Rye in East Sussex must be one of the prettiest towns in Britain. It overlooks the River Rother and has so many half-timbered houses on steep cobbled streets. There is an abundance of history just waiting to be explored.
We arrived by train and found that it was an easy walk into the historic part of the town. All around you can see nautical themed features because the town used to be an ancient Cinque port. One of the prettiest corners is the pathway near St Mary’s church with the pink house and blossoms galore. St Mary’s itself is most famous for its quarter boys and is a Grade I listed building. The clock mechanism was made in 1560 and the cherubs can be seen outside striking the quarter hours ,while inside is the huge pendulum clock. There is also some beautiful stained glass, which we especially appreciate because my daughter is a stained-glass artist. You can get a spendid view of the town from the top of the church tower.
Running down from St Mary’s church is Lion Street and this is where we stopped for a bite to eat at Simon the Pieman cafe. It is the oldest tea room in Rye and everything they serve is locally sourced. You can also buy some delicious homemade fudge to take home.
The town of Rye was heavily involved with smuggling and, legend has it, that the Mermaid Inn, which was built in 1156, once had a secret passage to the Olde Bell Inn. The Inn is Grade II listed. It is not surprising that the picturesque cobbled Mermaid Street is the most photographed – they say in the whole of Britain! For some reason we did not discover Lamb House, a National Trust property, until late in the day so sadly we missed out on that one. However, we did visit Rye Castle (about which I have written a separate review)
As you can imagine Rye is so unspolit that the town is often used for filming period dramas. One such Regency period drama that was filmed in Market Street and Mermaid Street is “January Nights” which is a Netflix adaption of “Pride and Prejudice”. So, we will be looking out for that one in future! No doubt after the screening there will be an increase in tourism within the town. To cope with this there are plenty of independent shops, restaurants and art galleries. There is also the Rye Heritage Centre where you can discover 750 years of the town’s history.
Indeed, for the sheer picturesqe quality of Rye, the town is an absolute must.
