Thames Tributary River Lee - Rye House
Thames Tributary River Lee
The Lee flows south east. Greenwich Meridian Line
Passes through the area
Lea Road
Housing on the site of the Corporation Yard
New River
There is a footpath alongside the river for this stretch
The Greenwich Meridian Line crosses the river
Normandy Way
This elevated roadway has been built since the mid-1980s to access riverside trading estates and provide a railway crossing
Sainsbury Distribution Centre
Old Highway
Recreation ground. Known locally as Rye Park and built on the site of an old gravel pit
The Highway. Originally called The Old Highway Tavern it is a late 19th pub. It was first owned by local brewers Christie & Co but is now Punch Taverns
Pindar Road
Trading and industrial area
Sainsbury’s Distribution Centre
Hertfordshire County Council Training Centre
Plumpton Road
Trading estate and industrial sites alongside the New River
Rattys Lane
Lafarge sand and gravel site.
Railway
Broxbourne Junction. Where the 1843 Hertford East branch of what is now the West Anglia Main Line running south from Rye House Station meets the old Northern and Eastern Railway line, built in 1841, from Roydon Station.
Rye Road
Greenwich Meridian crosses the road near the junction with Cranbourne Road
Rye Meads are liable to flood and in the 15th the area round Rye House was called ‘the Isle of Rye’. The island was imparked by Sir Andrew Ogard in 1443 and ran between the Lea and ditch running from the Stort. It included Rye Farm fields called the Warren. The lord of Rye Manor maintained the bridge over the Lea, and also a causeway through Rye Meads for travellers to East Anglia. They paid a toll to him for this. The present, Rye Road, was built for Sir Charles Booth, and the tolls now belongs to owners of the Netherfield estate – now Thames Water
Footpath between river and Rye House Station. On the fence where a stile used to be there is an New River Co. marker
Lagoons for Rye Mead sewage works. Lagoons south of Rye Road are part of the Thames Water treatment works, and considered for industrial use. Those to the north are part of the nature reserve. The area of the sewage treatment works was once known as The Warren.
Rye House. This house – of which only the gatehouse remains was the scene of the Rye House Plot of 1683. This was a scheme by some of Cromwell’s supporters to ambush and assassinate King Charles II and his brother, the Duke of York passing here on the way back from Newmarket. The then tenant was Rumbold, a maltster, a former Cromwellian officer and an extreme republican. The plan was frustrated because the king made his journey to London earlier than expected. The plot led to the execution of Lord Russell, Algernon Sydney, and, later Rumbold and the Earl of Argyll. Rye House was a 15th brick building with a large central hall and courtyard, Most of it pulled down in the 18th century and the remainder used as the parish workhouse in the 19th.
Rye House Gatehouse. A 15th moated building which is an important example of early English brickwork. It is the earliest non-Roman brick building Hertfordshire, It is the only remaining part of a manor house built for Sir Andrew Ogard, a Dane who had changed his name. Inside is a model of the original Rye House and a display on brick making. A spiral staircase leads to the roof and local views. The site was made into a pleasure garden for trippers in the mid-19th by Henry Teal and later as the gent's toilet for the pub. Recently the gatehouse has been restored for the Lee Valley Park Authority. It is in red brick with a roofless upper storey.
Remains of windows and walls south east of the gatehouse and another lot to the west. Fragment repositioned as part of a public pleasure garden.
Gateposts on the causeway – these are actually a pair of chimneys probably also repositioned as part of a public pleasure garden.
Moat to Rye House filled by the River Lea.
Rye House Station. The line was built in 1843. The station lies Between St.Margarets and Broxbourne Stations. Engineer to the line was George Parker Bidder. Before the station was built tickets were issued to fishing club members at Ye Olde House Hotel next door – so it could claim to be the first "station", trains stopped on sight of a red flag. Platforms and a booking office were constructed in 1849. Teale who ran the pleasure garden is said to have fiddled the passenger receipts at the station.
Rye House Stadium. This was opened in the 1930s for greyhound racing, speedway and Stock car racing – recently it has been mainly speedway. Meetings were run by the Rye Stortford Motor Cycle Club on old watercress beds next to the River Lea. Henry Teale opened the area up for tourists and Included a 440- which became the speedway track. Next to it is the Rye House Kart Circuit on the site of the old speedway track
Rye House Hotel. Henry Teale who built the area up as a routrist attraction in 1849 bought the inn which had been called the King's Arms since before 1756 and renamed it the Rye House Hotel. He built gardens and a maze and much else. He installed double storey cast iron window frames from house in Cheshunt and brought the Great Bed of Ware here from the Sacarcen's Head in Ware, It was taken over by local Christie's brewery but was damaged by fire in the 1930s. The rear ballroom was used for roller skating.
Inlet by the bridge near the gatehouse. Landing stage
Rye House Bridge over the Lea plus pipe bridge over it
Railway bridge
New River bridge
Elim Riverside church
Rye House Conservative Club
Stortford Road
The Greenwich Meridian crosses the road near the junction with Gladstone Road
Walton Road
Hoddesden Youth centre
Whitely Road
St Cuthbert’s Church. Church of England.
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