Places in the books

Westling Harbour

Tamzin Grey's vicarage home in Westling Harbour on the Sussex coast. You can clearly see her bedroom windows looking out across the marsh, above the balcony over the front door.

To the right of this view is the small front at Westling, looking along to the William the Conqueror Inn. On the right is the Harbour Mast around which young Diccon and Butterbeans Pope played, by the shingle on which Old Jim's Ferry Hut stood, and on the edge of the picture is the river Rother.

Between the two lies the road to Dunsford and the short village street. On the opposite side of the road to the vicarage is Smiling Morn's shop.

Beside the road to Dunsford lies the Parish Church, where Tamzin's father preached to the fisherfolk of the village.

And 'that's where her story really begins'.

Although Monica Edwards wrote fiction it was so strongly related to life and her own experiences that we should not be surprised to discover that the places do exist, exactly as described, although often under a different name.

All you need to do is substitute the name Rye for Dunsford and Rye Harbour for Westling and you're in the right place.

She may be forgiven the twinkle of mischief which converted the stately Winchelsea into Winklesea.

She and her family moved to Rye Harbour in the early 1920's, her father to become Vicar. She loved the area, and came to know the fishermen and the marsh farmers well.
'If you wanted to find Monica,' an elderly resident told me, 'you looked around the net sheds, she'd be there working with the fishermen'

She would regularly worship in the little church she describes so well, roofed like an inverted ship.

And, of course she explored the marshes beyond her front door and the coast path leading by the Martello Tower. She became a regular visitor to Castle Farm, named after nearby Camber Castle (Cloudesley Castle in her books). Here she learned sheep shearing while others of her age were trapped in school.

I did this drawing from an aerial photograph taken in 1947. It shows the paths made by sheep, and young girls, as they wandered around freely in the ruins. It is now looked after by English Heritage and access is strictly controlled. The sheep wander no more.

Camber Castle from the air 1947

The original Castle Farm house was destroyed during the last war, but almost all the other places exist in their correct places and can be explored today almost as freely as when the young Monica tore around the Marshes herself. And after exploring, you can end with refreshment in the 'Conk'.