Taking into account the cumulative effects of siltation through ’inning,’ the diminution of local timber resources, the evolution of deep draught men of war and recent appalling outbreaks of the plague, it is not surprising that the response of Rye to Queen Elizabeth’s urgent request for ships to fight the Spanish Armada in 1588 was meagre. In the event the only contribution made by Rye was a 50 tonner supply ship which was hired and fitted out with the assistance of Tenterden.

Under the Stuart Kings and well into the 18th century orders for new ships from Rye were rare but the shipyards would have been occupied servicing the numerous merchantmen colliers and fishing boats which continued to use the port. A cross-channel passenger service to Dieppe was running in the 17th century and there were river barges on which the famous gun foundries near Battle, Robertsbridge and Seddlescombe depended for the carriage of their heavy cargoes down to Rye for export. Even in 1700, except for the roadway leading northwards from the Landgate Rye was still an island relying largely on water transport. In the absence of bridges, three ferries owned by the Rye Corporation had to be maintained to save travellers undergoing circuitous journeys on bad roads.

While the Industrial Revolution was gaining momentum in the latter part of the 18th century in the Midlands and North, the Port of Rye was being held back first by the disastrous attempt to create the New Harbour mouth at Winchelsea Beach and later by the serious threat of an invasion by Napoleon.

An exceptional event was the launching in 1787 of the Salisbury, a 200 ton cutter which was the only sizeable ship to make the passage out of Rye through the shortlived new outlet to the sea. Unfortunately little seems to have come to light about the builders of the Salisbury or other shipyards at this difficult time. Nor is it known whether any of the rafts for the floating batteries manned by the Sea Fencibles were built at Rye before being superseded by the Martello Towers.

By the time the threat from Napoleon had finally lifted, the Industrial Revolution was beginning to have a dramatic impact on shipbuilding along the South and East coasts. After centuries of square-riggers and the battleworthy ‘wooden walls’ of the Royal Navy fundamental changes in ship design were taking place. The requirements of commerce boosted by the development of trade with North America were increasingly for fast sailing vessels which could be sailed close to the wind with the benefit of fore-and-aft rigging.

Prominent amongst the early Rye shipbuilders in the new era was the firm of Harvey and Staffell whose yard was situated below the Green Steps at the end of Watchbell Street and well known for its sloops, cutters and schooners. By mid 19th. century the demand for merchant ships had created a boom of which Rye was taking full advantage.

Later came the firms of G. & T. Smith (which succeeded J.C. Hoad and became celebrated for Ketch barges), the Rother Iron Works (which built steam ships in iron and wood near the mouth of Rock Channel), W.E. Clark (which built smacks and river barges off the Winchelsea Road) and H.J. PhiIlips (whose clinker-built fishing boats made in Rock Channel are to be seen today all along the Sussex coast).

A sketch map prepared by researchers for the Rye Museum Association shows that these yards and their sail lofts were all situated near or between the Strand Quay and the confluence of Rock Channel with the River Rother.