STAYCATIONS with a Story

The Mermaid Inn, East Sussex

If you’ve ever fancied walking in the footsteps of one of Britain’s most infamous smuggling gangs, The Mermaid Inn in medieval Rye on the south-east coast is the place to stay. It was at the inn’s Giant’s Fireplace Bar that the notorious Hawkhurst Gang caroused in the 1730s and 1740s, when The Mermaid was one of their strongholds. Evidence of secret passageways in the hotel speak of this time in its history, and the plethora of original features in the bar today make it easy to imagine the gang holding forth by the ancient fireplace.

The building itself dates back to 1420, though its cellars are thought to be even older. The historic character of the place is sensitively maintained and details that sing of the building’s long past include ancient wooden beams, leaded windows and uneven floors – while a quotation from in Dr