Hidden corners worth knowing
The places day trippers drive straight past, and the reason our guests so often come back out of season. None of these are secrets exactly. They are just quieter, stranger and better than the obvious stops.
A fort you can only reach on foot, a church alone in a sheep field, wine cellars under a town, a drowned forest that appears twice a day. Everything here is within forty minutes of the cottage and most of it costs nothing.
Who it suits
Photographers, walkers, history lovers, anyone on a second or third visit who has done Rye and the beach, and anyone who prefers a place to themselves. Several of these are lovely in poor weather.
- Getting there
- Most need a car or a bike. Camber Castle and the Rye Harbour memorial are walk-in from Rye Harbour village. Fairfield Church and Dungeness are exposed and can be bitter in a wind, so bring layers.
- Cost
- Camber Castle exterior, Fairfield Church, the Gun Garden, the Mary Stanford memorial, Pett Level and Dungeness shingle are all free. Winchelsea cellars, the Old Lighthouse, Smallhythe and Great Dixter charge admission.
- Tides
- The Pett Level sunken forest only shows at low tide. Check the tables before you set off. BBC tide tables
- Maps
- OS Explorer 125 covers everything here. Signal is poor on the marsh, so download maps first.
Across the levels
Camber Castle
Henry VIII’s squat artillery fort of 1539, stranded a mile inland when the sea retreated and now standing alone among grazing sheep. There is no road, so you earn it on foot across the levels from Rye or Rye Harbour, which is exactly why it feels so special. The exterior circuit is free and open all year. Occasional guided interior tours run in season.
The Mary Stanford lifeboat house
At the end of the track from Rye Harbour village stands the old lifeboat house, kept as a memorial to the seventeen crew of the Mary Stanford lost in 1928, all of them from this one small village. It is a quiet, sobering place, and the walk out to it along the flat reserve track is a good one.
Rye Harbour’s beach chapel and black huts
The red-roofed chapel and the black-timbered huts on the shingle are the most photographed corner of the reserve, and best in low winter light with nobody else about. Over 4,000 species have been recorded on the reserve, so borrow binoculars at the Discovery Centre.
On the marsh
Fairfield Church
St Thomas à Becket at Fairfield stands utterly alone in a sheep field, reached by its own causeway path. It looks like something from a dream and is a favourite with photographers at first and last light. If it is locked, a sign directs you to where the key is kept nearby. Pure marsh magic.
The Royal Military Canal
Built to stop Napoleon and now a serene green corridor along the marsh edge, with herons for company and almost nobody on the towpath. The stretch out towards Appledore is the quietest.
Under a town
Winchelsea’s medieval wine cellars
England’s smallest town sits on a grid laid out for Edward I, and beneath it lie more than thirty medieval vaulted cellars built for the wine trade with Gascony. Guided tours run on published dates through the year and are astonishing. Above ground, find Spike Milligan’s headstone in the churchyard. It reads “I told you I was ill”, in Gaelic.
The Gun Garden, Rye
Behind the Ypres Tower, the little Gun Garden gives a free view over the harbour and the marsh that most visitors never find. Good for a picnic, and a fine place to watch the weather come in off Rye Bay.
On the shingle
Prospect Cottage and the Dungeness shacks
Derek Jarman’s black and yellow fisherman’s cottage with its famous driftwood garden sits on the shingle at Dungeness. It remains a private home, so admire it from the path. Then drift between the shacks, boats and sea kale, climb the Old Lighthouse for the view, and eat fish from a hut. Every direction is a photograph.
The sunken forest at Pett Level
At low water the beach at Pett Level and towards Fairlight uncovers rock pools and the blackened stumps of a prehistoric forest drowned thousands of years ago. Check the tide, wear wellies, and give yourself time to get back before the water does.
Seasonal secrets
In autumn, tens of thousands of starlings gather over the reedbeds at Rye Harbour and Dungeness before roosting. Locations move year to year, so ask at the Discovery Centre. In February, Rye Bay Scallop Week fills every restaurant in town with one perfect ingredient. And from October to April the beach at Camber is often yours alone at dawn, which is the best hidden corner of all.
Official information
- Sussex Wildlife Trust, Rye Harbour: reserve, chapel, huts and the Discovery Centre
- Visit 1066 Country: Winchelsea cellar tours, Dungeness and Fairfield
- National Trust: Smallhythe Place and Bodiam Castle
Come back out of season
The quiet months are when this coast is at its best. Beachside Cottage is a short walk from an empty beach and ten minutes from all of the above.
Keep exploring
Dog walks around Camber Sands
Beach rules by season, the golf-links circular, the walk to Rye for lunch, and where four legs are welcome.
Read the guide →Walks for everyone
Flat, big-skied walking: Rye Harbour classics, Winchelsea to Rye, the Royal Military Canal and Dungeness.
Read the guide →
Family days out
Lagoons at low tide, steam trains, kites, rock pools and the rainy-day plans B, C and D.
Read the guide →
Easy-going & accessible days
Level paths, accessible hides, steam without the walking, and Rye without the hills.
Read the guide →
Cycling routes
National Cycle Route 2 from Rye to the beach, the flat lanes of Romney Marsh, and rides to Dungeness.
Read the guide →
Kitesurfing, surfing & watersports
Why Camber is one of the UK’s great kite beaches, the licensed schools, zones, tides and hire.
Read the guide →
Camber Sands beach guide
Tides, lifeguards, parking, dog rules by season, beach rules and facilities in one place.
Read the guide →Wish you were here?
You could be.
Sandy floors forgiven, sunsets encouraged, and seconds of everything. Check live availability and book your dates securely online.