Tudor Times

1488 Henry VII’s largest warship, ‘The Regent’, built at Reding Street near Tenterden, was fitted out in Rye and went into service in 1491. Many other ships were built along the Rother and at Rye itself - ships for the Crown were built from at least 1410 to the 1550’s.

1489-90 Town ditch scoured, walls repaired, fences covered with thorns were built, cliff’s steepened and a ‘sege hous’ was built to defend the Strand. At this period when large guns were rare, Rye had a least three.

1491 Henry VII and his army taken to fight in France by Portsmen.

1491-3 Rye paid a third of its entire town expenditure on war preparations during this time.

1495 Rye was regarded as a potential landing point for Perkin Warbeck as he had some supporters in the town. Five men were found guilty of treason and hung, drawn and quartered.

Sixteenth Century
(I am indebted to Dr Graham Mayhew, as much of this information is from his study of the Rye Records. J. K.) In Tudor Times, the traditional Cinque Ports Service of troop carrying was not as important as it had been previously, but it still went on, as well as, at times, empressment for soldiers. But the greatest wartime expense in the Town Records until the 1580’s was of maintaining the town walls, town ditch, building barriers, barricades, booms in the harbour and the placing and maintaining of the guns.

Much of the expenditure was found by a tax levied on French prisoners taken by privateers operating out of the town, and the value of goods seized e.g. in 1549/50. 10 captains captured 226 prisoners; 1557/8 32 captains took 465 prisoners.

The Camber was the main refuge for shipping - (it is said up to 300/400 ships could anchor in safety here) - for the whole of the eastern English Channel. The sea could still surround the town to a depth of 20-30 feet at some tides, except for the narrow stretch of land from the Landgate – and the inhabitants were really worried about the danger of enemy ships getting near the town. More guns were bought and about 10 or 11 were ready to defend the town. Some of these were stored in the Castle.

1512-14 Camber Castle was begun by Henry VIII to defend against the French as well as repairs being made to the town defences.

1513 Rye (with Dover) was the chief embarkation port for Henry VIII and his army being taken to France to fight in the Battle of the Spurs - The Regent was lost. Rye had been ordered to send 6 soldiers by the Lord Warden, as well as ‘Ship Service’.
1513 May: A Cinque Ports Court met and ‘Every man that goeth in the navy of the Portes shal have a cote of white cotyn with a red cross and the armes of the Portes undernethe that is to say the halfe lyon and the half shippe’.

1520 ‘The Field of the Cloth of Gold’. Rye ships were among those which escorted Henry VIII across the Channel to meet Francis I of France. Sir Edward Guldeford was Lord Warden and Marshal of Calais and had to organise the supplies for the month long event.

1522-3 War with France again and Rye was ordered to send 12 soldiers. Rye again had to make expensive preparations and repairs to the town fortifications. There were great guns on the Strand, on the Landgate and on a platform on the cliff. There is the first reference to a paid gunner in the town.

1531 Cinque Ports ‘Ship Service’ was demanded.

1539-1542 Henry VIII completed his Castles built to guard the coast nearest to the Continent and closest to London - Sandown, Deal, Walmer, Sandgate and Camber, with alterations to Dover. 1272 men were employed in these works at Camber.

1540 A Captain and 25 soldiers were garrisoned at Camber by the end of 1540. Its men and armour were similar to those in Dover and Portsmouth - showing its importance.

1544 Rye was again the main embarkation point for Henry VIII’s troops to France for the Boulogne expedition and the town had to send 20 soldiers as well as provide ‘Ship Service’ of 3 ships.

The invasion scares and this expedition again cost the town a lot of money, as it made expensive preparations with new town defences. These were much more ambitious than those of 1491, 1513 and 1522. Royal Commissioners took charge and more than 47 men (including 12 masons) were employed making the walls fit to hold ordnance, developing the Gungarden and the new ”fortresse” at the Strand which involved demolishing old shops. The work was urgent as they worked all night and on Sundays too, and used French prisoners-of-war.