Rye Harbour

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Rye Harbour is a village located on the Sussex coast in southeast England, near the estuary of the River Rother. It is some way from the town of Rye, East Sussex, which is located inland, further up the river.

Rye Harbour is perhaps best-known for its fictionalisation as "Westling" in the Romney Marsh children's books of Monica Edwards.

[edit] History

The village is 200 years old, having been built on an extension of the shingle beaches, progressively deposited by the sea over the last 800 years. These deposits now limit access to the originally open medieval port of Rye, now 3 km inland from the sea. The village has one of the chain of Martello Towers constructed during the Napoleonic Wars; it was built on the beachline of the time. The beachline has now advanced a further kilometre southward.

The story of Rye Harbour has thus been shaped by its position at a frontier - not only that with the sea but also of the country. The initial establishment was that of a company of dragoons in 1805, followed shortly after by the first fishermen's huts and the building of the Martello Tower (1809/10). As the Napoleonic wars ended so the smuggling trade which had long flourished all along the South Coast again increased in scope and intensity, leading to the establishment of the Coast Blockade. A watch house was built about 1825 to provide shelter and support for the blockade detachments and still stands, complete with the flagstaff for signalling to shipping.