Libraries and leisure

Archaeology, Sites to See

Rye House Gatehouse

A licence to build a castle here was granted to Sir Andrew Ogard, a Dane, in 1440. Today, all that remains is the partially restored 15th century gatehouse that lies within a large, and much re-modelled, moated site. Rye House is well-known as the home of the failed but scandalous ‘Rye House Plot’; in 1683 conspirators met there to plot the assassination of King Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York. The gatehouse is one of the finest surviving examples of early English brickwork in the country, and it now forms one of the attractions of the Lee Valley Park.

Rye House is situated on the north side of Rye Road, about ¾ of a mile from its junction with the B180 Stanstead Road and opposite Rye Park Station.

Map showing Rye House Gatehouse