Rye; Monday, 20 September, 2021

The previous night before I’d gone to bed I’d predicted I would either have a really good nights sleep, or I’d spend it slowly cramping up and unable to get comfortable. Thankfully the first prediction came true and I woke up a little before 7am feeling really refreshed. Which was a pity as breakfast wasn’t being served until 8:30.

I had a quick breakfast and then checked out of the hotel before heading out into town for a wander and to take in the main sights of Rye. First stop of the morning was the Ypres Tower, or Rye Castle as it’s otherwise known. The tower sits on the edge of the outcrop that Rye is on, and with the assistance of Camber Castle it protected the entrance to the harbour, when the sea reached up to here. Today it’s a good three miles to the sea. I had a look round the exhibition in the castle before taking in the views from it’s viewing terrace.

Next stop was going to be the Castle museum a short walk away, but on arrival the whole building was still locked up – as the museum is run by volunteers it was pretty clear they hadn’t been able to find anyone to do the morning shift this morning, so instead I moved onto my next stop of the day – Lamb House.

Built by the Lamb family at the start of the Georgian period this is still one of the finest buildings in the town, and when – not long after the house had been build – King George I had to make an emergency landing in Rye it was here that he stayed. However, he isn’t the most famous person to have stayed in the house, that title goes to author Henry James who spent the last years of his life in living in Lamb House and even wrote some of his last novels here.

Just up from Lamb House, and on the highest point of the outcrop is the parish church of St Mary’s which was my next stop. The main draw being the tower which can be climbed to take you up to the highest accessible point in the town, and from here stunning views across Rye and the surrounding marsh land.

From the church I wandered back down through town, via the Castle museum again, which was open now so I quickly popped in and had a look around before continuing on down to the Rye Heritage Centre and the model of the town that they house.

By now I’d pretty much seen everything that Rye had to offer, so I hopped on a Wave bus and caught it over to Winchelsea – the neighbouring hill top town. Old Winchelsea had been down at sea level close to where a number of rivers merged, and consequently by the 13th century was rapidly being lost to erosion, so a new Winchelsea was built on the top of the hill – built to a grid pattern with the church at the centre, that’s pretty much the make-up of the town that survives to today. Three of the original 4 gates also still exist.

Due to the timing of the busses I either had just under an hour or nearly three to look round Winchelsea, so I crammed everything into 50 minutes and then headed back to the bus stop to catch the bus back to Rye to grab a late lunch before picking up my luggage and heading down to the station to make my way home.