The survival and renaissance of the Rye Town Model

A hand‑carved scale model of an East Sussex town has become one of the county's most unlikely heritage survivors.

Known as the Rye Town Model, the 1:100 scale replica was created in the 1970s by Joy Harland and her husband, Ted, who spent nearly four years capturing the town as it appeared in the mid‑19th Century.

The project grew into a nationally recognised attraction and still brings in tourists from all over today.

"It's a very important tool for tourism in giving people an introduction to the town and our history, and what they can learn and get out of being in a medieval town," Simon Parsons, Rye Heritage Centre manager, told Secret Sussex.

The model first went on display in 1976 and quickly became the centrepiece of the "Story of Rye", an immersive show designed to tell 700 years of local history.

Parsons said: "It's an incredible model. We think its unique in this country, particularly as we do a sound and light show on it. It's about 8m by 5m (26ft by 16ft) in size, which is pretty big."

The Harlands, who built the structure using polystyrene packaging acquired from a friend, said that they were inspired by a similar display they saw on a holiday in Ghent, Belgium.

After being on display for a few years, it was bought by a showman and spent two years in the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham before being offered to Rye Town Council.

"He told them that if they didn't buy it, it was to be no more," Parsons said.

The then town council cobbled together the money to buy the model for the "princely sum of £3,000", he added.

However, by the early 21st Century, the model's fortunes had changed.

Visitor numbers declined, the technology behind the show had become outdated and the Heritage Centre which housed it was struggling financially.

The model's future was in serious doubt by 2020 and after the pandemic forced the closure of the centre, there were real fears that it would be dismantled or placed into long‑term storage.

Its survival came down to a determined group of local residents who, after forming a new charity to save both the Heritage Centre and the model itself, secured ownership of the attraction.

The model was cleaned, repaired and updated with modern projection and audio technology, and has been open once again since 2021.

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