Visitors to Rye Castle Museum were noticeably down in April and May, compared with the same period last year, writes chairman Jo Kirkham in her latest newsletter to members. This is perhaps owing to fewer French schoolchildren making the journey across (or under) the Channel, rather than the increase in fees. Revenues however were slightly up.
The new retail sales cabinet in East Street has been judged a success. Another recent innovation has been the introduction of a “geotour” of Huguenot Rye, using visitors’ phone location information to visit real-world places. This has been compiled from the museum’s Hugenot walking map.
The museum is still looking to add to its roster of volunteers to steward at East Street on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays. A shift is typically three hours, morning or afternoon, no more than once a month. Stewards are not expected to be an expert in Rye history, unlock doors or sell tickets. They chat with visitors and pass along any questions they can’t answer.
Bookings are coming in for the sixth biennial medieval conference, this one on “Conspicuous Consumption and Display in Late Medieval England”. This takes place on October 22 in the Milligan Theatre and there are still places left: contact the museum for more information. Source: Rye Castle Museum
Photo: Rye Castle Museum