Rye Castle Museum

by Jo Kirkham

Threats and Rye’s Responses in the 18th Century

1739
A new war began, this time against Spain.  Then France joined in on Spain’s side. Rye, once more, was on the alert.

1741
A platform was raised on the Bowling Green which was then in the Gungarden. Eight guns were placed there, and the town bought two barrels of gun-powder and built a store in which to put it.

1743-44
There was a French plan to invade England across the Channel.  In 1744 French troops and transports, joined by the Young Pretender to the throne of Britain, assembled at Dunkirk, which the British Navy then blockaded. The French Brest Fleet were to support the army invasion, but the British Navy faced them at Dungeness. A February gale stopped the French and they retreated without battle.

The town presented a loyal Address to his Majesty the King, describing the failure of the French attempt at invasion  ‘who fled terrified by the Approach of your Royal Navy and only night and tempest gave them opportunity of escape’.

1745
There was another invasion threat when the Young Pretender invaded England from Scotland. The French navy was reluctant to get bottled up in the narrow eastern end of the Channel with a British navy behind it, and so it failed again to support the land forces in their crossing. There were a few days of rea1 threat of invasion but  Rye was prepared once more.

1756-63
The Seven Years War.   In the Channel there were the usual features of privateering and invasion alarms.

1759
Again there was a direct threat of French invasion, but this time further down the Channel coast than Rye. However, Pitt the Elder called out the militias to defend the realm and reserve regiments of regular soldiers camped out along the south coast. Dunkirk was blockaded again and the ships in Le Havre were attacked.

In November,  the French sent a fleet  to escort the invading troops which were assembled at Quiberon.  The fleet was attacked by the British as it  left Brest–and the French were defeated. The invasion was abandoned once more.

1766
There was a period of peace and a section of wall to the east of Rye’s  Postern Gate was taken down to allow carriages to enter the town that way. The arch over the Strandgate was also removed and the stones from both of these were given to the Churchwardens to build the Churchyard walls. A little  later, the Postern Gate was repaired.

1778
A new war broke out, when France declared war in support of the Americans. The Channel was again an important scene of action. The Battle of Ushant was indecisive–mainly because of the neglected state of our Navy.

1779
The Spanish joined in on the side of the French and Americans.  The Cinque Ports Volunteers raised a Company in Rye to help defend the country. The Corporation granted £30 10s, and the townsfolk £89 10s 4d, towards the expenses of doing this. Each company had one captain, 3 sergeants, 3 corporals, 2 drummers and 60 private men at the least.

The Government provided arms: halberds, drums, firelocks, bayonets, and cartouche boxes.  Five new brass cannon, captured from the Spanish, were  on the Green. Regular troops, including the Sixth Regiment and the 52nd Regiment of Foot, were billeted on the town for several years– first in warehouses in the Strand and then on the site now occupied by the Memorial Hospital and Care Centre,Playden.

The French and Spanish fleets combined to plan an invasion of England.  The intention was to dictate a peace in revenge for the Seven Years War and destroy the British Empire.  Fortunately, they delayed until it was too late, again being afraid of being trapped in the narrow eastern end of the Channel with south-westerly winds behind them.

1784
William Pitt the Younger became Prime Minister and re-organised both the Army and the Navy.

1789
The French Revolution began.  A first this  did not  involve Britain other than using small boats to get refugees from France, and, of course, smuggling continued. But 1793 saw the beginning of a 20 year-long war with France.

1793
Occasional sea- skirmishes took place along the Channel coast and mock battles of British troops took place on the Downs.  French privateers grew very bold, even sniping at people on the beach at Newhaven. Again Rye was on alert and troops, including the Wiltshire Regiment, were based here.  On 14 February 1793, it is recorded that three French gentlemen arrived in Rye, having escaped from Paris.

1794-1803
The Ports did their duty by ‘volunteering’as they had done for centuries, to defend the country. The idea had developed during the American War and the early part of the French Revolution. Then, when Napoleon threatened, William Pitt, who had became Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports in 1792, decided to strengthen the defenses along this coast. These included:

• Cinque Ports Sea Fencible Cavalry – until at least 1814
• Rye’s First Volunteer Infantry Company – 1794-1802
• Troop of Gentleman and Yeomanry Corps.

1794
A new company of the Cinque Ports Volunteers was raised. It had two field pieces.

1801
The Duke of York came to review the troops stationed in Rye–at Mountsfield.

1802
The Peace of Amiens was signed.