Damage to historic inn

The 16th century Flushing Inn, which stands on the corner of Market Street and Church Square, is being clipped by large vehicles trying to squeeze through the narrow cobbled entrance to Church Square.

Now Rye Town Council is to meet with highways bosses at East Sussex County Council to find a way to tackle the problem.

Owner Wayne Jones told the council: “The house has been hit many times - at least ten times since 2005.

“It has been mostly minor damage but it is only a matter of time before serious damage is caused.

“Sometimes the drivers knock on the door and offer to pay for the damage - sometimes they just disappear.”

Cllr John Breeds said: “There needs to be a size limit on vehicles allowed to drive down there.”

The original Flushing Inn building was destroyed in a French attack in 1377 and the 16th century rebuild still contains the barrel vaulted Norman cellar.

A former landlord of the Inn was John Breads - Rye’s most notorious murderer, whose remains still hang in a gibbet cage in Rye Town Hall a few feet away from the Inn.

In 1905 a Tudor fresco was discovered hidden behind a wall of the Flushing Inn.