It is certainly worthy of the most loving attention.
The church of Our Lady at Rye is a great cruciform building with
clerestory, transepts, and central tower, but without western doors,
the chief entrance being in the north transept. The church is of all
dates from the Norman time onward, a very English patchwork, here due
to the depredations, not so much of time, as of the French who have so
often raided and burnt the town. The oldest part is the tower, which
is Norman, as are, though somewhat later, the transepts, where certain
details show the Transitional style. In this style again, but somewhat
later, is the nave. The chancel and its two chapels are Early English,
but with many important Decorated, Perpendicular and modern details,
such as the arcade and the windows. The Early English chapel upon the
north is that of St Clare, that upon the south is dedicated in honour
of St Nicholas. In the south aisle of the nave is an Early English
chantry, now used as a vestry. The communion table of carved
mahogany is said to have been taken from a Spanish ship at the time
of the Armada, but it would seem certainly not to be older than the
end of the seventeenth century.
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