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Summary - not yet available

Monument Types

• MANOR HOUSE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1500 AD)
• MOAT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1500 AD)

Full description

The manor of the Rye may be identified with a half hide held by Geoffrey de Bech in 1086 <3>. Licence to empark and build a castle was granted to Andrew Ogard in 1443 by Henry VI. The charter apparently described the inclosure of the 'site of the manor of Rye, alias the Island of Rye and 50 acres of land, 10 acres of meadow, 80 acres of pasture and 16 acres of wood within the island, to make a park and have free warren, and to crenellate the house'. A contemporary account suggests that the purchase of the manor of the Rye cost £1,100; the building of the inner court with brick and of the rooms and inclosure (claustrum) cost 11,000 marks, and the granary and storehouse with 16 horses and 30 cows was worth 2,000 marks <3>.
A 17th century plan of the site shows a complex of buildings surrounded by a wall within the moated enclosure, with a further courtyard to the E and a causeway constructed by Ogard south of the site. This allowed a dry crossing of the marshy land where the river Lea meets the Stort, and became part of a highway between London and East Anglia. In 1683 Rye House achieved notoriety through its connection with the plot to kill Charles II and the Duke of York on their way back from Newmarket via this route <1>. Extant remains consist of the gatehouse [285] and the moat, which is now an ornamental feature; as well as one or two medieval fragments [12255, 12256, 12257] moved when Rye House became pleasure grounds in the later 19th century.

Sources and further reading

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