Publications
The Education of Children in Kent and Sussex: interpreting the Medieval and Tudor ways, by Gillian Draper, published 2008 (Offprint) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16246]
Article in Nottingham Medieval Sudies LII - used sources at WSRO.
Rye: a history of a Sussex Cinque Port to 1660, by Gillian Draper, published 2 October 2009 (288 pp., Chichester: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., ISBN-10: 1860776078 & ISBN-13: 9781860776076) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/504284][Lib/506614] & East Sussex Libraries
Abstract:This new illustrated history traces Rye's origins from the Norman Conquest until beyond its period of great prosperity under the Tudor monarchs.
Review by Margaret Pearce in Sussex Family Historian vol. 19 no. 1, March 2010:The author, Dr Gillian Draper, has a special interest in the history of towns in south-east England and this new illustrated history traces Rye's origins from the Norman Conquest until the 17th century.
Rye was an Ancient Town which formed part of the important Cinque Ports confederation of the Middle Ages and this fascinating account explains why modern Rye has its unique appearance. Many inhabitants were fishermen or small-scale merchants and owned vessels which they supplied for the King's ship-service, transporting members of the royal family across the Channel or, in wartime, carrying horses and provisions for soldiers. In times of truce Rye's mariners turned to piracy and wrecking, disrupting the cross-Channel trade on which the town's economy also depended.
Following a period of economic stagnation which saw the disappearance of many trades and crafts that had supported the residents, a revival came towards the end of the 15th century and Rye became a prosperous town with close links to the continent because of its Protestant sympathies, which ensured the arrival of many Huguenot refugees. For over a hundred years Rye continued as the main port in south-east England but was finally eclipsed by Dover in the 17th century.
For those wanting to know more about Rye's past this book will enlighten readers with its detailed chapters on mariners, pilgrims and pirates, economic and occupational activity, religious Rye and the Friaries, to name but a few. It is difficult to cover every interesting description of life in Rye during this period in this short review, but hope that this has whetted the appetites of family and local historians about the history of one of our attractive and much-visited Sussex towns.
Rye was an Ancient Town which formed part of the important Cinque Ports confederation of the Middle Ages and this fascinating account explains why modern Rye has its unique appearance. Many inhabitants were fishermen or small-scale merchants and owned vessels which they supplied for the King's ship-service, transporting members of the royal family across the Channel or, in wartime, carrying horses and provisions for soldiers. In times of truce Rye's mariners turned to piracy and wrecking, disrupting the cross-Channel trade on which the town's economy also depended.
Following a period of economic stagnation which saw the disappearance of many trades and crafts that had supported the residents, a revival came towards the end of the 15th century and Rye became a prosperous town with close links to the continent because of its Protestant sympathies, which ensured the arrival of many Huguenot refugees. For over a hundred years Rye continued as the main port in south-east England but was finally eclipsed by Dover in the 17th century.
For those wanting to know more about Rye's past this book will enlighten readers with its detailed chapters on mariners, pilgrims and pirates, economic and occupational activity, religious Rye and the Friaries, to name but a few. It is difficult to cover every interesting description of life in Rye during this period in this short review, but hope that this has whetted the appetites of family and local historians about the history of one of our attractive and much-visited Sussex towns.