Rye is said to be southeast England’s prettiest town. Steep cobbled streets lined with timber framed houses climb steeply upwards to where the 12th century St. Mary’s Church and the Ypres Tower sit, crown-like, on top of this small, picturesque place. Rye was one of the famed medieval Cinque Ports, and on a good day you can probably see the coast and English Channel just a couple of miles away.
This was not one of those days. An unearthly sea mist had crept over the countryside and engulfed the town. The sun occasionally poked through the mist, but the supernatural weather persisted long into the afternoon. The mist-blanketed streets were a little eerie, an event that might have inspired one of Henry James’ Gothic horror stories. The novelist wrote a ghost story, The Turn of the Screw, while living here in 1898.
We’d arrived early from Hastings in the hope of avoiding the crowds. Most things were still closed so after a stroll through the empty, atmospheric streets we set off to walk to Camber Castle and the Rye Harbour Nature Reserve to reach the coast. Strolling over the flat salt marsh, the mist obscured the town behind and the landscape ahead. Finally, we spotted the hulking mass of Camber Castle.
The 16th century castle was Built on the order of Henry VIII to defend the port of Rye. It’s not open to the public but its imposing bulk is impressive. We continued through the nearby fields into the nature reserve where we saw hardly any other people. When we arrived on the coast at Winchelsea Beach, the mist still obscured both land and sea. It was tremendously atmospheric.
The Gothic horror theme persisted as we passed the now abandoned Mary Stanford Lifeboat House, a forlorn building in the mist. The Mary Stanford lifeboat and crew of 17 launched into a gale in November 1928 to help the Alice of Riga, a Latvian ship which had collided with the German ship, Smyrna. All 17 crew died when the lifeboat capsized. The body of the youngest crewman, 17 year old John Head, was never found.
The lifeboat house was never used again, and its story combined with the sea mist gave it a mournful air. Further along the coast we reached the River Rother. It separated us from Camber Sands, a vast expanse of sandy beach. We followed the river to Rye Harbour where we discovered the William the Conqueror pub. A well deserved beer revived us for the last leg of our walk.
Back in Rye we strolled up Mermaid Street, said to be one of the most photographed streets in England. Beautiful buildings, including the Mermaid Inn that dates to 1156, line the cobbled street. It was early afternoon and the street was busy, including a wedding photographer taking pictures of a bride and groom much to the amusement of dozens of tourists.
The Mermaid Inn is famed for being the meeting place of smuggling gangs who operated all along the coast from medieval times. Smuggling was lucrative and attracted a large number of both the poor and desperate, as well as hardened criminals. Rye’s legendary Hawkhurst Gang were famed for their daring and feared for their extraordinary brutality.
Smugglers had a lot of support from the local population, many of whom depended on them for their living. Pubs seemed to be their not so secret network of safe houses, and they operated with a large degree of impunity. Eventually the Hawkhurst Gang became too brazen and the authorities became more organised. In 1749, virtually all of the gang were captured and executed.
Their legend is still celebrated today though, including the belief that the Mermaid Inn is haunted by some of their bloodthirsty crew. The pub was packed so we carried on up into the town as the mist finally started to clear. We passed Rye Castle, known as Ypres Tower, to get to the Ypres Castle Inn. A couple of local beers and a platter of cheese in this 17th century inn was the ideal way to end our visit to this lovely town.
