Rye Harbour Nature Reserve is a mosaic of habitats beside the sea with shingle, saltmarsh, rivers, pits, grazing marsh and reedbeds, and full of wildlife for you to discover. The nature reserve has a Communities and Wildlife Officer to lead your group, and a programme of activities suitable for all ages.

There are two main areas of Rye Harbour Nature Reserve:

• The Discovery Centre – Our flagship visitor centre with classroom, toilets, exhibitions, gift shop and café can provide a base for your visit. The centre sits alongside the River Rother, saltmarsh and a grassland area that is exclusively for educational use – perfect for studying minibeasts in different habitats. There is easy access to three bird watching hides for close-up encounters with wetland birds, and a large shingle beach, ideal for finding out more about our marine life, investigating coasts, or surveying beach litter.
• Castle Farm –  Enjoy a walk out from Rye town to this area of grassland and wetlands. Castle Water provides important areas for birds and other animals, including water vole and medicinal leech, and has a bird watching hide and areas suitable for pond-dipping. Within the Castle Farm area is also Camber Castle - built for Henry VIII, this is a 500 year old ruin that has tunnels, towers and bastions to explore. We can arrange for small group tours around the castle.  

To send us an enquiry please click here  

Information for teachers

•   An information sheet can be downloaded here ( 404KB)