Rye & 1066 Country

A medieval cobbled town in East Sussex, surrounded by the 1066 Battle of Hastings battlefield, Bodiam Castle, Camber Sands and Sissinghurst's gardens.

Rye and 1066 Country lie at the eastern end of East Sussex in south-east England, next to Kent, taking in the medieval town of Rye and the surrounding area of Hastings, Battle and Romney Marsh. Rye was once an important Cinque Ports harbour; the coastline has since retreated, leaving the town perched on its hill, with its cobbled lanes, Tudor timber-framed houses and ancient inns beautifully preserved. '1066 Country' takes its name from the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William the Conqueror landed at Pevensey and defeated Harold at Battle, changing the course of English history.

The area divides into several parts: Rye's old town (Mermaid Street, St Mary's Church, Ypres Tower, Lamb House and the Landgate) can be explored on foot in half a day; to the east are the dunes of Camber Sands, Rye Harbour Nature Reserve and strange, desolate Dungeness, reachable on the miniature steam trains of the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway; to the west are the net huts, castle and clifftop paths of Hastings Old Town, and the battlefield at Battle Abbey; and inland to the north are moated Bodiam Castle, Great Dixter's gardens and the Tenterden steam railway, with Sissinghurst Castle Garden and Scotney Castle a little further afield.

The best time to visit is May–Sep; gardens are in full bloom in spring, and a battle re-enactment takes place at Battle in mid-October. Getting there: from London St Pancras, take the high-speed train and change at Ashford to reach Rye in about 1 hr 10 min, or take a direct train from London Charing Cross to Hastings in about 1.5 hours; Rye to Hastings by train takes about 20 minutes. Buses between rural sights are infrequent, so driving is recommended. Allow 2–3 days. National Trust and English Heritage sites have shorter winter opening hours, so check their websites before you go.

Top sights

• Mermaid Street – Rye's most photogenic cobbled slope, lined with Tudor timber-framed houses and named old buildings, with the 15th-century Mermaid Inn at th…
• Camber Sands – The only dune beach in East Sussex. Its golden sand stretches for about 3 km and becomes very wide at low tide. It has been a filming locat…
• Bodiam Castle – A 14th-century moated castle with round towers at each corner reflected in the water, one of England's most fairy-tale-like castles.
• Battle Abbey & 1066 Battlefield – The real battlefield of the 1066 Battle of Hastings. William the Conqueror built an abbey where Harold fell, changing the course of English…
• Hastings Old Town & The Stade – An old town sandwiched between East Hill and West Hill, with timber-framed lanes, distinctive tall black fishing net huts, and Europe's lar…
• Sissinghurst Castle Garden – A garden created by writer Vita Sackville-West, one of England's most famous gardens. The White Garden and the castle tower are classics of…
• Rye Castle (Ypres Tower) – A defensive tower built in the 13th century to guard against the French. It is now part of Rye Castle Museum, and its terrace looks out ove…
• St Mary's Church, Rye – The Norman church at the highest point of the old town. It has one of England's oldest church bells still in working order, and climbing th…
• Lamb House – An 18th-century Georgian house where the writers Henry James and E. F. Benson once lived. It has a walled garden.
• Landgate – A city gate completed in 1329, the only surviving medieval town gate in Rye and the iconic entrance to the old town.
• Rye Harbour Nature Reserve – A bird reserve made up of shingle beaches, salt marshes, and lagoons. Flat trails cross it, and you can see terns and waders.
• Camber Castle – The ruins of a gun-fort castle built by Henry VIII, standing alone on flat marshland between Rye and Winchelsea.
• Winchelsea – England's smallest "town," a medieval settlement laid out in a grid on a hill in the 13th century. It preserves medieval town gates and an…
• Hastings Castle – One of the first Norman castles in England, built after William the Conqueror landed. Its ruins stand on the cliff top of West Hill, overlo…
• East Hill Cliff Railway – Britain's steepest funicular railway. It climbs straight up East Hill from beside the fishing net huts. The clifftop meadow offers panorami…
• Hastings Pier – A Victorian seaside pier built in 1872. It was rebuilt after a fire in 2010 and won the Stirling Prize in 2017.
• Hastings Country Park – Sandstone sea cliffs and wooded ravines stretching from East Hill to Fairlight, with clifftop paths offering views across the English Chann…
• Great Dixter House & Gardens – The former home of garden master Christopher Lloyd, known for its 15th-century timber-framed manor house and bold, colorful long border in…
• Dungeness – Britain's only shingle headland described as a "desert." It is dotted with fishermen's wooden huts, old and new lighthouses, and a nuclear…
• Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway – A one-third scale miniature steam railway opened in 1927. It runs about 22 km along the Romney Marsh coast to Dungeness.
• Kent & East Sussex Railway & Tenterden – A rural steam railway departing from Tenterden, the "Jewel of the Weald." It travels about 17 km through the Rother Valley to Bodiam Castle.
• Scotney Castle – A Victorian mansion on a hillside overlooks a 14th-century castle ruin surrounded by a moat in the valley below. It is a classic example of…
• Bateman's – The 17th-century sandstone manor where Nobel Prize-winning author Rudyard Kipling lived for 34 years. The study and garden remain as they w…
• Herstmonceux Castle – One of England's earliest large brick castles, a 15th-century moated castle with formal gardens. It now serves as an international campus f…
• Pevensey Castle – A Norman castle built inside a Roman fort's walls. William the Conqueror landed nearby in 1066, making it a starting point of the 1066 Coun…
• De La Warr Pavilion – A modernist seaside arts center completed in 1935. Its white horizontal lines and spiral staircase are a landmark of the International Styl…

Where to eat

• Webbe's at the Fish Café – A seafood restaurant with an open kitchen in a converted old warehouse, specialising in Rye Bay and Hastings catches, a…
• Landgate Bistro – A community bistro beside the Landgate in Rye, where chef Martin Peacock cooks seasonal British dishes using Rye Bay fi…
• The Union Rye – A modern British restaurant in a 15th-century building, popular for local seafood, Romney Marsh lamb and dry-aged steak.
• The Standard Inn – A 15th-century tavern with simple decor, serving beers from nearby breweries alongside home-style dishes of local seafo…
• The Mermaid Inn – A medieval inn on Mermaid Street dating from 1420, serving Anglo-French set menus in a dining room panelled in linenfol…
• Maggie's Fish and Chips – A fish and chip shop upstairs from the fish market in Hastings Old Town, with cod and haddock coming straight from the…

Itineraries

• Sussex and Kent Coast in – East from Brighton: white cliffs, the 1066 battlefield and the old town of Rye, on to Canterbury.