, are said to be the finest in Europe.
[Illustration: Monogram and Inscription in the Mermaid Inn, Rye]
The chief charm of Rye is to walk along the narrow streets and lanes,
and see the picturesque rows and groups of old fifteenth-and
sixteenth-century houses with their tiled roofs and gables,
weather-boarded or tile-hung after the manner of Sussex cottages,
graceful bay-windows--altogether pleasing. Wherever one wanders one
meets with these charming dwellings, especially in West Street and
Pump Street; the oldest house in Rye being at the corner of the
churchyard. The Mermaid Inn is delightful both outside and inside,
with its low panelled rooms, immense fire-places and dog-grates. We
see the monogram and names and dates carved on the stone fire-places,
1643, 1646, the name Loffelholtz seeming to indicate some foreign
refugee or settler. It is pleasant to find at least in one town in
England so much that has been left unaltered and so little spoilt.
[Illustration: Inscription in the Mermaid Inn, Rye]
CHAPTER IV
IN STREETS AND LANES
I have said in another place that no country in the world can boast of
possessing rural homes and villages which have half the charm and
picturesqueness of our English cottages and hamlets.[10] They have to
be known in order that they may be loved.
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