Wednesday, 18 May 2022

Rye medieval hill town

 Last weekend we managed to get away for the weekend to Rye, which is a medieval hill town and cinque port, that's now  a distance from the sea. 

I thought there was quite a bit that might be of interest to those that read this blog and I wanted to keep all the images together, so please, indulge  me!

 There is a  nice medieval gate, the Landgate, a big church, lots of timber framed buildings, some rebuilt in 1420 and a medieval fortification called the Ypres Tower . We went on a nice little walk that took us to another fortification built for Henry VIII,an artillery fort, much like  the Falmouth model but now a ruin , it was interesting to me to contrast the construction techniques of the two fortifications, the earlier tower is rubble except around the arrow slits and door ways which are masonry. In the fort it is clear it was faced entirely with masonry ,because a lot  of it has eroded/ fallen/ been removed? we can  see the rubble and brick structure beneath and also around the gun ports. Indeed there is a row of bricks below one gunport that looks like it's been done with London stock bricks!




























I thought the erosion on the seaward side of the fort was also of interest. There were a couple of Georgian 32 pounders on War department garrison carriages outside the Ypres Tower , the other smaller guns didn't have any markings, I  did start thinking I could  maybe make the Ypres Tower out of four pringle tubes, some foamboard and a  bit of rubble type wallpaper but then decided not just yet, try and stay on task and get  some more Napoleonics done! A nice slice of East Sussex  to visit if you're in the area, next post will contain toy soldiers, honest!
All the best 
Iain 


39 comments:

  1. Nice work Iain - I am pleased Mark and I have inspired others to follow our lead and share some images of travels near and far! I have made the comment before, but that's one thing I do miss about the UK/Europe - a bit of history. We have beautiful scenery here, but when it comes to historical sites, they are either 19th century or virtually non existent - the 800 years of pre European Maori occupation have left few tangible traces on the landscape.

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    1. Thanks Keith, all a bit flat compared to New Zealand but definitely some old buildings!
      Best Iain

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  2. Great photos Iain, looks like a really interesting place to visit!

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    1. Thanks Cyrus, definitely worth a visit!
      Best Iain

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  3. Some great historical buildings Iain, very useful to anyone working on those time periods, thanks for sharing

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    1. Yes I thought so too Dave, hoped others would as well!
      Best Iain

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  4. I love Rye. I used to go there quite a lot in the 80s when I lived in Sandgate (Folkestone, where HG Wells did his floor games). I don't remember the Henry VIII fort though.
    There used to be an attraction int he old town - a scale model of the town with a sound and light show about the town and its history. Put me in mind of Michael Bentine's Potty time. Is it still there?

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    1. Chris! You are able to comment under your nom de plume rather than "anonymous"! This is a good step forward.

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    2. Ah, that’s because I had the time to get hold of my laptop and switch off a privacy feature. I don’t know how to do it from my phone.
      Chris

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    3. Hi Chris, yes a lovely town, we had our lunch in Folkestone and filled up in the petrol station in Sandgate, very posh, you have to leave the town to find the Henry VIII fort, pretty sure the Michael Bentine type exhibit still exists, I was just too tight to spend the £4 to see it!
      Best Iain

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  5. Never made it to Rye, but the photos make it look like a place to check out. Pringles tubes and foam core board, now you're talking!

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    1. Nice to hear from you Peter, yes lovely town and Pringle tubes and foamboard, very tempting!
      Best Iain

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  6. Excellent photos, Iain! I always enjoy these wargamers' travelogues.

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    1. Thanks Jonathan, also kind of useful I hope!
      Best Iain

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  7. A nice looking town… and some interesting looking fortifications.

    All the best. Aly

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    1. Definitely correct on both counts!
      Best Iain

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  8. Castles AND cannons: what’s not to like? Nice pics. 😀

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    1. Exactly, also cream teas and nice restaurants!
      Best Iain

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  9. Great photos of amazing historical stuff sir!

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  10. I always love this kind of posts. What a beautiful environment, I just enjoyed all the pics. You need to travel more! We need you to travel more! :)

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  11. Great looking historical site - and in great weather to boot!

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    1. Yes it was a lovely spring day Dean!
      Best Iain

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  12. Great pictures Iain and it looks like a lovely town. I wish we had taken the time to visit it when we lived in the UK, but did make it to a few of the other Cinque Ports.

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    1. Thanks Lawrence, difficult to get everywhere, it's certainly a nice little town!
      Best Iain

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  13. Very cool!
    I envy the UK access to all of those historic sites, as well as beautiful landscapes. NZ has plenty of beautiful landscapes as well. I guess we have our share out here in the Pacific Northwest, but like NZ not much history either.

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    1. Thanks Fitz, plenty of historical sites pretty much everywhere here, you've got plenty of scenery though!
      Best Iain

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  14. Rye Museum is fantastic - v small, but packs an awful lot in there, plus loads for the kids (and big kids) to play with.

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    1. I've missed Rye museum when I've been down there, I will just have to go again!
      Best Iain

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  15. One of the things I envy Europeans is their ready access to material history. Out our way there's less available, and it's often less-well preserved. Thanks for posting!

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    1. We are lucky, recently there was a shop that was going to be demolished ,it looked like a rather at heal Victorian building, when they started work on it , it turned out it was a medieval timber framed building that had been clad in brick at some point, it got immediately listed so that it couldn't be demolished, I think the listing system has helped preserve a lot of buildings we would otherwise have lost.
      Best Iain

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  16. I remember visiting Rye with the wife and kids many many - indeed too many - years ago. We still have fond memories of the place. Thanks for rekindling them.

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    1. Hi Mike, glad to see you commenting again and happy to bring up happy memories!
      Best Iain

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    2. Yes, finally managed to chase the gremlins out of my mobile devices……

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  17. Rye's a great place to visit, did you make it to the Ypres Castle Tavern? I have to carry barrels of beer up the steps to it. That's not a lot of fun at all!!!

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  18. Yes I did, that's a lot of steps, your poor back!
    Best Iain

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  19. Love Rye, even proposed to the Saintly Mrs. Awdry there! There is also a lovely little Toy Soldier shop where the owner lovingly restores old tin troops in enamels. Met up with Sander one summer so can testify to some smashing pubs too!

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    1. Nice to hear from you Michael, yes a lovely town although I fear the toy soldier shop has gone, he was there the first time I went but when I went to look this time, he seemed to have disappeared?
      Best Iain

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