Rye Pottery

Rye is a town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles (three kilometres) from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. An important member of the mediaeval Cinque Ports confederation, it was at the head of an embayment of the English Channel, and almost entirely surrounded by the sea. At the 2011 census, Rye had a population of 4,773. Its historical association with the sea has included providing ships for the service of the Crown in time of war, and being involved in smuggling. The notorious Hawkhurst Gang used its ancient inns The Mermaid Inn and The Olde Bell Inn, which are said to be connected to each other by a secret passageway. Those historic roots and its charm make it a tourist destination, with hotels, guest houses, B&Bs, tea rooms, and restaurants. Rye has a small fishing fleet, and Rye Harbour has facilities for yachts and other vessels.

Rye Particular Baptist Chapel is a former Strict Baptist place of worship in Rye, an ancient hilltop town in Rother, one of six local government districts in the English county of East Sussex. Built in the 18th century on the site of a decaying Quaker meeting house, it served Baptists in the town for many years until a new chapel was constructed nearby. The chapel is a Grade II Listed building.

The Mermaid Inn is a Grade II* listed historical inn located on Mermaid Street in the ancient town of Rye, East Sussex, southeastern England. One of the best-known inns in southeast England, it was established in the 12th century and has a long, turbulent history. The current building dates from 1420 and has 16th-century additions in the Tudor style, but cellars built in 1156 survive. The inn has a strong connection with the notorious Hawkhurst Gang of smugglers, who used it in the 1730s and 1740s as one of their strongholds: Rye was a thriving port during this period. Some of the smugglers, their mistresses and other characters are reported to haunt the inn. The AA Rosette-winning restaurant serves British and French cuisine and features medieval-style artwork in the interior by the Slade School of Fine Art. It has been owned by Judith Blincow since 1993.

The Olde Bell inn, also known as Ye Olde Bell, is a Grade II listed historical inn in Rye, East Sussex. It was built in 1390. It has a turbulent history and was once used for smuggling, connected by a secret tunnel with the nearby Mermaid Inn to the south. It was used by the infamous Hawkhurst Gang in the 1730s and 1740s who moved goods along the tunnel from the Mermaid to a revolving cupboard in the Old Bell for a quick getaway. The inn has two separate bar areas with original oak beams and a terrace with an 80-year-old Wysteria tree.

Lamb House is a Grade II* listed 18th-century house situated in Rye, East Sussex, England, and in the ownership of the National Trust. The house is run as a writer's house museum. It has been the home of many writers, including Henry James from 1897 to 1914, and later E.F. Benson.

Gibbet Mill, Tillingham Mill, Barry's Mill or New Mill is a grade II listed cosmetically reconstructed smock mill at Rye, East Sussex, England. Today it serves as bed and breakfast accommodation.

Rye railway station is a Grade II listed station, serving Rye, East Sussex, England. It is on the Marshlink line between Hastings and Ashford International and is the principal station between those two terminals. The station is a passing place between two single-track sections. Services are provided by Southern, usually between Eastbourne and Ashford. A station at Rye was first planned in the early 1840s, though on a different route to what was opened. It was built by the South Eastern Railway as the central station on the line from Hastings to Ashford, opening in 1851. Despite recommendation for closure in the 1963 Beeching Report, it has remained open because of poor quality road connections. The station building was designed by William Tress; it was Grade II listed in 1980, while an 1894 signal box was listed in 2013.

St Anthony of Padua Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Rye, East Sussex, England. It was constructed from 1927 to 1929 and replaced a church built in 1900. It is situated on Watchbell Street to the south of Lamb House. It is served by the Conventual Franciscans and is a Grade II listed building.

The River Tillingham flows through the English county of East Sussex. It meets the River Brede and the eastern River Rother near the town of Rye. A navigable sluice controlled the entrance to the river between 1786 and 1928, when it was replaced by a vertical lifting gate which was not navigable. The river provided water power to operate the bellows of an iron works at Beckley Furnace, used to make cannons for the Royal Navy between 1578 and 1770, when it became uneconomic, and a water mill which replaced it, until that burnt down in 1909. The lower reaches supported a thriving shipbuilding industry from the early nineteenth century onwards, and although on a smaller scale, was still doing so in 2000.

St Mary's Church, Rye is the Anglican parish church of the civil parish of Rye in East Sussex. Since 1951 it is a Grade I listed building because of its architectural and historical interest.

Rye Town Hall is a municipal building in Market Street, Rye, East Sussex, England. The building, which is the meeting place of Rye Town Council, is a Grade II* listed building.

Rye Austin Friary was an Augustinian friary in Conduit Street, Rye, East Sussex, England. Founded at an earlier site on the East cliff in 1364, the community transferred to the new site in town c.1380, but was dissolved in 1538 as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The only building remaining intact is the friary chapel, known as the Monastery, which is a grade II listed two storey building. It is scheduled as an Ancient Monument and, owing to its poor condition, it is also on the Heritage at Risk Register.The chapel building has served a number of purposes over the years: it has been a Salvation Army barracks, a community hall and most recently a pottery workshop.