Martello Tower… Rye Harbour

We were in the south-east of England for a Sabres gig, my husband is the drummer, and we did a little sight-seeing while we were there. I had been to Rye but I had never been to Rye Harbour, assuming that it was in the town of Rye… which it isn’t. Rye harbour is a couple of miles away along the River Rother and it is an attractive little village although I guess in the depths of winter it might be not quite so cosy! We parked by the nature reserve and wandered around ad came across a Martello Tower which we went to investigate.

Martello Towers were built around the coast of Britain and across the Empire in the nineteenth century as defensive structures, but as weapons became more sophisticated the towers became redundant. They are still amazing features, about 40foot high with tremendously thick walls and usually on two floors with access to the entrance up a ladder as the door was set high into the wall. They were circular so a gun or cannon could be mounted on the top and be able two swivel round completely to properly cover any potential attack. They were usually on two floors and would be manned by about twenty soldiers.

The tower we found in Rye Harbour, was also surrounded by a deep, steep-sided ditch inside a thick, buttressed brick wall as extra defence. It is Tower 28, and due to the way the coastline has changed over the last couple of centuries it is no longer on the coast, but about a kilometre inland. It was called The Enchantress, not because it is enchanting, which it is, but because a ship of that name came to grief in the harbour.