I Stayed in a 600-Year-Old Inn Full of Secret Smuggling Tunnels
Renaissance English History Podcast: A Show About the TudorsShow Notes
So I recently went to England to sleep in historic places. This is the first episode of a mini series I'm calling Heather Stays in Olde Inns, because England is full of medieval places to stay, and I wanted to stay in them. First stop: The Mermaid Inn in Rye.
The cellars here date back to 1156. The building you see today went up in 1420, after the French burned the whole town to the ground in 1377 (yes, really). A very organized gang of 18th century smugglers used the place as one of their bases. There are still tunnels running under the building to another inn down the street, because apparently that's just what you do when you're moving contraband and don't want the authorities noticing.
I got to sleep in a building that has survived fire, smugglers, and about 600 years of English history going about its business upstairs from a bar. Come stay with me.
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