On Friday, June 27 the annual summer party for members of the Rye Museum Association took place in the garden of the castle / Ypres Tower. Guests enjoyed the sunny evening with good company, wine and delicious canapes.
It was an opportunity for the chair of the museum, Stephen Masters, to say a big thank you on behalf of the directors and members to Sarah Cooper who has worked at the museum for over 11 years as operations manager. Sarah has gained an extensive knowledge of the collection and hopes to continue to contribute by volunteering. The responsibilities of the role are many and varied: organising the volunteer rota for both East Street and the castle (no mean feat!); arranging many aspects of the maintenance and care of the 13th century castle, a scheduled ancient monument, and East Street site; and taking care of all the admin involved in running a museum and the collection. Stephen also welcomed Vicki Stenzhorn as the new operations manager who has been guided in the handover by Sarah.
As part of continuing improvements new signs have been designed and installed to help visitors navigate the castle and gardens, and these were put up in place in time for the event. A long-planned opening of a lower cell in the tower has also been achieved and received a grand opening with Stephen cutting a red ribbon. The cell, which had been used as a storeroom filled with items, has been cleared and set up as a prison cell complete with the original simple stone bed, a sleeping prisoner with his candlestick and chamber pot. Look out for the resident rats too! It is accessed via steps down into the medieval garden (the lower garden), the former exercise yard when the castle was a prison.
Inside the castle there is also a new display – the prison pantry.
The Rye Castle Museum is at two sites: the castle, or Ypres Tower, is open every day except Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and the 3 East Street site is open on Friday mornings, and weekends from April to the end of October. The entrance fee for the castle is £5 for adults and free for children under 16 accompanied by an adult. The museum at 3 East Street is free although donations are always welcome.
Image Credits: Juliet Duff .