Rebuilt in 1420

Our first few days in London were a whirlwind of meetings and driving. We landed shortly after 6:00am following uneventful flights from Sydney. Qantas came through with a First Class points upgrade all the way. This meant that we kicked off our trip with a visit to the First Class lounge. This included an express facial in the Spa, followed by a leisurely champagne lunch. I stayed awake for the entire leg to Singapore reading and watching movies. I then slept for almost seven hours on the final leg to Heathrow.

Our first business meeting kicked off shortly after 8:30am at the Heathrow Hilton by Terminal Four. We then drove our rental car to Folkestone for the day’s second meeting. We finished up shortly before 4:00pm and drove directly to Rye, a distance of less than 32 miles. For our first night in the UK, I booked us into the Mermaid Inn, one of the town’s oldest hotels.

The inn sits in the heart of the old town on a steep and narrow cobblestone street. It was built, or rather rebuilt, in 1420. According to the room guide, the building’s cellars date from 1156 while the current building was rebuilt after The Mermaid and the town of Rye were burnt to the ground by French raiders on 22 June 1377.  I had to chuckle when I saw a "Rebuilt in 1420" sign over the hotel entrance. That's my new definition of old. "Founded in" and "Established in" signs are so last year.

Our room was on the first floor. It was accessed via two sets of stairs, one set up and a shorter set down. The room itself was framed by dramatic oak beams and similar Tudor-style walls. Although I swear there wasn’t a level surface or right angle anywhere in the room. At times it was rather disorienting and played havoc with our jet lag. For example, I woke in the middle of the night and, thanks to the gently sloping floor, nearly toppled over on my way to the bathroom.

Rye was a real treat. We walked through the old town for dinner at Webbes Fish Café shortly after checking in. Much to our delight, the town seemed to be celebrating Scallop season. This shellfish seemed to feature on every menu we encountered during our stay.

 

The following morning we retraced our steps with a walking tour of this ancient town’s “ye olde delights”. This included a return visit to the Landgate, the only remaining arched section of a defensive wall that once surrounded the town.  We also climbed 84 steps up the Bell Tower of St Mary the Virgin church, which sits on the town's highest point. Sections of this building were first erected by the Normans in 1180. The views of River Rother and out to the Camber Sands coast were spectacular. 

Surprisingly, Rye was once a bustling harbour town. There’s even a nearby village called Rye Harbour that’s surrounded by paddocks and drainage lakes. Apparently, the name of Rye is derived from a Saxon word for island. Medieval maps show that Rye was originally located on a large coastal cove called the Rye Camber, which provided a safe anchorage and harbour. Over the centuries the bay has silted up leaving only a deep tidal river channel that was clearly visible from the church tower.

Also visible from the tower was Ypres Tower, one of the town's oldest buildings. It was built in 1249 as "Baddings Tower", to defend the town from the French, and was later named after its owner, John de Ypres. We'd originally followed tourist signs directing us to "the tower" and mistook St Mary's Bell Tower as the intended destination.

From Rye, we drove four miles to check out the famous Camber Sands. This is reputably one of the south coast’s most scenic beaches. However, the day we visited it was cloudy and blowing a gale. As a result, a quick walk on the beach left us mildly sandblasted. Garry couldn’t get over how many people were out and about on such an unpleasant day. 

The rest of our Saturday was spent driving from Rye to Portsmouth via Battle.  We stopped for several hours in Battle to explore its ruins and learn more about the revolutionary Norman invasion in 1066. The township is built on the edge of the battleground where the Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066. Its highest ground is home to the ruins of Battle Abbey. On this spot, William the Conqueror built an impressive stone church to atone for his bloody conquest. 

The Abbey stood for hundreds of years until it was demolished during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. Today all the remains, are the abbey's foundations, monastery ruins, administrative church buildings, a defensive stone wall, and a dramatic arched gatehouse leading into the complex. The gatehouse includes an excellent museum. Unfortunately, during our visit, recent storm damage had closed access to a series of hillside fields that make up the actual battleground. However, we were able to survey the area from a path that ran along the crest of the hill.

Aside from the gatehouse, perhaps the most impressive structure still standing is the Dorter. This huge room was the dormitory where the monks slept. It dates to the 13th century and was originally a single open space without any heating. Monks slept communally and their single beds were arranged in rows along the stone side walls. The roof collapsed in the 18th Century leaving behind the dramatic open-air ruin you see today,

William built the high altar of the church on the spot where King Harold was reputedly felled by a Norman arrow (in the eye according to some legends). While the abbey itself has gone the spot is still marked by a marble flagstone. There's something to be said for standing on the spot where history was made 957 years ago. I've always remembered the date 1066 and the Battle of Hastings. As an Antipodean, this was an esoteric event in a land far, far away that had little or no reference to anything tangible in my world.