The Royal William public house in Camber Sands, known as ‘Old Billy’, was once described as “a house of great antiquity”. In fact the original Old Billy dated back to 1807 when it was a wooden building nestling in the sand dunes opposite the present Rye Golf Club.
The first licensee was William Morris, landlord from 1807 to 1858. Yes, a magnificent 51 years! Prior to 1807 he was a carpenter on a ship called the Royal William.
Daisy Butchers, a former resident of Camber, said: “I am the daughter-in-law of Edmund Duff Butchers, and William Morris was the stepfather of my husband’s grandfather who was the next landlord. He was always called the ‘General’ by locals and by seamen in Rye Harbour. He was my three times great grandfather.”1
The Old Billy burnt down in the 1890s, was rebuilt and acquired by Rye Golf Club to become a “small golfers hotel”.
From the 1870s at least, up to the First World War, the Old Billy was the meeting place of those who followed outdoor pursuits or blood sports, including fox hunting and hare and rabbit coursing. It was also used by the Royal Artillery when on gunnery practice on the dunes in front of the pub, and by the Rye Volunteers for rifle practice in the early 1900s.
The Old Billy was purchased by the Peoples Refreshment House Association in 1924 and was still the only pub in Camber at that time. Camber was considerably developed in the 1930s in the then modern style of Art Deco. A new estate with church, cinema, pub, car parking and 600 houses was built by John Sherwood and the Old Billy licence was transferred into the new Royal William, in the village centre. The estate, including Royal William Square, opened in 1937.2
However during the Second World War Camber was evacuated, its facilities closed and the Royal William requisitioned. In 1944 a flying bomb (often called “doodle bugs”) destroyed Camber Church and Memorial Hall and badly damaged the Royal William. A number of soldiers billeted in the area were killed or wounded. Residents were only allowed to return in 1945.
In the 1950s and 1960s it became a successful Courage’s pub. The Royal William closed in the early 2000s, nearly 200 years old. Planning permission was granted for alternative use in 2005.3
1 Daisy Butchers, Camber Jotting,s1978
2 Sussex Express 14-2-1936
3 Keith Swallow, The Pubs of Romney Marsh forthcoming 2016
The Pubs of Rye, 1750-1950 by David Russell is available in Rye from the Heritage Centre, Strand Quay; Adams, 9 High Street; The Queen Adelaide, 23 Ferry Road;The Rye Bookshop, High Street or online . (The Old Billy is not included.) Other books by David Russell are The Pubs of Hastings & St Leonards, The Swan, Hastings and Register of Licensees for Hastings & St Leonards.