April 24, 2022 - Day 25 - Rye, England

 Another beautiful and sunny day in Rye and we had no plans until lunch time, so after a light breakfast of a pastry and coffee at the Cornish Bakery (the only place open at 8am in Rye except for the Ship Inn across the street, even the cafe in our hotel didn't open for business until 9am) we set off to walk around town and take pictures and then head up to the Ypres Castle/Gaol.

The tree below, in the graveyard of the St. Mary's Church, has an historical story attached to it. Back in the 1700's there was a butcher by the name of John Bredes (or Breads). He was a little unstable mentally, and he had carried a grudge against the mayor of the town, James Lamb, for 7 years because the mayor had fined him for shaving his weights used to weigh the meat that he sold. When John learned that the mayor was going to some function on a certain date and would be coming home late at night, John hid behind this tree and waited. Unfortunately for John, the mayor took sick and had his brother-in-law, Grebbel, (very unfortunate for Grebbel too!) go in his place. Since they both wore red coats as the sign of their political office, John the butcher killed the wrong man that night, the story goes that John said, "the butcher has killed the Lamb" and then tossed his knife into the bushes and ran away. The knife had John's initials on it so he was caught, tried by James Lamb the mayor himself (I believe I mentioned earlier that the Lambs were quite corrupt and ruled for over a 100 years in Rye) and John was executed and his body hung in a gibbet on the wall for over 50 years. What is left of him, just the top half of his skull in the gibbet, is hanging in the town hall attic, the picture I posted earlier. There is also a board in the town hall that shows all of the mayors in Rye for hundreds of years up to the present. Just a few years ago there was a John Bredes as mayor, a descendent of the man who had tried to kill James Lamb in the early 1700's!

There are many grave markers like this one, it reminds me of an Egyptian sarcophagus.

We met Jilly and Luc at the Mermaid Inn where we had a Sunday lunch along with three of their friends from the caravan park. Most of us had the tradional Sunday roast meal, with either beef, lamb, or pork as the main roast and then all of the sides: yorkshire pudding (a big popover), mashed potatoes, cheesy cauliflower (yum!), roasted carrots and the main roast meat with gravy. There was plenty of mint sauce and horseradish on the table. I had the lamb and Don had a lamb burger, it was all very good.

We then had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. We had icecream from the Mermaid Street Cafe and sat on the balcony upstairs to enjoy it.

We were enjoying sitting in the sun on the balcony so much that we ordered drinks from the small hotel bar and continued to sit out there and people watch and enjoy the weather.

We walked around the town and took some pictures.

We toured the Ypres Castle: 13th Century - A castle was recorded as existing in 1216. It became known as Baddings Tower, a name that was used for centuries. 1377 - Rye was burned to the ground by the French. The Tower was one of the few buildings left standing. 1430 - Rye Corporation sold the Tower to Jean d'Ypres, a cloth merchant. His name is still associated with the Tower.  1495 - By this date the Rye Corp. had bought back the Tower and continued to use it as a gaol and Court Hall.

The view from the top. The sea used to be two miles closer but heavy storms in the 1200's caused the river to actually change course and it silted up all of the land you see in the picture here.

Two of the navy coats worn by Lambs.

John Bredes was improsoned in the Ypres Tower until his public execution. Here you see a mockup of his skeleton in a gibbet.

The entrance to John Bredes cell.

1837 - The Women's Tower was built and four cells were added to the outside of the Ypres Tower. What is now the Medieval Garden was created to be used as a prisoners' exercise yard.

1891 - The Tower ceased to be a prison with the building of a Police Station with cells. The basement became the town's mortuary.

We had dinner that night with Jilly and Luc at the Hoof in Rye. I had the small plate of bourbon glazed ribs and a side of creamy coleslaw. Everyone else had burgers. I'm glad I only got the "starter" ribs instead of a meal, it was a full slab! They were perfectly cooked and I ended up sharing almost half of my ribs with Don, Luc, and Slinky the dog. I had a bite of Don's burger and it was one of the best I have ever tasted, I doubt if we'll ever be in Rye again, but I would go back to the Hoof for one of those burgers.