The Hawkhurst Gang was a notorious criminal organisation involved in smuggling throughout south-east England from 1735 until 1749. One of the more infamous gangs of the early 18th century, they extend
The Oak and Ivy Inn, Hawkhurst
Title page of book, written at the time, about the murder of the two men.
A Representation of members of the gang breaking open the King's Custom House at Poole.
Rye is a town and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England, two miles from the English Channel at the confluence of three rivers: the Rother, the Tillingham and the Brede. In the mi
Hawkhurst Gang
…as the Holkhourst Genge in 1735. The gang was based in the "Oak and Ivy Inn", Hawkhurst. A secondary headquarters was The Mermaid Inn in the town of Rye, where they would sit with their loaded weapons on the table. Many local legends and folklore are based on the alleged network of tunnels built by the…
The Ypres tower, Rother, Rye Harbour and marshes seen from the tower of St Mary's Church, Rye
The South Gate at Rye, 1785, by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm