287 Lost in Shipping Disaster at Dungeness Approximately 15 years ago I was given an old Guide Book for Rye and Winchelsea which was printed at the start of the last century. Continue reading Northfleet Disaster
The first licence to sell beer was granted to the Royal Standard at sometime around 1822, at a time that predated the introduction of the new Beer House Act. This piece of sweeping legislation permitted any householder assessed to the poor rate, to obtain from the excise on a payment of two guineas, a licence to sell beer by retail from their dwelling house. Continue reading The Royal Standard
The port was always used for commerce as well as military purposes. The Romans shipped much of their iron exports from it, for even in Roman days the Weald of Kent and Sussex were producing iron. Continue reading The Port of Rye
Many members of the Bryant family lived over the Sluice, either in Western Place or like me close by, so I claim that side Bryant, one of Rye’s top runners, second only to the great Shooty shoebridge of Rye Harbour, was one of us, and the Bryants were part of the builders or Rye as we know it today. Continue reading Over The Sluice Part Two
287 Lost in Shipping Disaster at Dungeness Approximately 15 years ago I was given an old Guide Book for Rye and Winchelsea which was printed at the start of the last century. Although a bit tatty it was more than readable, and read it I did, from cover to cover. Continue reading History in a Church Yard Near You
Reproduced from “Gentle Breezes”
Kent and Sussex were hot beds of smuggling for centuries, and to judge by reports, still are. Originally, wool was smuggled out to France, rather than other goods coming in. The reason was that we produced high quality wool, but had not the means of processing it. The French and Dutch did. In 1622, it was made a hanging offence to smuggle out wool. The government then imported French and Dutch weavers and other trades to process the wool. That is why we have many large houses of Dutch style in our area. Many parishes have their Cloth Halls, The Weavers, and so on. Continue reading Smuggling
