Rye Castle Museum

We’ve had a clear run of splendid talks again this past year.  (See  below for summaries)  For a list of 2012 talks through June click here.

Talks normally begin at 7.30pm and are held at the Museum in East Street, Rye, on the second Tuesday of each month, with the exception of August.  Admission is £2.00 for members of the Museum Association and £3.00 for guests. There are light refreshments at about 8.45 pm .  Everyone is welcome.

A Reminder of what you’ve heard / A Glimpse of what you’ve missed  June – December 2011

Tuesday, 13th December
Toy Soliders by Chris Viner

Many people in Rye know that Chris Viner of  Soldiers of Rye has an international reputation and customers worldwide for his military miniatures and models.  Everyone who attended this talk now knows he is also a master storyteller who can teach while he entertains, and will have gone home not only knowing  more about an absorbing hobby but with a greater appreciation of the value of history and of teachers and grandparents who inspire and of staying young by nourishing ‘the child within’.   It was a presentation with ‘something for everyone’  (and his  stories about models of real people–military relatives and friends– led immedidately to at least one new customer!)  Thank you Chris!

Tuesday, 8th November
Towers and Spires of Romney Marsh Churches by Alan Dickinson.

A packed audience came to hear Alan tell about a recent research project to study 27 of the centuries-old bell towers and spires which are such a feature of the Romney Marsh area.  The work was accomplished via snow and ice and ladders of uncertain age but with the aid of modern technology such as dendrochronology.   Lightning strikes and Victorian enthusiasms notwithstanding, Alan’s then and now photos and drawings proved how remarkably well ancient materials and structures have survived the years.    We will all look more carefully and knowledgeably at the churches we pass on the Marsh in future–and perhaps seek out those not visited before.  Alan’s latest book, Rye Through Time was available–and sold out!

Tuesday, 11th October,  East Street
Menaav Star: The Story of a Local Shipwreck  by Carl Bagwell

We are accustomed to learning about shipwrecks of Rye’s past — those built in Rye which met misfortune, or those lost off our coast.   This was a much more recent story.  The Danish Menaav Star successfully unloaded timber from the Caribbean off Camber in 2004 — and having just become an Indian-owned ship,  nearly did not get away.  In narrating the innumerable problems which threatened the ship’s survival before it eventually sailed off again, Rye’s former Harbour master reminded his listeners of the many interlinking factors  — ownership, regulations, crew competence, communications, equipment, weather, local knowledge — to mention only 7 — which determine the outcome of any voyage.

If you need a reminder of just how numerous shipwrecks in Rye Bay and along the adjacent coast have been over centuries past visit the Ypres Tower again, climb up to the first floor and look at the Shipwrecks chart next to the doorway to the balcony.  There is hardly room for another ship’s name on the chart!

Friday 30th September, East Street  Donna Bilak
The Chymical Club: John Allin, Samuel Jeake, Philip Frith and the Pursuit of Alchemy in 17th century Rye and London
(Lecture 3 in her series in aid of the Women’s Tower Project)

Donna Bilak of the Bard Graduate Center in New York was in England again to give a paper at a Cambridge University conference on Alchemy and Medicine from Antiquity to the Enlightenment and made a special trip to Rye to give us another installment of her research findings on leading figures of 17th century Rye: Rev John Allin and his friends Samuel Jeakes and Philip Frith.  John Allin was ejected as Rye’s vicar after the restoration of Charles II and the Act of Uniformity because he was a Dissenter so moved to London where he practiced medicine and pursued the dream of an alchemist to discover ‘the philosopher’s stone’ (by transmutation of metals to gold).

Rye Museum documents have been very important to Donna’s research.  Allin’s correspondence with Jeake and Frith is voluminous and the trio made detailed plans to set up an alchemy laboratory here in Rye.  We all left with a better understanding of alchemy’s lofty original purpose — before the word became associated with charlatans — and a clearer picture of the life and interests of 17th century Rye and London: living conditions,  plague, great fire, scientific interests, New World contacts and all.  Donna has promised us a bound copy of her completed project.

Tuesday 12th July,  East Street
Sussex Industrial History: An Alternative Approach by Geoffrey Mead

Another great treat for members and friends!   Geoffrey, geographer and local historian of Sussex University’s Centre for Community Engagement AND Rye Museum Trustee,  flew us through centuries of local history and then around the countywith the help of photos and maps  to give us a new understanding of the geology, archaeology, industry and culture which have shaped the landscape around us.  A enthusiastic  tour de force which will no doubt prompted  bookings for his 10 week WEA course on this topic which began October 3 here in Rye.   Geoff is also providing a course through U3A if you are a member of that.

Richard brought a superb collection of slides to accompany his most interesting and informative talk on the vanishing tradition of hop growing and hop picking in Sussex and Kent.    His in-depth knowledge, fluency  and wry sense of humour were much appreciated by the capacity audience at East Street,   There will no doubt be many who would like a copy of the new edition of his book on the topic:  Hops and Hop Picking (Shire Publications).  And have you had a look at the pair of stilts handing on the entrance wall of the East Street museum?  These were used by those who maintained the hop poles.  (Hop production in pre-mechanisation days required an incredible amount of labour year-round, always with the threat of destruction by disease or weather. )   As we saw, the stilts were often even higher than out giant-size pair,  and often used on muddy uneven ground.  The Museum has been adding to its collection of hop related items and we hope to mount a display on this topic soon.