The Red Lion public house in Lion Street was a famous Rye pub from the 1500s.
Its tap bar was popular with smugglers, highwaymen and sailors, among others.
But the pub was destroyed in a terrible fire in 1872. The following report appeared in the Sussex Express on November 16 1849, when the Red Lion was in its heyday:
The Pubs of Rye, 1750-1950, by David Russell, is available in Rye from the Heritage Centre, Adams, the Queen Adelaide, or online.
