Rye Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Known as "Rye Castle", Ypres Tower is the main medieval fortification of Rye, a former Cinque Ports town in East Sussex. This squat building of ferruginous sandstone stands at the edge of the plateau that carries the old town, facing the marshes and the sea that once washed the town. It adjoins a short stretch of the 14th-century town wall, still topped by two merlons. Its dating remains debated. A royal castle was planned at Rye as early as the 13th century, but Historic England considers a 14th-century construction more likely, as part of the walls raised after the grants of 1329 against the sea and French raids. First called Baddings Tower, after the district, the tower took the name of John de Ypres, who acquired it in 1430. Its long civic career makes it a rare witness: a courtroom after the sack of 1377, then a prison until 1891, and a mortuary until 1959. Today it houses part of the Rye Castle Museum, with the Women's Tower of 1837 in the garden. It is listed Grade I and is a scheduled monument.