Rye in historic gazetteers

Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887). John Bartholomew

Rye.-- mun. bor., par., ancient town, and cinque port, Sussex, on river Rother, 11¼ miles NE. of Hastings by rail - par., 2462 ac., pop. 4667; cinque port (Rye and its Limb, viz., Tenterden), 9922 ac., pop. 7844; mun. bor. and ancient town, 974 ac., pop. 4224; P.O., T.O, and P.O. at Rye Harbour, 2 miles S.; 2 Banks. Market-days, Wednesday and Saturday. Rye is supposed to have been the Portus Novus of the Romans, was first chartered by the Confessor, was fortified in the time of Stephen, was made a cinque port a little before Henry III.'s reign, and furnished nine ships for the siege of Calais in the time of Edward III. The herring and mackerel fisheries are prosecuted. The exports are wool, corn, timber, oak-bark, and hops, and the imports are coal and manufactured goods; but the trade is limited, Rye having lost its former importance owing to changes in the coast-line, which have placed the town 2 miles inland. Rye is a sub-port of Folkestone. It returned 2 members to Parliament from the time of Henry III. until 1832, and 1 member from 1832 until 1885.