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62 KIPLING'S SUSSEX
church, in which are some handsome monuments, especially of the Templars, buried just in the manner of those in the Temple of London. This place, being now all rubbish—a few despicable hovels and cottages only standing—hath got a Mayor. The sea, which formerly rendered it rich and commodious, hath now forsaken it." In Queen Elizabeth's time the town, although even then its glories were on the wane, was in so flourishing a condition that Her Majesty, struck with its commerce, its opulence, and population, bestowed upon it the complimentary title of " Little London." In 1288 old Winchelsea was swallowed up by the sea, and the present town was erected on a more secure site.
The notable objects to be here examined are, however, many; first, there is the old Strand Gate, a fourteenth century structure, which you pass under as you come from Rye—" a picturesque old pile, having a wide gateway between massive round towers. Looking through it from the inside, the town of Rye is seen seated on its hill, as though a picture, set in a heavy antique frame."
The cottage, with the sloping mossy roof, that adjoins the gate on the left, was once the country house of Miss Ellen Terry. Landgate or Pipe |
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