A Guide to Rye for Book Lovers

Rye is a quaint English town in East Sussex, perfect for a day trip from London. Whilst most people I speak to have never heard of this small town, it boasts a number of literary connections, which is why book lovers need to visit.

The entire town has an area of just over 4 square kilometres, and only 9,000 people live here. Rye is not just small, it is tiny. You could walk from one end of the town to the other in around 10 minutes.

There’s not a terrible amount of things to do in Rye, but it’s the sort of place you spend an afternoon slowly wandering around, exploring beautiful places & charity shops. Without further ado, here’s my literary guide to Rye.

This guide is part of my series of literary city guides. If you’re new to this style of travel, here I explain what literary travel is and why it’s shaped the way I explore cities on my blog.

Wander around Lamb House

Lamb House is a National Trust property that was once home to two literary giants: Henry James and E F Benson.

In fact, E F Benson first visited the house in 1900 as a guest of Henry James. The house was a great inspiration to them both and is featured in both of their works.

In The Awkward Age by Henry James, Lamb House appears as the house of Mr Longdon. In the Mapp & Lucia series by E F Benson, the house is the Mallards’ home.

“Old, square, red-roofed, well assured of its right to the place it took up in the world…”

The Awkward Age, Henry James

Each room of the house retains its 18th century charm with mahogany wood-panelling, portraits on the walls and china & silverware on the tables.

There’s plenty of information available about the house and its inhabitants so take your time to read these framed plaques on the walls.

I think there’s only one information board in the entire house that hasn’t been edited or corrected since they were printed, which did make me chuckle.

In the dining room you’ll find the table set for the famous authors that visited their writer friends who resided here.

There’s a place card for Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling, Henry James and more, which is a really nice touch.

There’s a large painting of Henry James hanging on the wall too so his presence is still felt in every nook and cranny of the house.

James did much of his writing in the house’s Garden Room, which was sadly destroyed by a bomb in 1940.

It was also Benson’s favourite writing spot as he could look out over the village of “Tilling” from the window here (more on Mapp & Lucia below!).

“I lingered at the window of the garden-room from which Miss Mapp so often and so ominously looked forth. To the left was the front of her house, straight ahead the steep cobbled way, with a glimpse of the High Street at the end, to the right the crooked chimney and the church. The street was populous with passengers, but search as I might, I could see none who ever so remotely resembled the objects of her vigilance.”

Miss Mapp, E F Benson

Upstairs you will find a bedroom with a grand four poster bed in it where King George I once stayed. James Lamb, then owner, and his wife had to give up their bed for King that night, but Mrs Lamb was heavily pregnant and actually ended up giving birth that very evening!

Look out for a beautiful watercolour painting of West Street by Beatrix Potter on the walls too! It was intended to be used as an illustration in her book The Tale of the Faithful Dove but in the end none were used.

Outside the house is a large and beautiful garden with plenty of benches, flowers and even a vegetable patch.

On a sunny day, you could even bring a book with you to enjoy whilst sat here. If you’re feeling peckish, there is a small cafe serving tea, enormous slices of cake and scones for a very British afternoon tea.

Arrive early to enjoy the property in peace as it’s one of the top things to do in Rye and you may find it to be rather busy at the weekends.

Price: £7.50
Address: West Street, Rye, East Sussex, TN31 7ES
Website: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lamb-house
Opening Hours: 11am-5pm (closed Wednesdays and Thursdays)

Visit Real Life Mapp & Lucia locations

A number of popular British classics are set in East Sussex and Rye but the book and television series most closely tied to Rye is the Mapp & Lucia series by E F Benson.

Benson took up residence in Rye’s Lamb House in 1919 and he even went on to become Mayor of Rye.

Although Rye is never mentioned in Mapp & Lucia, it is clear that the fictional town of Tilling is a carbon copy of Rye.

At the front of some editions, you will even find a map of Tilling which can be superimposed on top of a real-life map of Rye.

Lamb House (mentioned above) is the fictional Mallards’ home, and many of the house’s rooms are referenced in the story.

On your right as you enter the property is a small telephone room. You can pick up the receiver to learn more about the house and listen to extracts from the work of the famous writers who visited it.

“Lucia had hired a new piano, and had put the canary-piano in the little telephone room off the hall. It filled up but it was still possible to telephone if you went in sideways.”

Chapter 4, Mapp & Lucia

Other notable Mapp & Lucia locations in Rye include Mermaid Street as fictional Porpoise Street, The George as fictional King’s Arms, Watchbell Street as fictional Curfew Street and more.

Benson often used his friends houses in the series starting with Lamb House but also Robin Hill, home to publisher Vincent Marrott, The Other House, home to painter and Mapp & Lucia illustrator Jacomb-Hoods.

Nose around Rye’s bookshops

Despite its small size, Rye is home to three bookshops proper and a number of vintage and charity shops with a healthy selection of second hand books to choose from.

The biggest is The Rye Bookshop, which is actually a secret Waterstones and not a quirky independent store as they’d like you to believe!

Check out this article on the secret Waterstones stores dotted around the country to see if your favourite independent bookshop is actually part of the chain.

This is the only bookshop in Rye selling new releases so if you’re hankering after a new edition then this is where you’ll head.

Next up is Rye Old Books where you can find both antiquarian and second hand books. Price range from under a pound to thousands of pounds depending on which edition you’re looking at!

It’s a small shop with an eclectic mix of books so you never know what you’ll find in here. Best to spend some time in here scanning every shelf to see if there’s something for you.

The third, and my favourite Rye bookshop, is The Tiny Book Store. It is, unsurprisingly, tiny and you can only fit a few people in there at a time.

There are books covering every surface and there are lots of classics and good quality second hand editions to be found in here.

Apart from these three bookshops in Rye, there are plenty of charity shops dotted around The Strand on the Western edge of the town, where you can browse for second-hand books.

How to Get to Rye

Rye is an easy day trip from London. Simply hop on the train at St Pancras International and you’ll be in Rye in just over an hour!

A return ticket will cost you £36 at an absolute max, as this is the super off-peak return price. If you’ve got a railcard, this will be lowered to £23.50, which isn’t bad at all for a last-minute getaway from London!

Booking in advance will see prices lowered even further, but personally, I’d wait to book just a few days before your trip so you can check the weather will be nice and bright.

A trip to Rye is usually combined with a trip to Camber Sands beach, so you’ll want it to be sunny!

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