French Raid on Rye 1406

Who Fought

History & Significance

Rye is a town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles (three kilometres) from the English Channel at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. In the mid-twelfth century, it was 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. Over the subsequent centuries, the coastline has moved further away due to a combination of natural silting up from storm damage, changes in the flow of the River Rother, and tidal changes, along with deliberate land reclamation from 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.

The name of Rye is believed to come from the West Saxon ieg meaning island. Medieval maps show that Rye was originally located on a huge embayment of the English Channel called the Rye Camber, which provided a safe anchorage and harbour. Probably as early as Roman times, Rye was important as a place of shipment and storage of iron from the Wealden iron industry.

Rye, as part of the Saxon Manor of Rameslie, was given to the Benedictine Abbey of Fécamp in Normandy by King Æthelred; it was to remain in Norman hands until 1247. The town of Rye is recorded in the 1086 Domesday Book as possessing 189 households, marking it as a significant settlement at the time. The cellars of the Mermaid Inn date from 1156.

As one of the two "Antient Townes" (Winchelsea being the other), Rye was to become a limb of the Cinque Ports Confederation by 1189, and subsequently a full member. The protection of the town as one of the Cinque Ports was very important, due to the commerce that trading brought. One of the oldest buildings in Rye is Ypres Tower, which was built in 1249 as "Baddings Tower", to defend the town from the French, and was later named after its owner, John de Ypres. It is now part of the Rye Museum.

Rye received its charter from King Edward I in 1289, and acquired privileges and tax exemptions in return for ship-service for the crown. The "Landgate" (the only surviving one of four original fortified entrances to Rye) dates from 1329 in the early years of the reign of King Edward III. It is suitable only for light vehicles. In 2015, some 25 tonnes of pigeon excrement that had built up had to be removed from Landgate Arch for fear of damaging the ancient structure.

The ground they fought on

The site of French Raid on Rye 1406 lies on Wealden Group, bedrock that formed in the Barremian. The rock here is sandstone and siltstone, interbedded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near French Raid on Rye 1406

Water tower in churchyard

Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

Water tower in churchyard is a Victorian-era structure located within a churchyard in Sussex. The tower was constructed in the nineteenth century to serve the practical water supply needs of the local community or institution. Built of brick with characteristic Victorian engineering, the tower re…

Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK / CC BY 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Austin Friars Chapel

Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

Austin Friars Chapel is a fourteenth-century religious structure located in Sussex, England. The chapel was built by the Austin Friars, a mendicant order that established several houses across medieval England during the later Middle Ages. The surviving remains demonstrate the architectural style…

Andrew Curtis / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Ypres Tower and part of Rye Town Wall

Scheduled monument · ~0.2 mi

Ypres Tower is a fortified structure forming part of Rye Town Wall in East Sussex, England. Built in the late fourteenth century, the tower served a defensive function within the medieval fortifications that protected the town during the Hundred Years War. The structure is constructed of stone an…

DeFacto / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Martello tower no 30, 300m east of Gate Borough Cottage

Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

Martello tower no 30, located 300 metres east of Gate Borough Cottage in Sussex, is a coastal defence structure built during the Napoleonic Wars in the early nineteenth century. The tower forms part of the extensive chain of Martello towers constructed along the south coast of England between 180…

Oast House Archive / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

The Land Gate

Scheduled monument · ~0.3 mi

The Land Gate is a fortified gateway structure located in Rye, East Sussex, forming part of the town's medieval defensive system. Dating from the late fourteenth century, it was constructed as part of the expansion and reinforcement of Rye's fortifications during the period of Anglo-French confli…

DeFacto / CC BY-SA 4.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Artillery castle and associated earthworks at Camber

Scheduled monument · ~1.1 mi

Camber Castle is a coastal artillery fortress built by Henry VIII in the 1540s as part of his systematic defence of the Sussex coast against French invasion. The castle was constructed as a low, squat structure designed to mount cannon and represents an important example of mid-Tudor military arc…

Oast House Archive / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons

Other Medieval Battles

Battles near French Raid on Rye 1406

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• The History of Rye, East Sussex · Historic UK
• More on Medieval Rye · Rye Castle Museum
• The French Raid Sussex (1377) · Sussex Castles
• Rye, East Sussex · Wikipedia