Churches are opening again, but like everybody else – schools, shops, pubs etc. – it is not quite business as usual.
The newsletter for Rye’s parish church St Mary’s listed nine different changes that were necessary in order to comply with “distancing” rules including entry for the time being by the North Door – and, for now, the historic Norman church will not be open for visitors.
Social distancing, for example, would be totally impossible within the church tower, which visitors can normally climb up for amazing views of the surrounding countryside.
Rye’s two museums, the Castle Museum and the East Street Museum, also face similar problems about achieving social distancing in a medieval castle and a tiny, tightly packed museum of exhibits.
However church services have restarted as the above photo from Playden church shows – as are services in the Camber, East Guldeford and Rye Harbour churches.
Image Credits: Alan Dickinson, Church Warden, Playden .