of the French General Armand Philippon.
Apart from the Town Council, the majority of local government functions are exercised by Rother District Council, with its headquarters in Bexhill-on-Sea, and East Sussex County Council, based in Lewes. The Rother District Council ward of Rye and Winchelsea returns two councillors. The East Sussex County Council division of Rye and Eastern Rother returns one councillor.
Since 1983, Rye has been part of the parliamentary constituency of Hastings and Rye, prior to which it had its own seat. The current Member of Parliament, since 2019, is Sally-Ann Hart
Sally-Ann Hart (born 6 March 1968) is a British politician who has been the member of parliament (MP) for Hastings and Rye since 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, she succeeded Amber Rudd, the former home secretary, who did not seek re- ...
of the Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
.
Geography
Rye stands at the point where the sandstone high land of the Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...
reaches the coast. The medieval coastline (see map above), with its large bay, enabled ships to come up to the port. The original course of the River Rother then reached the sea at Romney to the northeast. Storms in the English Channel in the 13th century, coupled with reclamation
Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back".
It may refer to:
* Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds
* Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...
of the bay, brought huge quantities of gravel through longshore drift along the coast, blocking the port entrance. The course of the river has also changed over the centuries so that Rye now stands on the river at the point of its confluence with the River Tillingham
The River Tillingham flows through the English county of East Sussex.
It meets the River Brede and the eastern River Rother near the town of Rye. A navigable sluice controlled the entrance to the river between 1786 and 1928, when it was repla ...
and the River Brede
The River Brede is an English river in East Sussex. It flows into the Rock Channel (tidal section of the River Tillingham) and then onto the River Rother at Rye, Sussex. It takes its name from the village of Brede, which lies between Hasti ...
, whereas the river flows southward into Rye Bay. River Rother and the environs of Rye Harbour
Rye Harbour is a village located on the East Sussex coast in southeast England, near the estuary of the River Rother: it is part of the civil parish of Icklesham and the Rother district. Rye Harbour is located some two miles (3.2 km) down ...
are managed and maintained by the Environment Agency. The Rivers Brede and Rother also form part of the Royal Military Canal
The Royal Military Canal is a canal running for between Seabrook near Folkestone and Cliff End near Hastings, following the old cliff line bordering Romney Marsh, which was constructed as a defence against the Napoleon's planned invasion of t ...
between Winchelsea and Iden Lock. The town is part of the remotest and least populated area of southeastern England, on the edge of Romney Marsh
Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until th ...
and within 3 km of the coast.
A part of the town, but only a minority of the housing stock, lies on the original rocky heights (the Citadel) and contains the historic buildings including St Mary's parish church, the Ypres Tower
Rye Castle, also known as Ypres Tower, was built in the 13th or 14th centuries, and is situated in Rye, East Sussex, England. It is a Grade I listed building and has been scheduled as an ancient monument.
History
The exact date of construction ...
(part of the Town Wall), Lamb House
Lamb House is a Grade II* listed 18th-century house situated in Rye, East Sussex, England, and in the ownership of the National Trust.
The house is run as a writer's house museum. It has been the home of many writers, including Henry James ...
and many of the houses on Mermaid Street, Watchbell Street, and Church Square. The main road skirts the town to the south after crossing the river; Winchelsea Road leads to New Winchelsea Road, formerly Royal Military Road, which runs parallel to the River Brede before leaving the town boundary. The houses along New Winchelsea Road date from the 1930s, built on the excavations from the Royal Military Canal. The gardens run down to the river, with fishing and boating rights. Most of Rye's inhabitants live outside the Citadel area.
Economy
Rye, over the centuries, has successively been an ''entrepôt
An ''entrepôt'' (; ) or transshipment port is a port, city, or trading post where merchandise may be imported, stored, or traded, usually to be exported again. Such cities often sprang up and such ports and trading posts often developed into c ...
'' port, a naval base
A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that u ...
, a fishing port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ha ...
, an agricultural centre, and a market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
. The old part of the town within the former town walls has shops, art galleries and restaurants. Additionally, Rye is known for its oast house
An oast, oast house or hop kiln is a building designed for kilning (drying) hops as part of the brewing process. They can be found in most hop-growing (and former hop-growing) areas and are often good examples of vernacular architecture. Many re ...
s. Many have been converted into private residences, however a few, like the Playden Oasts Inn, remain open to the public.
The great attractiveness of the town has kept it on the tourist trail, especially its "perfect cobbled lanes, like Mermaid Street, which must be one of Britain's most photographed". A 2020 report praised the medieval streets "often wonky houses and it is easy to get lost in the town's history". Camber Sands beach, "with its moody sand dunes and long sandy beach", is nearby. The town and its surrounding areas were branded " 1066 country" because of the historic aspects. Few statistics are published for Rye as a town, but an estimated one million visits were made in 2016.
Since the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
, the town has become a centre for ceramic
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
s. The COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
negatively affected many East Sussex businesses in 2020–2021. East Sussex Council estimated in September 2020 that "more than £45 million" was expected to be "injected into the county’s economy to aid recovery from the impact of Covid-19".
Apart from its tourist base, Rye continues to operate as a port. At Rye Harbour, the Rastrums Wharf (which was renovated in the 1980s) has the capacity to take large ships up to on a high tide.
Considerable investment has been made in facilities for both the fishing fleet berthed at Rye and the commercial wharves at Rye Harbour. Rye fishing boats are code-lettered RX (from "R"ye, Susse"x"; this registration is also used by the Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
fishing fleet) and land fish daily. Some of the catch is sold at the quayside, though most is sold through the great regional market in Boulogne.
Rye also is an important yachting
Yachting is the use of recreational boats and ships called ''yachts'' for racing or cruising. Yachts are distinguished from working ships mainly by their leisure purpose. "Yacht" derives from the Dutch word '' jacht'' ("hunt"). With sailboats, ...
base, offering the only safe haven for many miles in either direction along this section of Channel coast. Yachts may currently moor either at Rye Harbour or at the Strand Quay at the edge of the town. Numerous plans have been proposed for a modern yacht marina to be built at Rye, but each has foundered on economic or planning grounds.
Transport
At the latter end of the 18th century, Rye was connected to the turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts were bodies set up by individual acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal roads in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. At the peak, in the 1830s, ...
system of roads. One of these, the Flimwell Turnpike, took passengers towards London; the second ran from Hastings eastwards through the town. These two roads are now the A268 and the A259
The A259 is a road on the south coast of England passing through Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Kent, and is the longest Zone 2 A road in Great Britain. The main part of the road connects Brighton, Eastbourne, Hastings, Rye and F ...
. The Monk Bretton Bridge over the Rother was built in 1893 and provided a link with Rye and New Romney via Brenzett
Brenzett is a village and civil parish in the Folkestone and Hythe District of Kent, England. The village lies on the Romney Marsh, three miles (4.8 km) west of New Romney. The population of the civil parish includes the hamlet of Snave.
...
. In the 1980s and 1990s, proposals to bypass the A259 route around Rye were met with local opposition and never received any priority in the building programme.
In addition to the half-hourly 100/101 Dover-Hastings Stagecoach long-distance bus service, buses connect Rye with other towns and villages, including Tenterden
Tenterden is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the remnant forest the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother. It was a member of the Cinque Ports Confederation. Its riverside today is not ...
, Hastings, and Tunbridge Wells
Royal Tunbridge Wells is a town in Kent, England, southeast of central London. It lies close to the border with East Sussex on the northern edge of the High Weald, whose sandstone geology is exemplified by the rock formation High Rocks. T ...
.
Rye railway station is on the Marshlink line
The Marshlink line is a railway line in South East England. It runs from Ashford, Kent via Romney Marsh, Rye and the Ore Tunnel to Hastings where it connects to the East Coastway line towards Eastbourne. Services are provided by Southern.
Th ...
between Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
and Ashford. This now provides an hourly service from Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
to Ashford International connecting with Eurostar
Eurostar is an international high-speed rail service connecting the United Kingdom with France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Most Eurostar trains travel through the Channel Tunnel between the United Kingdom and France, owned and operate ...
services to Paris Gare du Nord and the high-speed Class 395 service to London St Pancras
St Pancras railway station (), also known as London St Pancras or St Pancras International and officially since 2007 as London St Pancras International, is a London station group, central London railway terminus on Euston Road in the London Bor ...
. Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...
may be reached by rail via Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
or Lewes.
Before World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, a summer steamship service ran from Rye to Boulogne. Rye was also the terminus for the prewar Rye & Camber Tramway, built to serve golf courses and Camber Sands; it was closed to the public at the outbreak of World War II, never reopened, and scrapped in 1947.
Several long-distance footpaths can be joined by walkers in the town. The Saxon Shore Way
The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, in total. This means that around Romney Marsh the ...
which starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast as it was in Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
times, passes through Rye ''en route'' to Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
; the 1066 Country Walk
The 1066 Country Walk is a waymarked long-distance footpath or recreational walk in southern England, United Kingdom.
Length of the route
The 1066 Country Walk runs for .
The route
The route commemorates 1066, the year of the Battle of ...
leads from Rye to Pevensey
Pevensey ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Wealden district of East Sussex, England. The main village is located north-east of Eastbourne, one mile (1.6 km) inland from Pevensey Bay. The settlement of Pevensey Bay forms part ...
; the High Weald Landscape Trail
The High Weald Landscape Trail (HWLT) is a route in England between Horsham, West Sussex and Rye, East Sussex, designed to pass through the main landscape types of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It does not follow th ...
goes to Horsham; and the Royal Military Canal
The Royal Military Canal is a canal running for between Seabrook near Folkestone and Cliff End near Hastings, following the old cliff line bordering Romney Marsh, which was constructed as a defence against the Napoleon's planned invasion of t ...
Path follows that waterway to Hythe
Hythe, from Anglo-Saxon ''hȳð'', may refer to a landing-place, port or haven, either as an element in a toponym, such as Rotherhithe in London, or to:
Places Australia
* Hythe, Tasmania
Canada
*Hythe, Alberta, a village in Canada
England
* T ...
.
Education
Rye College
Rye College, formerly known as Thomas Peacocke Community College, is a coeducational secondary school with academy status, located in Rye, East Sussex, England.
History
The school developed from earlier schools in Rye such as Rye Grammar ...
(formerly called Thomas Peacocke Community College, and before that Thomas Peacocke School) is a secondary school in Rye. The two primary schools, Tilling Green Infant School and Freda Gardham Community School, were replaced by a new school, Rye Primary, adjacent to the secondary institution, in September 2008. The original Rye Primary School was situated just off Ferry Road near the railway crossing.
Places of worship
Past and present places of worship in Rye include St Mary's, the Anglican parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
with Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
origins; St Anthony of Padua Roman Catholic church, rebuilt in 1929; a 1909 Baptist chapel in Cinque Ports Street, replacing the Rye Particular Baptist Chapel of 1754 (which itself stood on the site of an older Quaker meeting house); former Congregational and Independent churches; and a Methodist chapel.
Amenities
Rye is a local commercial centre for the Romney Marsh
Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until th ...
and Walland Marsh
Walland Marsh is a part of Romney Marsh, mostly in Kent with part in East Sussex. The name means ''wall-land'': its north-eastern border, separating it from the rest of Romney Marsh, is the Rhee Wall.[ One of the tourist websites includes a picture tour of the town Rye Art Gallery was established as a Trust in the early 1960s. Located at 107 High Street and incorporating the former Ypres Studio in Ockmans Lane, home of artists Mary Stormont (1871–1962) and her husband Howard Gull Stormont (1859–1935), it provides a focus for contemporary visual art, which it exhibits alongside heritage artworks from its permanent collection.]
Rye also stands at the centre of a network of nature reserves, some of national importance. The Rye Harbour SSSI lies to the south and includes the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve.
The neighbouring Pett Levels and Pools, and the Pannel Valley nature reserve are accessible via Winchelsea and Winchelsea Beach a few miles to the west, whilst Scotney Lake lies just off the Lydd
Lydd is a town and electoral ward in Kent, England, lying on Romney Marsh. It is one of the larger settlements on the marsh, and the most southerly town in Kent. Lydd reached the height of its prosperity during the 13th century, when it was a c ...
road and the RSPB reserve at Dungeness
Dungeness () is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet ...
lies a few miles further to the east with the Bird Observatory located in the old lighthouse.
The recent redevelopment of the Rye wharf for the RX fishing fleet has provided modern amenities for the landing and storage of fish. Most is sold wholesale through the regional market in Boulogne, though there is a trend for Rye to develop as a gastronomic centre in the style of Newquay
Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
or Padstow
Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, northwest of Bodmin and ...
, featuring the use of fresh local produce from the sea. The annual "Rye Bay Scallops Festival" which takes place each year in February was first proposed by the then Chair of the Chamber of Commerce, Kate Roy, as a means of promoting the "Rye Bay Catch".
Every year in September, Rye hosts its annual two-week Arts Festival which attracts a world-class series of performers in music, comedy, and literature.
On the second Saturday after 5 November, the "Bonfire Boys" stage their annual torch-lit parade through the streets of the town, supported by visiting Bonfire Societies from all over the Sussex Bonfire Societies
The Sussex Bonfire Societies are responsible for the series of bonfire festivals concentrated on central and eastern Sussex, with further festivals in parts of Surrey and Kent from September to November each year.
The celebrations mark both Guy ...
Confederation. This is followed by a "gurt 'normous bonfire" where the chosen "effigy" of the year is ceremoniously blown up, and a spectacular firework display. This event typically attracts over 10,000 visitors to the town, and results in the town's roads, and the main roads to London, Hastings, and Ashford, being clogged up and closed to traffic from the early evening onwards.
Rye has a community radio station which launched on FM on 7 March 2022 and is called Cinque Ports Radio. This station broadcasts across Rye, Romney Marsh and Hythe on 100.2FM and replaced Shoreline FM 100.2 which broadcast since January 2020. Shoreline FM now being an online only service for Rye, Romney Marsh and Hythe called Shoreline Easy.
Sport and leisure
Rye has a non-League football club, Rye Town FC, who play their home matches at The Salts. The club, which was formed in 2016, plays in the East Sussex Football League, and replaced the now defunct Rye United FC (formerly Rye & Iden United) of the Sussex County Football League, which folded in 2014.
Rye has a rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
club, Rye RFC, who compete in the Sussex Intermediate League. The club was formed in 1991 and field both adult and youth teams. The rugby club and its playing fields are located on New Road.
Rye in literature
Several mentions of the town have been made by famous travel writers between the 16th and 18th centuries, although not all were good. Sir Robert Naunton
Sir Robert Naunton (1563 – 27 March 1635) was an English writer and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1606 and 1626.
Family
Robert Naunton was the son of Henry Naunton of Alderton, Suffolk, and Elizabeth As ...
(1563–1635) mentions it in his book ''Travels in England'', published sometime between 1628 and 1632; he calls Rye a "small English seaport"; shortly after his arrival he takes post-horses for London, travelling via Flimwell.
Daniel Defoe (1660–1731) described the state of the harbour and its approaches, saying, "Rye would flourish again, if her harbour, which was once able to receive the royal navy, cou'd be restor'd", but thought it very doubtful that large ships would be able to use the port again.
William Cobbett
William Cobbett (9 March 1763 – 18 June 1835) was an English pamphleteer, journalist, politician, and farmer born in Farnham, Surrey. He was one of an agrarian faction seeking to reform Parliament, abolish "rotten boroughs", restrain foreign ...
(1763–1835) simply mentions it in passing, saying that this area (that including the Romney Marsh) would be most likely to be where the French invaders might land. According to Norman Wright's book ''The Famous Five: Everything you ever wanted to know'', it was Rye and the Romney Marsh that inspired Enid Blyton to write ''Five go to Smuggler's Top'' (1945).
In 1969, Malcolm Saville
Leonard Malcolm Saville (21 February 1901–30 June 1982)
Retrieved 16 July 2016 was an English writer best known for the ...
published an entry in his Lone Pine series of children's adventure novels titled ''Rye Royal'' set largely in Rye, although he had previously based several others of the series wholly or partially in the town, starting with ''The Gay Dolphin Adventure'' published in 1945. The titular Gay Dolphin is a fictional hotel owned by the mother of one of the Lone Pine Club, but is located in the book seemingly in Watchbell Street, where the real Hope Anchor hotel stands, although its description in the books is more akin to the town's Mermaid hotel. Over the course of the books, several of the town's landmarks are mentioned and described accurately, as is some of its history.
Rye has produced and attracted many fiction writers, some of whom lived at Lamb House, one of the town's historic residences and now owned by the National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, including
Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
(1843–1916), the American novelist, who was resident between 1898 and 1916, and E.F. Benson (1867–1940), the English novelist. Others who lived in the area include Joseph Conrad; Ford Madox Ford
Ford Madox Ford (né Joseph Leopold Ford Hermann Madox Hueffer ( ); 17 December 1873 – 26 June 1939) was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals '' The English Review'' and ''The Transatlantic Review'' were instrumental in ...
; Stephen Crane
Stephen Crane (November 1, 1871 – June 5, 1900) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. Prolific throughout his short life, he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism an ...
; H.G. Wells; Rumer Godden
Margaret Rumer Godden (10 December 1907 – 8 November 1998) was an English author of more than 60 fiction and non-fiction books. Nine of her works have been made into films, most notably ''Black Narcissus'' in 1947 and '' The River'' in ...
(1907–98), the Anglo-Indian novelist; and the naturalist W.H. Hudson
William Henry Hudson (4 August 1841 – 18 August 1922) – known in Argentina as Guillermo Enrique Hudson – was an English Argentines, Anglo-Argentine author, natural history, naturalist and ornithology, ornithologist.
Life
Hudson was the ...
. Both the house and the town feature prominently in Benson's ''Mapp and Lucia
''Mapp and Lucia'' is a 1931 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fourth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It bring ...
'' novels, as ''Mallards House'' and ''Tilling Tilling can mean:
* Tillage, an agricultural preparation of the soil.
* TILLING (molecular biology)
* Tilling is a fictional town in the Mapp and Lucia novels of E. F. Benson.
* Tilling Green, Ledshire, is a fictional village in Patricia Wentwo ...
'', respectively.
In the mid-1980s, Rye was used as a filming location by LWT
London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
for its adaptation of the ''Mapp and Lucia
''Mapp and Lucia'' is a 1931 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fourth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It bring ...
'' novels. A BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
adaptation of ''Mapp and Lucia
''Mapp and Lucia'' is a 1931 comic novel written by E. F. Benson. It is the fourth of six novels in the popular Mapp and Lucia series, about idle women in the 1920s and their struggle for social dominance over their small communities. It bring ...
'' was filmed in Rye in the summer of 2014.
The post- Monty Python film ''Yellowbeard
''Yellowbeard'' is a 1983 British comedy film directed by Mel Damski and written by Graham Chapman, Peter Cook, Bernard McKenna, and David Sherlock, with an ensemble cast featuring Chapman, Cook, Peter Boyle, Cheech & Chong, Martin Hewitt, ...
'' also had several scenes filmed on the cobbled street. John Christopher
Sam Youd (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012), was a British writer, best known for science fiction written under the name of John Christopher, including the novels ''The Death of Grass'', ''The Possessors'', and the young-adult novel series ...
(who wrote as Samuel Youd) wrote many of his novels, including the ''Death of Grass'', whilst a resident of Rye, as did the popular children's author John Ryan, creator of the Captain Pugwash books. Sink Port is a thinly disguised fictional version of the town and a pun on 'cinque port'.
The feature film ''Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.
''Captain Horatio Hornblower'' (a.k.a. ''Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N.'' in the UK, "R.N." standing for "Royal Navy") is a 1951 British naval swashbuckling war film in Technicolor from Warner Bros., produced by Gerry Mitchell, directed by Rao ...
'' (1951), starring Gregory Peck, was filmed on Mermaid Street. Mermaid Street serves as Hornblower's wife and mother's house in Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
.
Notable people
Other residents of the town and environs have included:
* Conrad Aiken
Conrad Potter Aiken (August 5, 1889 – August 17, 1973) was an American writer and poet, honored with a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award, and was United States Poet Laureate from 1950 to 1952. His published works include poetry, short ...
(1889–1973), American writer: Aiken's former home, Jeake's House, is now a guest house.
* Joan Aiken
Joan Delano Aiken (4 September 1924 – 4 January 2004) was an English writer specialising in supernatural fiction and children's alternative history novels. In 1999 she was awarded an MBE for her services to children's literature. For ''The ...
(1924–2004), children's author, daughter of Conrad Aiken
* Geoffrey Bagley (1901–1992), Canadian war artist who settled in Rye post war and then worked to preserve the town's historic mementos and places.
* John Banting
John Banting (12 May 1902 – 30 January 1972) was an English artist and writer.
Born in Chelsea, London on 12 May 1902 and educated at Emanuel School, Banting was initially attracted to vorticism and associated with the Bloomsbury Group, before ...
(1902–1972), artist and writer, moved to Rye in the 1950s. He lived at 10 High Street.
* Frederick Edward Bradshaw MacManus OBE (1903-1985) architect, moved to Rye in his retirement.
* Viola Bayley (1911–1997), children's writer of adventure stories.
* Reginald Blomfield
Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield (20 December 1856 – 27 December 1942) was a prolific British architect, garden designer and author of the Victorian and Edwardian period.
Early life and career
Blomfield was born at Bow rectory in Devon, w ...
(1856–1942), prolific architect and designer of the Cross of Sacrifice
The Cross of Sacrifice is a Commonwealth war memorial designed in 1918 by Sir Reginald Blomfield for the Imperial War Graves Commission (now the Commonwealth War Graves Commission). It is present in Commonwealth war cemeteries containing 40 or ...
* Fred Boreham (1885–1951), professional footballer
* Edward Burra
Edward John Burra CBE (29 March 1905 – 22 October 1976) was an English painter, draughtsman, and printmaker, best known for his depictions of the urban underworld, black culture and the Harlem scene of the 1930s.
Biography Early life
Burra ...
(1905–1976), painter, draughtsman and printmaker, born near Rye and lived in the town from time to time in the 1920s and 1930s
* John Christopher
Sam Youd (16 April 1922 – 3 February 2012), was a British writer, best known for science fiction written under the name of John Christopher, including the novels ''The Death of Grass'', ''The Possessors'', and the young-adult novel series ...
(1922–2012), science fiction author. The 1980s British television series based on his trilogy, ''The Tripods
''The Tripods'' is a series of young adult novels written by John Christopher, beginning in 1967. The first two were the basis of a science fiction TV series, produced in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.
Synopsis
The story of ''The Tripods'' ...
'', was filmed near his house.
* Tom Chaplin
Thomas Oliver Chaplin (born 8 March 1979) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and composer, best known as the lead singer of the English pop rock band Keane.
Early life
Thomas Oliver Chaplin was born in Hastings, East Sussex, to Sally and ...
(born 1979), singer of the band Keane
* Frederick Cuming (artist)
Frederick George Rees Cuming (February 16, 1930 – 12 June, 2022), normally known as Fred Cuming, was a contemporary British landscape painter, who worked in a traditional manner.
Life and art
Cuming was born in London of English, Scottish ...
(1930-2022) Royal Academician specialising in Landscapes and Seascapes of the Sussex Coast.
* Monica Edwards
Monica Edwards (née Monica le Doux Newton; 8 November 1912 – 18 January 1998) was an English children's writer of the mid-twentieth century best known for her Romney Marsh and Punchbowl Farm series of children's novels.
Early life
She was ...
(1912–1998), children's author who lived at Rye Harbour and set her ''Romney Marsh'' novels in the area, renaming Rye ''Dunsford''.
* Horace Field
Horace Field was a London-born architect. His work was often in a Wrenaissance style, as well as other post-gothic English historical revival styles, with influences from the Arts and Crafts movement and Richard Norman Shaw. His commissions incl ...
(1861–1948), influential "Wrenaissance" architect
* John Fletcher (1579–1625), Jacobean playwright and solicitor
* Babylon Graundfote
Babylon Graundfote Esq (c. 1420 – 1480) was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at several points between 1459 and 1465, and also served as Mayor of Rye between 1463 and 1475.
Biography
Graundfote (whose surname was altern ...
(c. 1420 – 1480), English politician who sat in the House of Commons at several points between 1459 and 1465, and also served as Mayor of Rye between 1463 and 1475.
* Radclyffe Hall
Marguerite Antonia Radclyffe Hall (12 August 1880 – 7 October 1943) was an English poet and author, best known for the novel ''The Well of Loneliness'', a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature. In adulthood, Hall often went by the name Jo ...
(1880–1943), ground-breaking lesbian writer
* John Howlett, writer (1942–2019) of novels, TV series, the script of the film If.... and other works.
* Henry James
Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
, (1843–1916), American author
* Wendy Law-Yone Burmese writer who current lives in London and Rye
* Paul Nash (1889–1946), World War I artist, lived in East Street in the 1930s
* Simon Nelson
Simon Peter Nelson (October 2, 1931 – June 18, 2017) was an American mass murderer who was convicted of murdering his six children, aged 12, 10, 8, 7, 6, and 3. He also killed his dog.
Early life
During his trial, Nelson claimed his fat ...
, 10th Earl Nelson
Earl Nelson, ''of Trafalgar and of Merton in the County of Surrey'', is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 20 November 1805 for the Rev. William Nelson, 2nd Baron Nelson, one month after the death of his younge ...
(born 1971)
* Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
, Beatle, had a home near Peasmarsh in the 1980s.
* Spike Milligan
Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Colonial India, where he spent his ...
(1918–2002), comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and vice-president of the Rye Rugby Club
* John Ryan (1921–2009), although born in Edinburgh, this British author/cartoonist famed for his TV cartoon Captain Pugwash
''Captain Pugwash'' is a fictional pirate in a series of British children's comic strips and books created by John Ryan. The character's adventures were adapted into a TV series, using cardboard cut-outs filmed in live-action (the first series ...
, was a resident of Rye.
* Malcolm Saville
Leonard Malcolm Saville (21 February 1901–30 June 1982)
Retrieved 16 July 2016 was an English writer best known for the ...
(1901–1982), author of nearly 80 children's books, largely thrillers and adventure stories. Saville was the creator of the Lone Pine series of books, a number of which were set in Rye, including '' The Gay Dolphin Adventure'' and ''Rye Royal
is a small town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. An important member of the mediaeval Cinque Ports confedera ...
''.
* Baron Saville of Newdigate (born 1936) chair of the "Bloody Sunday" enquiry and nephew of Malcolm Saville, attended Rye Grammar School (1947–1953). The new Rye Studio School's dance theatre is named after him.
* Admiral Sir Aubrey Smith (1872–1957) lived in Rye at Iden Cottage.
* Russell Thorndike
Arthur Russell Thorndike (6 February 1885 – 7 November 1972) was a British actor and novelist, best known for the Doctor Syn of Romney Marsh novels. Less well-known than his sister Sybil but equally versatile, Russell Thorndike's first love ...
(1885–1972) set his ''Dr Syn
The Reverend Doctor Christopher Syn is the smuggler hero of a series of novels by Russell Thorndike. The first book, ''Doctor Syn: A Tale of the Romney Marsh'' was published in 1915. The story idea came from smuggling in the 18th-century Romney ...
'' novels about smuggling on the marshes.
* Philippa Urquhart
Philippa Urquhart is a British actress, best known for her performance as Lillian Cartland in the 1980s BBC television drama '' Tenko''.
Career
Urquhart has worked as a film, television and theatre actress for more than fifty years. A former m ...
(born 1940), British actress
* Sir Anthony van Dyck (1599–1641) did several drawings of the town.
* J. M. W. Turner (1775–1851) did many drawings and paintings of the town and its coastline, including surrounding areas such as Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...
.
* Frederick Edward Bradshaw MacManus OBE (1903-85) architect and conservationist retired from Hamstead Garden Suburb to Rye c. 1969.[ Dictionary of Scottish architects]
Notes
References
External links
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
*
Walking Tour of Rye, the Most Beautiful Town in England by Jonathan Copeland
{{Authority control
Towns in East Sussex
Market towns in East Sussex
Cinque ports
Civil parishes in East Sussex
Rother District