Kathryn and Toby Darkins are the owners of one of the most unusual B&Bs in Rye, The Windmill. What sets them apart from many others is not only the unique building but their hosting skills. The reviews on Trip Advisor are glowing and praise the hosts who are welcoming and exceedingly caring. They are highly praised for their attention to detail and also their warmth and local knowledge. Staying in a historic windmill gives visitors a strong sense of place — the structure itself has deep local heritage. The location is perfect for exploring Rye’s historic lanes, photography opportunities, and nature walks along the river and down to the harbour.
Rye News caught up with Kathryn and Toby to find out a bit more about their venture.
How long have you been running the B&B? Was your background in hospitality or was this a new adventure?
This spring will mark our tenth year at the Windmill B&B. Before taking over the
Windmill, we had worked in a variety of hospitality rôles together spanning twenty-five years. Having met at the Business School of Plymouth University, we started working life in
offices in London but soon grew weary of the 9-5 lifestyle. After saving hard and spending a year travelling the world together, we were offered a job we jumped at, running a private ski chalet in France, for the family that owned Majestic Wines. We were already signed up for the following season before Christmas and ended up staying for four seasons, dove-tailing the ski season with the salmon fishing season in Scotland working for the same family.
After four years of living a fairly nomadic lifestyle we settled down in Oxfordshire –
Toby, as a butler and estate manager, and Kathryn, as the personal chef in a privately-owned manor house near Henley-on-Thames. We moved to the Rye area just over fifteen years ago when Toby took on the general manager rôle at The Lodge at Winchelsea. During our time there we turned it into a profitable business for the first time in its recent history with a good reputation as a wedding venue and for our Sunday carvery, and also had our two children.
What have been the highlights for you both?
Owning our own business was always the dream and the fact that our B&B is in one
of the most iconic buildings in Rye is something we never believed possible.
Is the windmill a listed building?
There has been a windmill on this site since at least 1596. It was originally a post mill
before being replaced by a smock mill in 1820. It has been called by several names
during its various incarnations: Gibbet Marsh Mill, Barry’s Mill and now, as the last
surviving mill in Rye, Rye Windmill. It is a Grade II listed smock style windmill, the common build in Sussex alongside older post mills. It was rebuilt in 1932 after a fire in the baker’s oven destroyed all but its brick base overnight on Friday 13 June 1930.
Does it require a lot of maintenance? You are having the work done on the stocks at the moment; can you tell the readers what is being done and why?
Being a wooden structure, the windmill smock needs constant care. Every spring it
needs washing and, on alternate years, painting, and we are constantly upgrading and
re-doing the rooms to keep them fresh.
We currently have the stocks off for repair and the fan tail blades are finished and
are being painted in Cornwall right now (we lost one to a storm three years ago). The
stocks took a team of seven men to get down by hand: a big ‘thank you’ to James Eldridge
of Elite Timber Solutions. Work now begins to get them reinstated which we hope will be in January next year.
Image Credits: Kt bruce , Ray Lawrence , Kathryn Darkins .