There is something about Rye that seems to attract writers. It’s probably that heady combination of ancient buildings, cobbled streets and the extraordinary landscape of marshes and sea that surrounds this historic Cinque Port. Or perhaps it’s simply its long and fascinating history.
Whatever the reason, this beautiful East Sussex town has an extraordinary literary heritage. Over the years, it has been home to some of our best-loved authors, including Henry James, E. F. Benson and Rumer Godden, while neighbouring Winchelsea has its own remarkable connections to Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox Ford and William Makepeace Thackeray. All of which makes it the perfect place to escape for a little literary indulgence.
A Rye literary journey
Today, much of their Rye remains remarkably unchanged since the years when these literary greats penned their works. You can walk the streets they walked, step into their imaginations and visit the rooms where they worked. So, pens down and cameras at the ready as you head off on a literary adventure and explore the places that have inspired a thousand words (and more).
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Lamb House, West Street. Where literary history was made
The starting point for any literary adventure in Rye has to be Lamb House, an elegant Georgian townhouse tucked away on West Street. Built in 1723 for the wealthy merchant James Lamb, in 1726, King George I stayed here after his ship was driven ashore by a storm. But its greatest claim to fame is undoubtedly its association with three remarkable writers.
Henry James first discovered the house in the 1890s, when he was looking for somewhere to escape the pressures of London life. He was immediately captivated and when the opportunity arose in 1897, he took a 21-year lease, purchasing the property outright two years later. A generation later, E. F. Benson made it his home, transforming Rye into the fictional town of Tilling, where the wonderfully ridiculous social rivalries of his Mapp and Lucia novels unfolded.
Then came Rumer Godden, whose remarkable life had taken her from Sussex to India and back again. The author of Black Narcissus and more than 60 other books, she continued the literary tradition of Lamb House during the late 1960s and 1970s. And the connections don’t end there. Henry James entertained an extraordinary circle of literary friends, including H. G. Wells, Rudyard Kipling and Joseph Conrad, many of whom were regular visitors to this quiet corner of Sussex.
What to look for when you visit
Start in the Green Parlour, one of the most important rooms in the house. This was used as a writing room by James, Benson and later Rumer Godden. Look out for James’s restored writing desk, where he worked on correspondence and edited his manuscripts. Benson subsequently used the same desk, often writing late into the night, as did Godden, working in longhand before sending her manuscripts to be typed.
Next, explore the King’s Room on the first floor. Originally used to accommodate George I during his unexpected visit, it later served as a guest bedroom for James and Benson. Finally, don’t miss the walled garden, one of the largest in Rye’s old town. James enlisted his friend, the garden designer Alfred Parsons, to help create its colourful borders and fruit trees. Look out for the mature mulberry tree, the pond and the little graves of James’s much-loved dogs.
There is also a rather poignant absence. James’s favourite summer writing room, a separate building overlooking the street, was destroyed by a bomb in 1940. It was here that he liked to pace up and down, dictating his stories to his secretary, and where Benson later found inspiration for his own novels.
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Church Square and West Street: discovering Benson’s Tilling
Step outside Lamb House and you’re immediately in the world of E. F. Benson. Benson moved into Lamb House in 1919 and remained closely associated with Rye until his death in 1940. A prolific novelist, biographer and writer of ghost stories, he is best remembered for his glorious Mapp and Lucia novels. These stories follow the social manoeuvrings, rivalries and outrageous pretensions of two formidable women, Elizabeth Mapp and Emmeline Lucas, known as Lucia. Their battleground is the fictional seaside town of Tilling, a thinly disguised version of Rye.
What to look for
Lamb House is on West Street and is the building which Benson transformed into Mallards, the home of Elizabeth Mapp although a 1980s Channel 4 TV adaptations set Mallards in Watchbell Street. In the novels, Lucia rents the house, setting the scene for some wonderfully entertaining battles over social supremacy. Then wander around Church Square, where the church, historic houses and narrow streets provide much of the atmosphere that Benson captured so brilliantly. Look out for the Old Vicarage, used as the fictional Wasters, the home of Diva Plaistow, in the BBC adaptation. In Watchbell Street, Honeypot House, appeared as Wasters in the Channel 4 production.
Finally, make your way to Ypres Tower, the imposing medieval building that forms part of Rye’s ancient defences. Unlike some of Benson’s fictional houses, this is a landmark that appears in both the real Rye and the imagined Tilling.
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Mermaid Street, Watchbell Street and Ypres Tower: more of Tilling
In the original Mapp and Lucia novels, Mr and Mrs Wyse live at Robin Hill on Mermaid Street. For the BBC adaptation, Hartshorn House was used for the exterior of their home. Another building to look out for is the House With Two Front Doors, whose interiors were used for Mallards Cottage in the BBC production.
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Rye’s quieter literary connections – Rumer Godden
While Henry James and E. F. Benson are perhaps Rye’s best-known literary residents, Rumer Godden deserves a place on any literary itinerary. Born in Sussex in 1907, Godden spent much of her childhood in India, where her father worked for a steam navigation company. Her experiences there profoundly influenced her writing, including her celebrated novel Black Narcissus, later adapted into an Oscar-winning film some of which was filmed at Leonardslee Gardens in West Sussex.
Her life was anything but conventional. She trained as a dancer, ran a dancing school in India and, during the Second World War, lived with her two young daughters in a remote house in Kashmir, without electricity or running water. By the time she came to Rye, she was already an internationally successful author. She took up residence at Lamb House in 1967, continuing its remarkable literary tradition. During her years here, she worked on books including In This House of Brede, drawing on her longstanding fascination with religious communities and the inner lives of women.
Godden remained at Lamb House until the 1970s, and her connection to Rye continued after her death in 1998. She is buried at Rye Cemetary alongside her second husband, James Haynes Dixon, making the town not only a place where she lived and worked, but also her final resting place.
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Winchelsea – literary friendships, famous visitors and an extraordinary grave
Just a few miles from Rye, the beautiful hilltop town of Winchelsea is quieter than its neighbour but attracted an extraordinary collection of writers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Among them was Ford Madox Ford, the novelist, poet and editor best known for The Good Soldier and his Parade’s End novels. Ford moved to Winchelsea in 1901 and became an important figure in the area’s literary community. His circle included Henry James and Joseph Conrad, the Polish-born novelist whose works include Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim. Conrad spent time in Winchelsea, staying at Friars Road and collaborated with Ford on several literary projects.
Winchelsea also has connections to the Victorian novelist William Makepeace Thackeray, author of Vanity Fair. He spent time here in 1855 and used the town as the setting for his unfinished historical novel Denis Duval.
What to look for
It’s quite easy to get your bearings in Winchelsea as it is set out on a grid system.
Begin by exploring Winchelsea’s historic streets, particularly the area around Friars Road, associated with Conrad, and the buildings connected with Ford Madox Ford. There were once two friaries in Winchelsea. One stands in ruins within the Greyfriars estate which is private but is somewhere you can book an overnight stay. Blackfriars stands in ruins on the edge of the town.
Then head to St Thomas the Martyr Church, the medieval building at the heart of the town. In its churchyard, you’ll find one of Sussex’s most unusual literary graves: that of Spike Milligan, the comedian, poet, writer and creator of The Goon Show.
Milligan lived near Winchelsea in Dumb Woman’s Lane (on the way from Winchelsea to Rye) in his late years and was buried here following his death in 2002. His gravestone famously bears the words Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite, Irish for ‘I told you I was ill’.
Practicalites
There are train stations in both Rye and Winchelsea with services running to London or alternatively, along the sussex coast. For places to stay in Rye:
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