Rye is a small town in the non-metropolitan county of
East Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex,
England, which stands approximately two miles from the open sea and is at the confluence of three rivers: the
Rother, the
Tillingham and the
Brede. In medieval times, however, as an important member of the
Cinque Ports confederation, it was at the head of an
embayment of the
English Channel and almost entirely surrounded by the sea.