A Town Wall Too!
It seems there have been Marina plans for Rye since time immemorial. This plan for Rye by architect Kenneth Browne was originally printed in “The Architectural Review” dated October 1961. No doubt this idea, which also envisaged rebuilding
the Town Wall from The Landgate Tower to Wish Street, caused as much furore as the recent schemes. There have been other projects in the interim, but just like this one of over forty years ago, all came to nothing. The right hand picture, illustrating the old Hind’s Timber Yard, features the ‘Yacht Basin’ to be kept full of
water at all times. The drawing above depicts the overall plan with a ‘sailing pool’ in the same area as the recent plans contemplate a marina. These ideas, mostly foisted upon the town by outsiders who do not have the local experience to understand the extreme water levels that can be generated by the Tillingham, Rother and Brede, and whose plans are eventually discounted and proved to be faulted by those that do, cause much local distress and even blight the value of properties that fall under the pencil stokes on the ‘outline maps’.
The Strand Basin
Plans look so inviting when they are presented in an attractive fashion. Rye is such a beautiful town, all architects seem to want to alter it with grandiose schemes. Rye came about because it was a town of individualists. Everyone built their home to their own specification, almost every house is different, that is where the word ‘unique’ comes in. This is a town that needs only small improvements designed by those who live here. Keep out the planners and profiteers, they are not wanted here!
From the March 2004 issue of “Rye’s Own”
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