Camber Castle

Absolutely fantastic. A real ruin full of
history and unsullied by well intentioned
Victorians. Inside is a real insight as to
the workings of this extraordinary place.
Tunnels, turrets, gun emplacements, and
even an Officer's Toilet. The guided tour
is very informative. From the town centre
you'll be there within the hour. Open on
the first Saturday of Aug, Sept and Oct.
Proper footwear and a healthy walk. In
the end it wasn't the French that beat the
Castle but simply tides and nature.

Lovely place to visit. We went on a Friday afternoon but unfortunately it was closed. Only opens on the first Saturday of every month and this wasn’t stated on the English Heritage app or website. Only mentions it’s guided tours only. Also it’s a long walk from the car, through a sheep pasture, along farm tracks to get to the castle. However when you get there it’s views are amazing. Can see Rye castle from camber castle

Really cool castle ruins. Park in Rye and enjoy a quiet walk through sheep pastures and around the canal to get to the castle. It is only open part of the year, but you get a view of most of it by walking around the perimeter and looking through the grating on the doors and windows. Plenty of places to drop a blanket for a picnic lunch, or, when things open more, a couple km walk to the shops and restaurants in town.

Unfortunately, you can only go into the castle on the 1st Saturday of the month at 2pm, so worth remembering if you fancy a look inside 😀

Very interesting place to visit, lovely walk out, nice and flat easy walk, best accessed via the track that runs along the river from Rye Harbour Road, allow a couple of hours

Great walk. Even rain didn't stop us and we really enjoyed the area, beautiful ruins, the fields, the birds, the little lambs and nature in general.

Nice castle ruin in the middle of a sheep field. You have to pay to go inside but can see through the many windows with bars on them.

Henry VIII's Camber Castle lies within the nature reserve between Rye and Winchelsea. It was originally located overlooking the shallow sea on a shingle spit which protected the approach to these towns.

Camber means a safe haven (the English fleet could safely anchor behind the castle) derived from the French chambre meaning bedroom.

Today situated far inland, Camber Castle once stood on the shoreline of an important estuary guarding access to the major Cinque Port of Rye and the primary anchorage for shipping in the eastern English Channel. Built in 1539 on the orders of Henry VIII to a design by Stefan von Haschenperg, it was shortly after totally reconfigured at huge expense.

Today Camber Castle is found a little under 1 mile from the shoreline but, in the sixteenth century, it was a coastal fortification overlooking an important estuary at the mouth of the Rivers Brede, Rother and Tillingham. Known as the Camber, two major Cinque ports - Rye and Winchelsea - operated from these sheltered waters and, with the proximity to the continent, they had flourished. By the early sixteenth century silting waters and ever larger ships plus a general shift towards ports in the west had seen the decline of Winchelsea. Nevertheless Rye continued to thrive whilst the Camber itself was used as a major anchorage that served as a refuge for shipping in the eastern English Channel.

Walk to the castle is through the fields full with sheep and baby lambs. The castle itself was closed due to pandemic but has paid entrance and guided tours available otherwise.