Key facts
- Operator
- Rye Castle Museum
- Condition
- Intact
- Access
- Staffed, ticketed
Pinpoint
Gungarden, Rye TN31 7HE
Telephone 01797 226728
Possible Opening hours
Opening times change. Always check the official website before you travel.
| Monday | 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Tuesday | 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Wednesday | 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Thursday | 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Friday | 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Saturday | 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
| Sunday | 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM |
A 13th-century tower turned town museum, one of the oldest buildings in Rye still standing largely intact. It's a small site — three floors including the former women's tower — but reviewers say it earns its modest entry fee, especially combined with a wander through Rye's medieval streets.
Worth the trip
The view from the tower over Rye's rooftops and out towards the coast, a reward for a very compact visit.
Before you go
The cannon gardens alongside the tower are free to enter even if you skip the museum itself, so it's worth a look even on a tight budget.
Reviewers consistently describe Ypres Tower as small but well worth the modest entry fee, with several particularly enjoying the views from the top floor and the site's history as a former jail. Multiple reviews also praise Rye itself as a picturesque backdrop to the visit. No recurring criticisms appear in this set.
13thC tower museum, open year-round
“A small ex jail tower which is open to the public. Small and cosy, for a jail... Or gaol, as it might have been. The cannon gardens are free if money is tight.”— Stephen Hunt, visitor review
Further reading
Gibsons - Castle Cutaway (1000pc)
Detailed cutaway illustration of a medieval castle's rooms, dungeon to battlements.
Find it on Amazon
