Rye Castle Museum

   Rye Castle Museum and St Mary’s Parish Church, Rye are delighted to announce that they were able to jointly secure at a recent auction, four St. Mary’s Ledgers from the 19th Century. The Ledgers were kept by the Dengate family including James, his widow Frances, and their son James Samuel, being Sextons at Rye during the period … read more

Extracts from A.G. Bradley, An Old Gate of England: Rye, Romney Marsh, and the Western Cinque Ports (London: Robert Scott 1918)       The author possessed a wry sense of humour and wrote  in a delightful style.  His wife’s line drawings give a good idea of the Rye of nearly one hundred years ago.  It’s worth tracking down … read more

by John Burke        Rye historian and novelist and father of Jenny Hadfield, the present proprietor THE FIRST JEAKES OF RYE Of Huguenot origin, the family’s first settler in Rye appears to have been a late 16th-century merchant, William Jeaque (a possible corruption of Jacques). His son Henry set up a bakery in the High … read more

Why ‘Flushing’? There are several theories as to the origin of the name.  The most likely is that the street outside (Market Street) used to be known as ‘The Butchery’ and the old English word for a butcher was a “flesher”.   The original Fleshers Inn,  it is thought, became corrupted to Flushing Inn. The Building There … read more

Almost every building in Rye has a facinating history! Many have parts from two or three different centuries–a 14th century cellar under a 19th century rebuild, a Tudor house behind a Georgian facade…. A shop or school may now be a house, a warehouse a restaurant or part of the Museum. As population pressure has … read more

Rye ships,  pottery and Tonbridgeware have been famous,  and the number of its inns numerous.  The  articles in this section are on those topics.   There is much more to come.      

The Lamb family were the greatest power in Rye for 250 years but their house is probably more famous as the home of the expatriate American writer Henry James and later, the writer E.F. Benson. It is a modest brick-fronted Georgian house completed  by James Lamb in 1723, the same year in which he became … read more

A Brief History of Rye Cattle Market Slightly adapted from  Rye’s Own 150 (January 2007) Note preceding the article:  A remarkable account of Rye Cattle Market appeared in a 1937 Handbook, demonstrating  how well Rye Market was doing in the period just before World War Two. This success was carried into the forties. From 1970 … read more

  They Took Over The Town Hall Slightly adapted from an article in Rye’s Own 161 ( Dec 2007)   Seeds of revolt By 1825 the Lamb family had dominated politics in Rye for 100 years, providing the Mayor 23 times out of the 25 since the turn of the century, Most of the jurats and freeman … read more

 Slightly adapted from an article in Rye’s Own 161 (December 2007)   Rye’s Oldest Coaching Inn   Gemma Pocock   When I think of Christmas in Rye I always think of The George as this is where the lights are traditionally turned on and by who other than the big man him self, Father Christmas.   The George is … read more