Rye is a small town and civil parish in the Rother area, in East Sussex, England, two miles from the sea at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. In middle ages times, as a crucial member of the Cinque Ports confederation, it was at the head of an embayment of the English Channel, and also virtually completely surrounded by the sea. At the 2011 census, Rye had a population of 4,773. Its historic association with the sea has included offering ships for the solution of the Crown in time of war, as well as being associated with smuggling. The notorious Hawkhurst Gang used its old inns The Mermaid Inn and The Olde Bell Inn, which are claimed to be attached to every other by a secret passage. Those historic roots as well as its charm make it a vacationer location, with resorts, bed and breakfast, B&B s, cafeteria, and restaurants. It has a tiny fishing fleet, and also Rye Harbour has facilities for yachts and also various other vessels.