Rye Castle Museum

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.      

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

by Vivienne Challans This article appeared in RM&LHG Journal 61 What is Tunbridgeware? The exact origins of Tunbridgeware are not well documented but it seems it was originally made by cabinet makers of Tonbridge before the springs were discovered in the early 1600′s and brought into being in the town of Tunbridge Wells. Early ware … read more

Adapted from an article by David Sharp  There have always been Potters in Rye and some examples of medieval Rye pottery can be seen in the Ypres Tower. (More recent examples are displayed at the East Street site.) Potters were again active in Rye during the eighteenth century and a brick works and pottery existed at … read more

By Tarquin & Biddy Cole This article not only tells about the pottery business in Rye but gives an insight into other aspects of the town’s history and the people who have lived and worked here Until 2002 there was a gift shop called the The Merrythought near  the Church door at the top of Lion Street … read more

  Rye’s Shipbuilding Industry Rise to Importance The shipbuilding industry in Rye and the estuary of the River Rother, together with the manifold trades required to meet maritime requirements, has for centuries undergone phases of boom and depression. Its varying fortunes have been brought about or accentuated by physical changes in the Harbour, by wars, by … read more

by Frank Palmer   Of the earliest Inns and Alehouses little or nothing is known and all that exists are a few early cellars beneath later buildings. What we do know is that by the sixteenth century, the Inn and Alehouse was a significant part of the Rye scene. As an important port of embarkation the town … read more

by Jo Kirkham, based on a talk given to Rye Local History Group by Mr Don Bentley in 2004.  Freight Express Seacon Don Bentley moved to Rye in 1972 and established Freight-Express Seacon , based first at the Custom House at 7  High Street, Rye, in 1974. The firm later moved to Market Street, in … read more