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Photo: Simon Carey, https://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/1833, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
In 1539 trouble was looming with France and Henry VIII had qualms about his defences. He therefore commissioned "device forts" - coastal artillery positions. This one was of botched initial construction, rendered obsolete by artillery advance, and left stranded amid grazing sheep by the receding sea. Worst of all for any self-respecting military engineer, peace broke out with France. That meant the castle was left alone (the plan to make it a golf clubhouse fell through), so it's a rare example of an intact device fort. You can see the exterior free anytime, but to go within you have to join the monthly guided tour.
Camber Castle, also known formerly as Winchelsea Castle, is a 16th-century Device Fort, built near Rye by King Henry VIII to protect the Sussex coast of England against French attack. The first fortification on the site was a small, round artillery tower, constructed by Henry between 1512 and 1514, overlooking the Camber anchorage and the entrance to Rye Harbour.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Ypres Tower
This was probably built in the early 14th century: in 1329 the town was awarded "murage", the right to levy a tax to pay for defensive walls, and the castle is the likeliest beneficiary. Known then as Baddings Tower, it was involved in the wars against the French and in 1430 became the property of John de Iprys - hence the name changed to "Ypres Tower". It was used as a jail until 1891 then was the town morgue. The site is managed by Rye Castle Museum, whose main display is at East Street.
Charming redbrick mansion built in 1722 by James Lamb, a wine merchant and politician. It has to be called "Georgian" since in 1726 a ship carrying King George I was driven ashore at Camber, he pitched up here needing accommodation, and Lamb's wife went into labour at the sight of him. A string of writers have stayed here: Henry James, EF Benson, Rumer Godden, AC Benson, H Montgomery Hyde, John Senior and Sarah Philo, and other notable figures. The house passed to the National Trust in 1950 and has a large walled garden.
Local history museum by the old wharf, with a collection of early 20th century penny-arcade machines.