Discover Britain: Rye

Standing on the confluence of the River Rother, the River Tillingham and the River Brede, Rye is a medieval town in East Sussex bursting with character and charm. One summer, inspired by my uncle's love of his childhood town, I decided to visit.

The train from Brighton was packed and I had high hopes that it would empty out at Eastbourne or Hastings. But it didn't. So unless people were going to Ashford International, there really was only one other stop – mine!

Sure enough as the train pulled into Rye, half the passengers stood up. As I got caught up in the slow moving procession toward the stairs, I silently cursed myself for not having gotten an earlier train. But I needn't have worried. Within minutes of exiting the station, I had lost them, and myself in Ye Olde Worlde...

Walking uphill from the train station I found myself on High Street, which was quite unlike any other High Street I have ever been on. Not only was it absolutely gorgeous, but it lacked the all too familiar High Street names like H&M, Next and McDonald's. There was not a plastic logo in sight! Despite the huge outpouring of people from the train, the streets were almost empty so I was able to take my photos in peace.

The Standard, a recently-refurbished B&B

Charming old buildings on the near-empty High Street

  

Houses that transport you back to medieval England...

The town's big draw is Mermaid Street, a steep cobbled street lined with attractive buildings with charming names such as "The first house", "The house with the seat" and – my personal favourite – "The house opposite". I had expected the street to be rammed, but the heat (27°C/81°F and rising) and the steepness of the hill meant that I was able to navigate it without too much difficulty.

The cobbled Mermaid Street...

...where each building was more beautiful than the previous one

Mid-summer roses

The Grade II listed historical Mermaid Inn built in 1420

Alleyway just off Mermaid Street

Pigeons having an argument outside the pub

The brilliantly-named House Opposite

At the top of the hill, I turned right into West Street, another pretty sloping street and one that was seemingly overlooked by the hordes of day-trippers. As I reached the bottom, I realised I was back on High Street, and within striking distance of Cobbles Tearoom, an English teashop offering cream teas. It was a no-brainer.

Standing on the corner of Mermaid Street and West Street

Struggling to decide which view was the most photoworthy...

...and ending up taking ALL the photos

Yet another historic building dating from medieval times

The ever lovely High Street

An English tearoom

Traditional English cream tea – guess how long that lasted?!

One cream tea later and I was ready for more sightseeing. I walked along High Street in the opposite direction, and then swung a right into Lion Street.

Before long I had reached St Mary's Church, which dates from the early 12th century. Getting a decent shot of the church's exterior was practically impossible as the sun was in the wrong place, but the simple interior was well worth a look. Back outside, I noticed a sign pointing to the tower and for a mere £3 (€4/US$5) I was treated to some stunning views. I could have stayed there all day...


Close-up of the high altar



View of the nave from the high altar



Looking down the nave



View across the rooftops, with Lion Street in the centre



The spire

Another rooftop view



Converging rivers

From the church tower I was able to see Ypres Tower and on descending, made my way there. In 1249, King Henry III (r. 1216-1272) ordered the building of a fort, which for centuries was known as Baddings Tower. Almost 200 years later, the fort was sold by Rye Corporation to a cloth merchant named Jean d'Ypres and thus the tower got its present day name of Ypres Tower. With a history dating back over 750 years, the Tower has been a fort, a private residence, a court and a prison. Today it's home to the Rye Castle Museum, which opened in 1954.


Ypres Tower

I visited the Tower, and then treated myself to a pink lemonade at The Ypres pub, where I studied my map and decided that I'd seen everything I really wanted to see. So, with the lemonade drunk, I wandered slowly back through the pretty cobbled streets and made my way to Rye station.

One last cobbled street