My Adventures 3: Rye Harbour

On Tuesday the 3rd March 2026 we drove down to Camber Sands in East Sussex and checked into our caravan on Parkdeans Camber Sands Site.

After a coffee in the caravan we went for a walk down to the beach.

There is this stretch of shingle beach but most here at Camber is golden sand.

Camber Sands beach is famous for the long ridges of sand dunes leading down to miles of soft golden sands. Camber has been the location for many films such as The Monuments Men (2014), Dunkirk (1958), Follow That Camel (1967), The Invisible Woman (2013), and the 2022 film Empire of Light, especially if 'desert shots' are required.

We had battered sausages and chips at Fish Me a Dish by the beach. Hands down possibly the worse sausage I've ever tasted!

We return back to the site and in time for Mel to enjoy bingo followed by a Parkdean Staff Rock show.

Wednesday 4th March 2026 - Rye East Sussex.

The next day we woke up and after breakfast we drove the short way into Rye and parked up at the Rope Street car park and we walk into town.

After a walk about we reach the famous Mermaid Street here in Rye.

Mermaid Street in Rye, East Sussex, is a renowned, highly picturesque cobbled street lined with 15th–17th century timber-framed houses.

Famed as one of England's prettiest streets, it features historic sites like the 12th-century Mermaid Inn, a former smuggling hotspot and charming cottages, offering a quintessential medieval atmosphere.

Known for iconic, half-timbered houses and quaint facades, including "The House with Two Front Doors".

A steep, cobblestone thoroughfare that feels like a "fairy tale" or a step back in time, often crowded with photographers and tourists.

The Mermaid Inn: Rebuilt in 1420, it is famous for its history, ghost stories, and as a former stronghold for the Hawkhurst Gang of smugglers.

The Hawkhurst Gang was a notorious criminal organisation involved in smuggling throughout south-east England from 1735 until 1749. One of the more infamous gangs of the early 18th century, they extended their influence from Hawkhurst, their base in Kent, along the South coast, where they successfully raided the Custom House, Poole. After they were defeated in a battle with the Goudhurst militia in 1747, two of their leaders, Arthur Gray and Thomas Kingsmill, were executed in 1748 and 1749, respectively.

We walk up West Street Passing the NT Lamb House and up to St Marys Church.

Rye had been held by the Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy for a long time as a Royal deed of gift. This status originating from times before the Norman Conquest got lost at 1247, but until this relationship ended the profit for the parish had been so great that a large church could be built, which was called the "Cathedral of East Sussex" until recent times. During a severe raid by French marauders, the town and the parish church were looted and set on fire. The damage to the church was extensive, and the last repairs resulting from this fire were made in the 19th century. The following year a group of men from Rye and Winchelsea struck back and recovered the loot including the stolen bells. To deter potential invaders from any future attack one of the bells was hung in the Watchbell Street. The Huguenot Lewys Billiard made the "New Clock", which is one of the oldest church turret clocks that still works. It had been installed in 1561–2. A huge pendulum reaching into the church's body was added later, as was the actual face of the clock and the so-called "Quarter Boys".

During the Reformation many precious items, that belonged to the church were sold or removed. Parts of the building became secular. The Chapels were separated from the church. They were used as a gaol, for storage for many things, including the town fire pump, and also as a butcher's shop. In the 17th and 19th centuries those changes were reversed and parts of the church renewed.

The church is a cruciform building. Its chancel, the crossing, transepts and the nave were built from 1150 to 1180. Alterations were made in the 15th century. North and South aisles were added during the late 12th century., North and South chapels 1220–1250. Flying buttresses were added at the south east end of the chancel in the 15th century. Very well worked out perpendicular windows can be seen at the east end of the chancel and south chapel. Pews were installed in the 19th century, but the mayor's seat is from 1547 and it is very well worked out. During civic services it is placed near to the pulpit, which is also from that time. The stained glass windows are mostly Victorian and include a window by Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1891) in memory of Mary Tiltman. It can be found in the north aisle.

In 1742 the churchyard was the site of a crime. The butcher John Breeds accidentally murdered Allen Grebell instead of the mayor he really intended to kill. John Breeds was hanged and gibbeted. His skull, which is the only remains of him, was brought to the town hall and remains there. Both are still said to haunt the churchyard.

As we leave the church grounds we walk on down to the Rye Castle Museum, Ypes Tower.

Rye Castle, also known as Ypres Tower, was built in the 13th or 14th centuries.

The exact date of construction is unclear although the possibility of creating a castle at Rye was mentioned in documents of 1226 and 1249. In 1329 Murage was applied for and works carried out during the 14th century before and after attacks by the French. Rye became one of the Cinque Ports and was involved in both defence and trade. It was originally called "Baddings Tower".

During King Henry VIII's Device Fort programme, an artillery battery, known as the Gun Garden, was constructed adjacent to the castle overlooking the harbour. It was rearmed at the time of the Spanish Armada of 1588, and again during the 18th century wars with France. In 1830, it was still in active service with 18 guns.

The castle may have been used as a prison and in 1430 became the property of John de Iprys; which lead to the name Ypres Tower. In the 16th century it was used as a prison and courthouse with a full-time gaoler being appointed in 1796. An exercise yard was added and then a women's prison in 1837. The prison function continued until 1891. It then became the town's morgue.

View back to St Marys Church

The tower was damaged during air raids in World War II but has been repaired and restored since then.

Ypres Tower is one of two sites of Rye Castle Museum and is a grade I listed building. Exhibits in the tower include locally made medieval pottery, an embroidery depicting many aspects of Rye life and history, medieval artifacts, activities and town maps.

The East Street Site, a former brewer's bottling factory, is the main exhibit area for the Rye Castle Museum. Opened in 1999, the local history exhibits include fire fighting equipment, trade changes caused by the sea's retreat, maritime history and shipbuilding, antique toys and games, photos, town seals, and archaeological artifacts.

We walk down the steps passing the Ypes Castle Inn that sadly wasn't open yet.

Down the bottom on Fishmarket Road we walk along a bit and then back up a slope to East Cliff.

Here we reach Landgate, an iconic piece of history, standing firm since the 14th century.

Dating from about 1340, the Landgate is the only surviving gate from the town walls built to defend Rye from French attack in the 14th century. Defences included machicolations above the archway, from which stones and other materials could be dropped on attackers, as well as a portcullis, which was removed in 1735.

The Landgate, Rye, East Sussex, was built in 1329 when Edward III made grants for further fortifying the town, and of the four gateways built this is the only existing one. It has a chamber over the arch and two towers. There were gates, a portcullis and a drawbridge.

We are back near the car park again now, but decide to hunt out a tearoom before we go back to the caravan.

So we cut back through to a road called the mint and to The Cobbles Tearoom, one of the oldest tearoom in Rye.

We have a lovely Cream tea here.

We make our way back to the car and decide to drive down to Rye Harbour for a look about there.

Rye Harbour is located some two miles (3.2 km) downstream of the town of Rye.

Rye Harbour village dates from the early nineteenth century, having been built on an extension of the shingle beaches, progressively deposited by the sea over the last 800 years. These deposits limit access to the original open medieval port of Rye, now two miles (3 km) inland. The village has one of the chain of Martello Towers constructed during the Napoleonic Wars; it was built on the beachline of the time. The beachline has now advanced a further kilometre southward.

Its geography has thus been shaped by its position at the frontier with the sea and at the frontier of the United Kingdom.

The initial establishment was that of a company of dragoons in 1805, followed shortly after by the first fishermen's huts and the building of the Martello Tower (1809–10). As the Napoleonic wars ended so the smuggling trade which had long flourished all along the south coast again increased in scope and intensity, leading to the establishment of the Coast Blockade. A watch house was built about 1825 to provide shelter and support for the blockade detachments and still stands, complete with the flagstaff for signalling to shipping.

The harbour is also known for the tragedy of the Mary Stanford lifeboat. At 6:45 am on the morning of 15 November 1928, the Mary Stanford from the Rye Harbour RNLI station responded needlessly to a Latvian steamer in distress. The crew of the Mary Stanford did not know that the vessel had already been rescued by another lifeboat and, in heavy rain and seas, all of the seventeen-man crew of the Mary Stanford were drowned. The reason for this is still contested. The bodies of all but the Coxswain's son, John Head, were found and buried. A memorial service in honour of the Mary Stanford and its crew takes place every year in the village.

A beautiful Aston Martin DB6 was being treated to a detail here on the harbour-side.

We drove back to the Caravan park and Mel had an afternoon nap whilst I walked down to the sand dunes on Camber Sands to take in the views and enjoy a local Balfour Jakes Cider made in Staplehurst, Kent.