La pace ora regna sulla Ypres Tower o sul Rye Castle dopo secoli difendendo la città nel Sussex orientale, Inghilterra, Regno Unito, dagli attacchi francesi, seguita da uso come prigione, tribunale e mortuario. La torre ospita ora il Museo del Castello di Rye, che racconta la storia lunga e spesso turbolenta della torre e della città.
2832 x 4256 px | 24 x 36 cm | 9,4 x 14,2 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
21 maggio 2011
Ubicazione:
Rye, East Sussex, England, United Kingdom.
Altre informazioni:
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Rye, East Sussex, England, UK: Ypres Tower or Rye Castle, built to ward off French attacks and later used as a prison, now fulfils a less turbulent role as the Rye Castle Museum, a visitor attraction offering superb views over the historic town, Romney Marsh and the English Channel. The sturdy square structure, built of coursed sandstone rubble with four projecting three-quarter round corner towers, was originally known as Baddings Tower. Its present title recalls Jean de Ypres, who bought it from the town in 1430 to live in it. According to expert opinion, the tower, now protected as a Grade I Listed building, was probably built between 1329 and 1400, perhaps as an extension to earlier fortifications. It was a vital component in Rye’s defences, which included four gates and a town wall. Most of the wall has now vanished, but stubs of its masonry still project from the west wall of the north-west turret (as seen in this image), and a more substantial section stands to the east of the tower. During the Hundred Years’ War, Rye continued to be attacked by the French and after they sacked the town in 1377, the tower seems to have been used temporarily as a prison. It regained this role, and that of a courthouse, in the 1500s. A full-time gaoler was appointed in 1796 and in the early 1800s, an exercise yard was added to the north-west. In 1837, a Women’s Tower was built to house female inmates, together with a set of two-storey cells. Ypres Tower ceased to be a prison in 1891, but the basement floor was used as a mortuary until 1959. The tower lost its pyramidal roof in a 1942 air raid, but this was replaced with a flat roof in the 1950s and Rye Museum began to take the building over in 1954. D1354.B8049
