Given it was built in 1390, it feels more fitting to refer to Rye’s oldest pub as Ye Olde Bell, despite the fact it’s known as The Olde Bell today.
Hear ye, it is a sumptuous haven of a place, timber-framed and cloaked in Tudor beams; a crooked, dainty boozer with, oddly enough, a menu of Greek meze. And so head in for a credible selection of real ales, wines which are fine, hugely rewarding pints of Guinness — better than most out of London — and pitta bread and hummus.
Inside is charming and brings tales of the infamous Hawkhurst Gang of the 1700s, who smuggled goods from the Mermaid Inn by the shoreline up into town through a secret tunnel, entering Ye Old Bell by way of a revolving cupboard. Still, in fine weather, the courtyard is the spot: people watching in this East Sussex town makes for a joyful afternoon.
Rye, East Sussex, oldbellrye.co.uk
