Three Days in Rye
The House with Two Front Doors, Rye England.
Walk the streets with the ghosts of smugglers who escaped the Revenue men through secret tunnels that run under the streets from building to building. Rye, England is a tiny town about 2 hours from London along the southeast coast. It is that town rich in history of smuggling, fighting off invaders from France and at one time had a flourishing wool trade, along with illegal smuggling.
Most Brits have never been there, much less know where it is. Located on the south east coast, not far from Hastings or Dunkirk. Rye is a medieval Cinque (pronounced “sink”) port that was paid in the 1500s to defend the country from French invaders. Over the centuries the port silted up, leaving the shore line a mile and half further out and the town high and dry. Home to smugglers and history it is the ideal place to spend a few days relaxing and sketching. Not a sketcher? It’s still a great tiny town to wander around in.
Walking up hill on cobble streets paved with smooth river rock is the main theme of the town. The High street, where the majority of shops are located is midway between the train station and the castle. The town now depends on tourism to keep it alive but that is a good thing as it has persevered the ancient buildings and narrow streets. Rye can easily be covered in a day if you are just walking around.
But the real magic happens first thing in the morning or after 5 in the evening, when no one else is around. The streets are silent and free of throngs of tourists. The birds are singing - robins mostly along with the Carrion Crow. And of course the obligatory seagulls.
It is easy to book yourself into a B&B that is in a building that smugglers used. Be ready for narrow stairways, uneven flooring and oodles of charm! We stayed at Jeake’s House, two buildings joined together, both built in the 1600’s. Breakfast was amazing, but then the standard English breakfast of sausage, bacon, eggs, mushrooms and toast will keep you going for many hours. Updated with locally grown and organic items. Tasty!
Lunch is easily found at of the many pubs in town such as: the Bell Tavern, Waterworks or even the very steeped in history, Mermaid Inn. Legend has it that there is a tunnel between the Bell and Mermaid for the smugglers to escape the Revenue men when they showed up in town.
Smuggling came about when heavy taxation was placed on goods coming in to the country and on wool leaving the country. Wryly locals figured out how to avoid paying taxes through smuggling. Smuggling went on for centuries until the government figured out that taxing goods was not working.
Back to Rye, I ended up focusing on doorways. The houses nearly all have names on plates above the doors or at the side of the door. British doorways have always intrigued me, this time I have made numerous sketches of them. While not always colorful, they are interesting.
Enjoy the names of the houses! The Other House, The Tower House, The House Opposite, etc.
For a bird’s eye view of the town and surrounding countryside, we climbed up to the top of the church tower, paying our 4 pounds for the opportunity. The view was amazing. On a clear day, we figured one might be able to see France, our visit was made in-between rain showers. We got stopped in the bell chamber by the ringing of the hour. Plugging ones ears was required! Those massive bells are loud when you stand right next to them! Once the bells were finished with their business we could move on through the very narrow passages and steep ladders back into the center of the church.
There is still a tower with a bit of original wall left in the town along with a very small castle that was mainly used as a prison during its history. About a mile out of town, towards the current shore, is Camber Castle. It now stands in open fields used for sheep grazing. In the 1500s when it was at the shore line.
Camber Castle is an easy walk from town, your shoes might get a bit mucky with sheep droppings, but it is well worth an amble out there. The castle is open sometimes and has a nice interpretative sign at the entrance.
My return walk took me along the nature preserve, full of gulls, cormorants and other shore birds. Robins sang in the dense hedge rows that lined the trail back to town. An elusive bird many times, this was the case on this evening as I headed back to town. All told I spent about an hour and half walking from town to the castle and back.
Getting to Rye: car, bus or train will get you there. There are parking lots around the perimeter of town, not much once inside the old town. Local buses connect near the train station. Service on the train did require a change but ran mostly hourly. Train travel in the UK can be problematic now that it is run by many different companies. Our travel from London and back went without a hitch. Some hotels do provide parking for their guests, but expect to walk to your hotel from the parking lot.
Worth three days? For me, it was as I spent a fair amount of time sketching and walking. My husband who is not a sketcher would have been happy with one night, and sort of two days.
