Coordinates: 50°54′43″N 0°29′15″E / 50.91194°N 0.4875°E / 50.91194; 0.4875

The Battle of Hastings
Part of the Norman conquest of England
Harold Rex Interfectus Est: "King Harold is killed". Scene from the Bayeux Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings. Harold grasps the arrow lodged in his eye.
Date 14 October 1066 Location Senlac Hill, Battle near Hastings, East Sussex, England Result Decisive Norman victory
Belligerents
Normans Bretons Flemings French Poitevins Angevins Manceaux	English
Commanders and leaders
William of Normandy Odo of Bayeux	Harold Godwinson †
Strength
Unknown, estimates range from 3,000 to 30,000[1]	Unknown, estimates range from 4,000 to 30,000[1]

The Battle of Hastings occurred on 14 October 1066 during the Norman conquest of England, between the Norman-French army of Duke William II of Normandy and the English army under King Harold II.^[a] It took place at Senlac Hill, approximately 10 km (6¹⁄₄ miles) northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.

Harold II was killed in the battle—legend has it that he was shot through the eye with an arrow. He was the last English king to die in battle on English soil until Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field. The battle marked the last successful foreign invasion of the British Isles. Although there was further English resistance, this battle is seen as the point at which William gained control of England, becoming its first Norman ruler as King William I.

The battle also established the superiority of the combined arms attack over an army predominately composed of infantry, demonstrating the effectiveness of archers, cavalry and infantry working cooperatively together. The dominance of cavalry forces over infantry would continue until the emergence of the longbow, and battles such as Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt in the Hundred Years War.

The famous Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events before and during the battle. Battle Abbey marks the site where it is believed that the battle was fought. Founded by King William "the Conqueror" (as he became known), it serves as a memorial to the dead and may have been an act of penance for the bloodshed. The site is open to the public and is the location of annual re-enactments of the battle.

Background[link]

Harold Godwinson, from the most powerful family in England, claimed the throne shortly after Edward the Confessor died in January 1066. He secured the support of the Witenagemot, the English assembly of nobles, for his accession. Some sources say that Edward had verbally promised the throne to his cousin, William, the Duke of Normandy, but decided on his deathbed to give it to Harold. While Edward the Confessor's great-nephew Edgar Ætheling was also in England, he was deemed too young.

William took Harold's crowning as a declaration of war. He planned to invade England and take the crown. The Norman army was not powerful enough, so nobles as far as Southern Italy were called to convene at Caen, in Normandy. There, William promised land and titles to his followers and informed them that the voyage was secured by the pope. William assembled a fleet said to number 696 ships—if accurate this would imply an army of over 20,000 men. This force waited in port through the summer, supposedly because of adverse weather but quite possibly from fear of a clash at sea with the large English fleet. They finally sailed for England after the exhaustion of supplies forced Harold to dismiss his fleet and army and many English ships were wrecked by a storm. On 28 September 1066 William landed unopposed at Pevensey.

The English King Harold II, who had been waiting for a Norman invasion, had rushed his army northward to attack an invading Norwegian Viking army under King Harald Hardråda and Tostig Godwinson (Harold's brother). He defeated the invaders at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, near York. Upon hearing that the Duke's forces had landed he hurried southward to meet the invaders. His brother, Earl Gyrth, urged a delay while more men could be assembled, but Harold was determined to show his people that he could defend his new kingdom decisively against every invader. He departed London on the morning of 12 October, gathering what forces he could on the way. After camping at Long Bennington, he arrived at Senlac Hill on the night of 13 October.^[2]

Harold deployed his force, astride the road from Hastings to London, on Senlac Hill, some 6 miles (10 km) inland north-west of Hastings. Behind him was the great forest of Anderida (the Weald), and in front the ground fell away in a long glacis-like slope, which rose again at the bottom as the opposing slope of Telham Hill.

English army[link]

The English army fought two other major battles, at Gate Fulford and Stamford Bridge, less than three weeks before the Battle of Hastings. The latter resulted in the destruction of Harald Hardråda's Viking army, but also affected the English army's battle-worthiness at Hastings.

The English army consisted entirely of infantry. It is possible that some or all the members of the army rode to battle, but once at the appointed place they dismounted to fight on foot. The core of the army was made up of full-time professional soldiers called housecarls who had a long-standing dedication to the King. Their armour consisted of a conical helmet, a chain mail hauberk, and a kite-shaped shield. Their primary weapon was the two-handed Danish battleaxe, although every man would have carried a sword as well.

The bulk of the army, called the fyrd, was composed of part-time English soldiers drawn from the landowning minor nobility. These thegns were the land-holding aristocracy of the time and were required to serve with their own armour and weapons for a certain number of days each year. The Victorian concept of the noble peasant defending his lands with a pitchfork has been quashed by modern archaeological research.

The most formidable defence of the English was the shield wall, in which all the men on the front ranks locked their shields together. In the early stages of the battle, the shield wall was very effective at defending against the Norman archery barrages. The entire army took up position along the ridge-line; as casualties fell in the front lines the rear ranks would move forward to fill the gaps.^[2]

Norman army[link]

The Norman army was made up of nobles, mercenaries, and troops from Normandy (around half), Flanders, Brittany (around one third) and France (today Paris and Île-de-France), with some from as far as southern Italy. The Norman army's power derived from its cavalry which were reckoned amongst the best in Europe. They were heavily armoured, and usually had a lance and a sword. As with all cavalry, they were generally at their most effective against troops whose formation had begun to break up. Apart from the missile troops, the Norman infantry were probably protected by ring mail and armed with spear, sword and shield, like their English counterparts.

The large numbers of missile troops in William's army reflected the trend in European armies for combining different types of forces on the battlefield. The bow was a relatively short weapon with a short draw but was effective on the battlefield. Hastings marks the first known use of the crossbow in battle in English history.

Battle[link]

The battlefield from the north side

William relied on basic tactics with archers in the front rank weakening the enemy with arrows, followed by infantry which would engage in close combat, culminating in a cavalry charge that would break through the English forces. However, his tactics did not work as well as planned. William's army attacked the English as soon as they were ready and formed up. Norman archers shot several volleys but many of the arrows hit the shield wall and had very little effect. Believing the English to have been softened up, William ordered his infantry to attack. As the Normans charged up the hill, the English threw down whatever they could find: stones, javelins, and maces. The barrage inflicted heavy casualties among the Norman ranks, causing the lines to break up.

The infantry charge reached the English lines, where ferocious hand-to-hand fighting took place. William had expected the English to falter, but the arrow barrage had little effect and nearly all the English troops still stood, their shield wall intact. As a result William ordered his cavalry to charge far sooner than planned. Faced with a wall of axes, spears and swords, many of the horses shied away despite their careful breeding and training. After an hour of fighting, the Breton division on William's left faltered and broke completely, fleeing down the hill. Suffering heavy casualties and realising they would be quickly outflanked, the Norman and Flemish divisions retreated with the Bretons. Unable to resist the temptation, many of the English broke ranks, including hundreds of fyrdmen and Harold's brothers, Leofwyne and Gyrthe. In the following confused fighting, William's horse was killed from underneath him, and he toppled to the ground. Initially, many of William's soldiers thought that he had been killed, and an even greater rout ensued. It was only after he stood up and threw off his helmet that William was able to rally his fleeing troops.

William and a group of his knights successfully counter-attacked the pursuing English, who were no longer protected by the shield wall, and cut down large numbers of fyrdmen. Many did not recognise the Norman counter-attack until it was too late, but some managed to scramble back up the hill to the safety of the housecarls. Harold's brothers were not so fortunate—their deaths deprived the English of an alternative leader after the death of Harold. The two armies formed up, and a temporary lull fell over the battle. The battle had turned to William's advantage, since the English had lost much of the protection provided by the shield wall. Without the cohesion of a disciplined, strong formation, the individual English were easy targets. William launched his army at the strong English position again and many of the English housecarls were killed.

With such a large number of English fyrdmen now holding the front rank, the disciplined shield wall that the housecarls had maintained began to falter, presenting an opportunity to William. At the start of the battle the hail of arrows fired at the English by William's bowmen was ineffective because of the English shields. Though many on the front ranks still had shields, William ordered his archers to fire over the shield wall so that the arrows landed in the clustered rear ranks of the English army. The archers did this with great success. Legend states that it was at this point that Harold was hit in the eye by an arrow. Many of the English were now weary. William's army attacked again, and managed to make small chinks in the shield wall. They were able to exploit these gaps, and the English army began to fragment. William and a handful of knights broke through the wall, and struck down the English king. Without their leader and with many nobles dead, hundreds of fyrdmen fled the field. The housecarls kept their oath of loyalty to the king, and fought bravely until they were all killed.

Aftermath[link]

Harold's plaque (2006)

Only a remnant of the defenders made their way back to the forest. Some of the Norman forces pursued the English but were ambushed and destroyed in the dusk when they ran afoul of steep ground, called, in later (12th century) sources, "the Malfosse", or "bad ditch". The most likely site of Malfosse can be identified today as Oakwood Gill a deep ditch now traversed by the A2100 road, north of Battle.^[3][4] William rested his army for two weeks near Hastings, waiting for the English lords to come and submit to him. Then, after he realised his hopes of submission at that point were in vain, he began his advance on London. His army was seriously reduced in November by dysentery, and William himself was gravely ill. However, he was reinforced by fresh troops crossing the English Channel.

Meanwhile in London the remnants of the English government had assembled and hastily chosen the young and inexperienced Edgar the Atheling as king. It has been said they chose him because a weak king was better than no king at all and in the absence of any of the Godwinson family he was now the only viable candidate. It is not known if he was crowned, it would have made sense to have him crowned as soon as possible as his predecessor Harold had been, but there is no record to support this. Not long after the election of Edgar the northern earls, Edwin and Morcar left the city and returned with their forces to their respective earldoms. It has been speculated that they regarded the war with William as a dispute between him and the Godwinson family and hoped to make their own peace. Other members of the English establishment such as Edgar's sisters Margaret and Cristina hastily decamped with their retinues to Chester for safety.^[5]

William advanced through Kent devastating Romney and receiving the submission of Dover and its important castle. At Dover he paused for a week receiving the submission of Canterbury on October 29. He sent messengers to Winchester who received the submission of that city from the widowed Queen Edith. From Canterbury William advanced to Southwark. After being thwarted in an attempt to cross London Bridge he destroyed the town. He now approached the city by a circuitous route crossing the Thames at Wallingford ravaging the land as he went. The Norman forces advanced on London from the north-west eventually reaching Berkhampstead in late November 1066.^[5]

Messages were relayed between William's forces and the beleaguered authorities in London. Eventually it was agreed that the city would be spared further carnage if Edgar abdicated and William was recognised as king. This agreement seems to have been imposed on the young Edgar. In early December, Ansgar the Sheriff of Middlesex, the archbishops of York and Canterbury and the deposed Edgar the Atheling came out and submitted to the Norman duke. William received them graciously and accepted their submission. From here he relocated his forces to Romford taking with him appropriate hostages.^[5]

William was crowned king on Christmas Day, 1066 at Westminster Abbey.

Legacy[link]

Plaque at Battle Abbey commemorating the fusing of the English and Norman peoples

Battle Abbey was built on the site of the battle. A plaque marks the place where Harold is believed to have fallen and the location where the high altar of the church once stood. The settlement of Battle, East Sussex, grew up around the abbey and is now a small market town.

The Bayeux Tapestry depicts the events before, during, and after the Battle of Hastings.

The Battle of Hastings is an example of the theory of combined arms. The Norman bowmen, cavalry and infantry cooperated to deny the English the initiative and gave the homogeneous English army few tactical options except defence.

It is possible that this tactical sophistication existed primarily in the minds of the Norman chroniclers. The account of the battle given in the earliest source, the Carmen de Hastingae Proelio, is one where the Norman advance surprises the English, who manage to gain the top of Senlac Hill before the Normans. The Norman light infantry is sent in while the English are forming their shield wall (to no avail) and then the main force was sent in (no distinction being made between infantry and cavalry).

Succeeding sources include (in chronological order) William of Poitiers's Gesta Guillelmi (written between 1071 and 1077), The Bayeux Tapestry (created between 1070 and 1077), and the much later Chronicle of Battle Abbey, the chronicles written by William of Malmesbury, Florence of Worcester, and Eadmer's Historia Novorum in Anglia embellishes the story further, with the final result being a William whose tactical genius was at a high level that he failed to display in any other battle.

The Battle of Hastings had a tremendous influence on the English language. The Normans were French-speaking, and as a result of their rule, they introduced many French words that started in the nobility and eventually became part of the English language itself.

As Paul K. Davis writes, "William's victory placed a foreign ruler on the throne of England, introducing European rather than Scandinavian society onto the isolated island" in "the last successful invasion of England."^[6]

See also[link]

• Companions of William the Conqueror
• Medieval invasions of Britain
• Battle of Hastings reenactment

Notes[link]

Citations[link]

References[link]

• Davis, Paul K. (1999). 100 Decisive Battles from Ancient Times to the Present: The World's Major Battles and How They Shaped History. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 
• Douglas Douglas C.. William the Conqueror. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. 
• Gravett, Christopher (1992). Hastings 1066, The Fall of Saxon England. Osprey Campaign Series #13. Osprey Publishing. 
• Howarth, David (1993). 1066: The Year of the Conquest. New York: Barnes and Noble. 
• Lawson, M. K. (2000). "Observations Upon a Scene in the Bayeux Tapestry". The Medieval State: Essays Presented to James Campbell. London: Hambledon Press. pp. 73-92. 

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Battle of Hastings

• Official English Heritage site
• Origins of the conflict, the battle itself and its aftermath BBC History website
• Staff. "Information on the Battle of Hastings", website of www.battle-of-hastings-1066.org.uk. Includes facts and full story.
• William of Malmesbury's Account

Coordinates: 50°51′N 0°34′E / 50.85°N 0.57°E / 50.85; 0.57

Hastings
Hastings
Hastings Castle, with the Pier and Town Centre in the background
Town Coat of arms
Hastings  Hastings shown within East Sussex
Area	29.72 km2 (11.47 sq mi)
Population	86,900 [1]
- Density	2,924 /km2 (7,570 /sq mi)
OS grid reference	TQ8160109458
- London	53 mi (85 km)  NW
District	Hastings
Shire county	East Sussex
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HASTINGS ST LEONARDS-ON-SEA
Postcode district	TN34-35 TN36-37
Dialling code	01424
Police	Sussex
Fire	East Sussex
Ambulance	South East Coast
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Hastings and Rye
Website	Hastings Borough Council
List of places: UK • England • East Sussex

Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located 24 mi (39 km) east of the county town of Lewes and 53 mi (85 km) south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900.^[1]

In historical terms, Hastings can claim fame through its connection with the Norman conquest of England; and also because it became one of the medieval Cinque Ports. Hastings was, for centuries, an important fishing port; although nowadays much reduced, it still has the largest beach-based fishing fleet in England. The town became a watering place in the 1760s, and then, with the coming of the railway, a seaside resort.

The attraction of Hastings as a tourist destination continues; although the number of hotels has decreased, it caters for wider tastes, being home to internationally-based cultural and sporting events, such as chess and running. It has set out to become "a modern European town" and seeks to attract commercial business in the many industrial sites round the borough.^[2]

History[link]

Early history[link]

The first mention of Hastings is found in the late 8th century in the form Hastingas. This is derived from the Old English tribal name Hæstingas, meaning "Hæsta's people", "the family/followers of Hæsta". Symeon of Durham records the victory of Offa in 771 over the Hestingorum gens, that is, "the people of the Hastings tribe", and the same tribe gave their name to Hastingleigh in Kent. The place name Hæstingaceaster is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 1050,^[3][4] and may be an alternative name for Hastings. However, the absence of any archaeological remains of or documentary evidence for a Roman fort at Hastings suggest that Hæstingaceaster may refer to a different settlement, most likely that based on the Roman remains at Pevensey.^[5]

There is evidence of prehistoric settlements at the site of the town: flint arrowheads and Bronze Age artefacts have been found; Iron Age forts have been excavated on both the East and West Hills suggests an early move to the safety of the valley in between, so that the settlement was already a port when the Romans arrived in Britain for the first time in 55 BC. At this time they began to exploit the iron (Wealden rocks provide a plentiful supply of the ore), and so the port was useful to them. One of the many local sites where the iron was worked at Beauport Park, to the north of the town, which employed up to one thousand men and is considered to have been the third largest in the Roman Empire.^[6]

With the departure of the Romans the town suffered setbacks. The Beauport site had been abandoned; and natural and man-made attacks began. The Sussex coast has always suffered from occasional violent storms; with the additional hazard of longshore drift (the eastward movement of shingle along the coast) the coastline has been frequently changing. The original Roman port could now well be under the sea.^[7]

Bulverhythe was probably a harbour of Danish invaders, which suggests that -hythe or hithe means a port or small haven.^[8]

The Kingdom of Haestingas[link]

From the 6th century AD until 771, the area around modern-day Hastings, as the territory of the Haestingas tribe, considered itself to be a separate Kingdom from the surrounding Kingdoms of Suth Saxe ("South Saxons", i.e. Sussex) and Kent, and attempted to retain its separate cultural identity until the 11th century.^[9] The kingdom was probably a sub-kingdom, the object of a disputed overlordship by the two powerful neighbouring kingdoms: when King Wihtred of Kent settled a dispute with King Ine of Sussex & Wessex in 694, it is probable that he seceded the overlordship of Haestingas to Ine as part of the treaty.^[9][10]

In 771 King Offa of Mercia invaded Southern England, and over the next decade gradually seized control of Sussex and Kent. Symeon of Durham records a battle fought at an unidentified location near Hastings in 771, at which Offa defeated the Haestingas tribe, effectively ending its existence as a separate Kingdom. By 790, Offa controlled Hastings effectively enough to confirm grants of land in Hastings to the Abbey of St Denis, in Paris.^[11] However, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1011 relates that Vikings over-ran "all Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Haestingas", indicating the town was still considered a separate 'county' or province to its neighbours 240 years after Offa's conquest.^[12]

A royal mint in Hastings was established in AD 928 during the reign of Athelstan.^[13]

Medieval Hastings[link]

The start of the Norman Conquest was the Battle of Hastings, fought on 14 October 1066; although the battle itself took place 8 mi (13 km) to the north at Senlac Hill, and William had landed on the coast between Hastings and Eastbourne at a site now known as Norman's Bay. It is thought that the Norman encampment was on the town’s outskirts, where there was open ground; a new town was already being built in the valley to the east. That "New Burgh" was founded in 1069, and is mentioned in the Domesday Book as such. William defeated and killed Harold Godwinson, the last Saxon King of England, and destroyed his army; thus opening England to the Norman conquest.

William caused a castle to be built at Hastings probably using the earthworks of the existing Saxon castle.

Hastings was shown as a borough by the time of the Domesday Book (1086); it had also given its name to the Rape of Hastings, one of the six administrative divisions of Sussex. As a borough, Hastings had a corporation consisting of a "bailiff, jurats, and commonalty". By a Charter of Elizabeth I in 1589 the bailiff was replaced by a mayor.

Hastings and the sea[link]

The Harbour arm and fishing boats

Hastings town centre and the Memorial from an old postcard

Hastings town centre in 2005

By the end of the Saxon period, the port of Hastings had moved eastward near the present town centre in the Priory Stream valley, whose entrance was protected by the White Rock headland (since demolished). It was to be a short stay: Danish attacks and huge floods in 1011 and 1014 motivated the townspeople to relocate to the New Burgh.

In the Middle Ages Hastings became one of the Cinque Ports; Sandwich, Dover, and New Romney being the first, Hastings, and Hythe followed, all finally being joined by Rye and Winchelsea, at one point 42 towns were directly or indirectly affiliated to the group.

In the 13th century much of the town was washed away by the sea. During a naval campaign of 1339, and again in 1377, the town was raided and burnt by the French, and seems then to have gone into a decline. As a port, Hastings' days were finished.

Hastings had suffered over the years from the lack of a natural harbour, and there have been attempts to create a sheltered harbour. Attempts were made to build a stone harbour during the reign of Elizabeth I, but the foundations were destroyed by the sea in terrible storms. The last harbour project began in 1896, but this also failed when structural problems and rising costs exhausted all the available funds. Today a fractured seawall is all that remains of what might have become a magnificent harbour. In 1897 the foundation stone was laid of a large concrete structure, but there was insufficient money to complete the work and the "Harbour arm" remains uncompleted. It was partially blown up to discourage possible use by German invasion forces during World War II. The fishing boats are still stored on and launched from the beach.

Hastings was now a small fishing settlement, but it was soon discovered that the new taxes on luxury goods could be made profitable by smuggling, and the town was ideally located for that.^[14] Near the castle ruins, on the West Hill, are "St Clement's Caves", partly natural, but mainly excavated by hand by the smugglers from the soft sandstone. Their trade was to come to an end with the period following the Napoleonic Wars, for the town became one of the most fashionable resorts in Britain, brought about by the so-called properties of seawater. Once this came about the expansion of the town took place, to the west, since there was little space left in the valley.

The double decker promenade that runs between Warrior Square and Hastings Pier, was built in the 1930s by Sidney Little

It was at this time that the elegant Pelham Crescent and Wellington Square were built: other building followed. In the Crescent is the classical style church of St Mary in the Castle (its name recalling the old chapel in the castle above) now in use as an arts centre. The building of the crescent and the church necessitated further cutting away of the castle hill cliffs. Once that move away from the old town had begun, it led to the further expansion along the coast, eventually linking up with the new St Leonards.

Like many coastal towns, the population of Hastings grew significantly as a result of the construction of railway links and the fashionable growth of seaside holidays during the Victorian era. In 1801 its population was a mere 3,175; by 1831 it had reached over ten thousand; by 1891 it was almost sixty thousand, and the 2001 census reported over 85,000 inhabitants.

Between 1903 and 1919 Fred Judge FRPS photographed many of the towns events and disasters. These included storms, the first tram, visit of the Lord Mayor of London, Hastings Marathon Race and the pier fire of 1917. Many of these images were produced as picture postcards by the British Postcard manufacturer he founded now known as Judges Postcards.

In the 1930s the town underwent some rejuvenation. Seaside resorts were starting to go out of fashion: Hastings perhaps more than most. The town council set about a huge rebuilding project, among which the promenade was rebuilt; and an Olympic-size bathing pool was erected. The latter, regarded in its day as one of the best open-air swimming and diving complexes in Europe, later became a holiday camp before closing in 1986. It was demolished, but the area is still known by locals as "The Bathing Pool".^[15]

Government[link]

Borough of Hastings, shown within East Sussex

Hastings Town Hall

Hastings returned two Members of Parliament from the 14th century until 1885 since when it has returned one. Since 1983 it has been part of the parliamentary constituency of Hastings and Rye; the current MP, since 2010, is Amber Rudd of the Conservative Party. Prior to 1983, the town was in an eponymous seat of its own.

Hastings, it is thought, was a Saxon town before the arrival of the Normans: the Domesday Book refers to a new Borough: as a borough, Hastings had a corporation consisting of a "bailiff, jurats, and commonalty".^[7] Its importance was such that it also gave its name to one of the six Rapes or administrative districts of Sussex.

By a Charter of Elizabeth I in 1589 the bailiff was replaced by a mayor, by which time the town's importance was dwindling. In the Georgian era, patronage of such seaside places (such as nearby Brighton) gave it a new lease of life so that, when the time came with the reform of English local government in 1888, Hastings became a County Borough, responsible for all its local services, independent of the surrounding county, then Sussex (East); less than one hundred years later, in 1974, that status was abolished.

Hastings Borough Council is now in the second tier of local government, below East Sussex County Council. The Labour Party has an overall control of the council with 17 seats, whilst the Conservative Party holds 14 seats and the Liberal Democrat party has 1 seat. The Borough is divided into sixteen electoral wards; Ashdown, Baird, Braybrooke, Castle, Central St Leonards, Conquest, Gensing, Hollington, Maze Hill, Old Hastings, Ore, St Helens, Silverhill, Tressell, West St Leonards and Wishing Tree^[16]

Geography and climate[link]

The East Hill Cliff

Hastings is situated where the sandstone beds, at the heart of the Weald, known geologically as the Hastings Sands, meet the English Channel, forming tall cliffs to the east of the town. Hastings Old Town is in a sheltered valley between the East Hill and West Hill (on which the remains of the Castle stand). In Victorian times and later the town has spread westwards and northwards, and now forms a single urban centre with the more suburban area of St Leonards-on-Sea to the west. Roads from the Old Town valley lead towards the Victorian area of Clive Vale and the former village of Ore, from which "The Ridge", marking the effective boundary of Hastings, extends north-westwards towards Battle. Beyond Bulverhythe, the western end of Hastings is marked by low-lying land known as Glyne Gap, separating it from Bexhill-on-Sea.

The sandstone cliffs have been the subject of considerable erosion in relatively recent times: much of the Castle was lost to the sea before the present sea defences and promenade were built, and a number of cliff-top houses are in danger of disappearing around the nearby village of Fairlight.

The beach is mainly shingle, although wide areas of sand are uncovered at low tide. The town is generally built upon a series of low hills rising to 500 ft (150 m) above sea level at "The Ridge" before falling back in the river valley further to the north.

There are three Sites of Special Scientific Interest within the borough; Marline Valley Woods, Combe Haven and Hastings Cliffs To Pett Beach. Marline Valley Woods lies within the Ashdown ward of Hastings. It is an ancient woodland of pedunculate oak-hornbeam which is uncommon nationally. Sussex Wildlife Trust own part of the site.^[17] Combe Haven is another site of biological interest, with alluvial meadows, and the largest reed bed in the county, providing habitat for breeding birds. It is in the West St Leonards ward, stretching into the parish of Crowhurst.^[18] The final SSSI, Hastings Cliffs to Pett Beach, is within the Ore ward of Hastings, extending into the neighbouring Fairlight and Pett parishes. The site runs along the coast and is of both biological and geological interest. The cliffs hold many fossils and the site has many habitats, including ancient woodland and shingle beaches.^[19]

	Battle	Sedlescombe Westfield	Rye
	Bexhill-on-Sea		Fairlight
		Hastings    East
		English Channel

Climate[link]

As with the rest of the British Isles and Southern England, Hastings experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. In terms of the local climate, Hastings is on the eastern edge of what is, on average, the sunniest part of the UK, the stretch of coast from the Isle of Wight to the Hastings area. Hastings, tied with Eastbourne, recorded the highest duration of Sunshine of any month anywhere in the United Kingdom - 384 hours - in 1911.^[20] Temperature extremes since 1960 at Hastings have ranged from 33.2 °C (91.8 °F) in July 2006,^[21] down to −9.8 °C (14.4 °F) in January 1987.^[22]

Neighbourhoods and areas[link]

Some of the areas and suburbs of Hastings are Ore Valley, St Leonards, Silverhill, West St Leonards, and Hollington. Ore, Silverhill and Hollington were once villages that have since become part of the Hastings conurbation area during rapid growth.^[16] The original part St Leonards was laid out in the early 19th century as a new town: a place of elegant houses designed for the well-off; it also included a central public garden, a hotel, an archery, assembly rooms and a church. Today's St Leonards has extended well beyond that original design, although the original town still exists within it.^[25]

Demography[link]

The population of the town in 2001 was 85,029, by 2009 the estimated population was 86,900. Hastings suffers at a disadvantage insofar as growth is concerned because of its restricted situation, lying as it does with the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty to the north. Redevelopment of the area is partly hampered by the split administration of the combined Hastings and Bexhill economic region between Hastings and Rother district councils. There is little space for further large-scale housing and employment growth within the designated boundaries of Hastings, and development on the outskirts is resisted by Rother council whose administrative area surrounds Hastings. Rother has a policy of urban expansion in the area immediately north of Bexhill, but this requires infrastructure improvements by central Governments which have been under discussion for decades.^[26] This situation has now become the subject of parliamentary consideration.^[27]

Ethnicity[link]

Ethnicity of as 2001^[1]

Economy[link]

Lacuna Place, where the SAGA offices are based

Entrance to Kings Walk, Priory Meadow Shopping Centre

Until the development of tourism, fishing was Hastings' major industry. The beach-launched fishing fleet, based at the Stade remains Europe's largest and has recently won accreditation for its sustainable methods. The fleet has been based on the same beach, below the cliffs at Hastings, for at least 400, possibly 600, years. Its longevity is attributed to the prolific fishing ground of Rye Bay nearby.^[28] Hastings fishing vessels are registered at Rye, and thus bear the letters "RX" (Rye,SusseX).

There are now various industrial estates that lie around the town, mostly on the outskirts, which include engineering, catering, motoring and construction; however, most of the jobs within the Borough are concentrated on health, public services, retail and education. 85% of the firms (in 2005) employed fewer than 10 people; as a consequence the unemployment rate was 3.3% (cf. East Sussex 1.7%). However, qualification levels are similar to the national average: 8.2% of the working-age population have no qualifications while 28% hold degree-level qualifications or higher, compared with 11% and 31% respectively across England.^{[citation needed]}

Shopping and retail[link]

Hastings main shopping centre is Priory Meadow Shopping Centre, which was built on the site of the old Central Recreation Ground which played host to some Sussex CCC first-class fixtures. The centre houses 56 stores and covers around 420,000 ft². Further retail areas in the town centre include Queens Road, Wellington Place and Robertson Street.

There are plans to expand the retail area in Hastings, which includes expanding Priory Meadow and creating more retail space as part of the Priory Quarter development. Priory was intended to have a second floor added to part of the retail area, which as of yet has not happened and so far only office space has been created as part of the Priory Quarter.^[29]

Regeneration[link]

In 2002 the Hastings and Bexhill task force, set up by the South East England Development Agency, was founded to regenerate the local economy, a 10 year programme being set up to tackle the local reliance in public sector employment. The regeneration scheme has seen the construction of the University Centre Hastings, the new Sussex Coast College campus and construction of the Priory Quarter, which still remains unfinished but now houses Saga offices, bringing 800 new jobs to the area.^[30][31]

Culture and community[link]

Events[link]

Hastings Borough Bonfire Society at the Old Town Carnival 2010

Throughout the year many annual events take place in Hastings, the largest of which being the May Day bank holiday weekend, which features a Jack-in-the-Green festival (revived since 1983),^[32] and the culmination of the Maydayrun -- tens of thousands of motorcyclists having ridden the A21 to Hastings. The yearly carnival during Old Town Week takes place every August, which includes a week of events around Hastings Old Town, including a Seaboot race, bike race, street party and pram race. In September there is a month-long arts festival 'Coastal Currents' and a Seafood and Wine Festival. During Hastings Week held each year around 14 October the Hastings Bonfire Society^[33] stages a torchlight procession through the streets, with a beach bonfire and firework display.

Other smaller events include the Hastings Beer and Music Festival, held every July in Alexandra Park, the Hastings Musical Festival held every march in the White Rock Theatre and the Hastings International Chess Congress.

Theatre and cinema[link]

There are two theatres in the town, the White Rock Theatre and the Stables Theatre. The White Rock theatre is the venue of the yearly pantomime and throughout the year hosts comedy, dance and music acts. The Stables stages more local productions and acts as an arts exhibition centre. The Phoenix Arts Centre, based at William Parker Sports College also stages local productions as well as shows put on by the school.

There is a small four screen Odeon cinema in the town, located opposite the town hall; however, there are plans to build a new multiplex cinema as part of the Priory Quarter development in the town centre. The town has an independent cinema called the Electric Palace located in the Old Town.

Museums and art galleries[link]

Fishermen's Museum

There are four museums in Hastings; the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, the Old Town Hall Museum, the Hastings Fishermen's Museum and the Shipwreck Heritage Centre. The first three mentioned are open for the whole year.

The Hastings Museum and Art gallery concentrates mostly on local history and contains exhibits on Grey Owl and John Logie Baird . It also features a Durbar Hall, donated by Lord Brassey; the hall contains displays focusing on the Indian subcontinent and the Brassey Family. The Old Town Hall concentrates on the history of the Old Town. The Fishermen's Museum, housed in the former fishermen's church, is dedicated to the fishing industry and maritime history of Hastings. The shipwreck heritage centre displays artefacts from wrecks around the area.

The new Jerwood Gallery is being constructed in the Stade area of the Old Town and planned to be fully open in 2012.^[34] The project is opposed by many locals who felt that a new art gallery would be better off being located elsewhere in the town.^[35]

Parks and open spaces[link]

There are many parks and open spaces located throughout the town, one of the most popular and largest being Alexandra Park opened in 1882 by the Prince and Princess of Wales. The park contains gardens, open spaces, woods, a bandstand, tennis courts and a cafe. Other open spaces include White Rock Gardens, West Marina Gardens, St Leonards Gardens, Gensing Gardens, Summerfields Woods, Linton Gardens, Hollington woods, Filsham Valley, Warrior Square, Castle Hill, St Helens Woods and Hastings Country Park.

Cultural references[link]

English rock band Keane refers to the 'rides on East Parade' in Hastings in their song "Sovereign Light Cafe".

Landmarks[link]

Marine Court

Hastings Castle was built in 1070 by the Normans, four years after the Norman invasion. It is located on the West Hill, overlooking the town centre and is a Grade I listed building. Little remains of the castle apart from the arch left from the chapel, part of the walls and dungeons. The nearby St. Clements Caves are home to the Smugglers Adventure, which features interactive displays relating to the history of smuggling on the south coast of England.

Hastings Pier can be seen from any part of the seafront in the town, however it is currently closed following safety concerns from the council and then a serious fire burning down most of the buildings on the pier and causing further damage to the structure.

Many church buildings throughout the town are Grade II listed including; Church in the Wood, Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel, Fishermen's Museum and St Mary Magdalene's Church.

On the seafront at St Leonards is Marine Court, a 1937 block of flats in the Art Deco style that was originally called 'The Ship' due to its style being based on the ocean liner RMS Queen Mary. This block of flats can be seen up to 20 mi (32 km) away on a clear day, from Holywell, in the Meads area of Eastbourne.

An important former landmark was "the Memorial", a clock tower commemorating Albert the Prince Consort which stood for many years at the traffic junction at the town centre, but was demolished following an arson attack in the 1970s.

Transport[link]

Road[link]

There are two major roads in Hastings: the A21 trunk road to London; and the A259 coastal road. Both are beset with traffic problems: although the London road, which has to contend with difficult terrain, has had several sections of widening over the past decades there are still many delays. Long-term plans for a much improved A259 east–west route (including a Hastings bypass) were abandoned in the 1990s, but a new road to Bexhill-on-Sea is planned to relieve the congested coastal route.^[36] Hastings is also linked to Battle via the A2100, the original London road. The A28 road connects Hastings to Ashford, Canterbury and the Isle of Thanet. The A27 road starts nearby at Pevensey.

The town is served by Stagecoach buses on routes that serve the town; and also extend to Bexhill, Eastbourne and Dover. National Express Coaches run service 538 to London.

National Rail[link]

1914 Railway Junction Diagram of Hastings area lines and stations; the Bexhill West branch and the West Marina station have since closed.

Hastings has four rail links: two to London, one to Brighton and one to Ashford. Of the London lines, the shorter is the Hastings Line, the former South Eastern Railway (SER) route to Charing Cross via Battle and Tunbridge Wells, which opened in 1852; and the longer is the East Coastway Line, the former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) route to Victoria via Bexhill, Eastbourne and Lewes. Trains to Brighton also use the East Coastway Line. The Marshlink Line runs via Rye to Ashford where a connection can be made with Eurostar services, and is unelectrified except for the Hastings-Ore segment.

A historic British Rail Class 201 "Thumper" can sometimes been seen (and heard) on historic runs to and from Hastings.^[37] This was a regular service from Hastings to Ashford and many locals have fond memories of hearing the trains rumble in and out of Hastings.

Hastings is served by two rail companies: Southeastern and Southern. Southeastern services run along the Hastings Line, generally terminating at Hastings, with some peak services extending to Ore; the other lines are served by Southern, with services terminating at Ore or Ashford.

The town currently has four railway stations: from west to east they are West St Leonards station, St Leonards Warrior Square, Hastings, and Ore; this latter has been proposed to be renamed to Ore Valley.^[38] There is also one closed station and one proposed station in the area. West Marina station (on the LBSCR line) was very near West St Leonards (on the SER line) and was closed some years ago. A new station has been proposed at Glyne Gap in Bexhill, which would also serve residents from western Hastings.^[38]

Local Rail[link]

The East Hill Lift: one of the two funicular railways in Hastings

There are two funicular railways, known locally as the West Hill and East Hill Lifts respectively.

The Hastings Miniature Railway operates along the beach from Rock-a-Nore to Marine Parade, and has provided tourist transport since 1948. The railway was considerably restored and re-opened in 2010.

A local metro railway service from Bexhill to Ore has also been proposed.^[38]

Paths[link]

The Saxon Shore Way, (a long distance footpath, 163 mi (262 km) in length from Gravesend, Kent traces the Kent and Sussex coast “as it was in Roman times” to Hastings. The National Cycle Network route NCR2 links Dover to St Austell along the south coast, and passes through Hastings.

Historical transport systems[link]

Turnpike[link]

Hastings became part of the Turnpike road system in 1837, when builder James Burton was building his new town of St Leonards. The route of the road is that taken by the A21 today.

Trams and trolleybuses[link]

Map of the Hastings and District Electric Tramways

Hastings had a network of trams from 1905 to 1929. The trams ran as far as Bexhill, and were worked by overhead electric wires, except for the stretch along the seafront from Bo-Peep to the Memorial, which was initially worked by the Dolter stud contact system. The Dolter system was replaced by petrol electric trams in 1914, but overhead electrification was extended to this section in 1921. Trolleybuses rather than trams were used in the section that included the very narrow High Street, and the entire tram network was replaced by the Hastings trolleybus system in 1928–1929.^[39]

Maidstone and District bought the Hastings Tramway Company in 1935, but the trolleybuses still carried the "Hastings Tramways" logo until shortly before they were replaced by diesel buses in 1959, following the failure of the "Save our trolleys" campaign.

Education[link]

Sussex Coast College during construction

Hastings has 18 primary schools, three secondary schools and one further education college.

University Centre Hastings opened in 2003 and is managed by the University of Brighton; it is located in the town centre a short distance from the railway station and the main Sussex Coast College campus. Sussex Coast College, formerly called Hastings College, is the town's further education college; it is located at Station Plaza, next to the railway station.

The secondary schools in the town include William Parker Sports College, Helenswood, The Hastings Academy and The St Leonards Academy. East Sussex County Council closed three mixed comprehensive schools: Filsham Valley, The Grove and Hillcrest, replacing them with two academy schools, The St Leonards Academy, and The Hastings Academy. The proposed sponsors for the academies are University of Brighton (lead sponsor), British Telecom and East Sussex County Council itself. East Sussex County Council provisionally approved the closure of Hillcrest, The Grove and Filsham Valley. The academies were opened in September 2011.

Religious buildings[link]

The most important buildings from the late medieval period are the two churches in the Old Town, St Clement's (probably built after 1377) and All Saints (early 15th century).^[40] There is also a Muslim mosque, formerly "Mercatoria School" until purchased by the East Sussex Islamic Association. The former Ebenezer Particular Baptist Chapel in the Old Town dates from 1817 and is listed at Grade II.^[41]

Sport[link]

Hastings Half Marathon

Every year the Hastings Half Marathon is held in the town. The 13.1m (21.1km) race first took place in 1984 and attracts entrants from all over the country, taking runners on a route encircling the town, starting and finishing by the West Marina Gardens in St Leonards.

Hastings United is the town's most senior football team, playing in the Premier Division of the Isthmian League. It was founded in 1894 and plays its home games at The Pilot Field, which ground used to be home to two other senior clubs; St Leonards and the original Hastings United which folded in 1985. There are football clubs in Hastings that compete in the East Sussex League, such as Hollington United, St Leonards Social and Rock-a-Nore, playing at local parks and recreation grounds about the town.

Hastings Priory is the town's largest cricket club, having 4 teams playing competitive, as well as a large junior section. The club's home is at Horntye Park, though it also makes use of the facilities at William Parker Sports College.

William Parker sees clubs using the school as their base, such as Hastings & Bexhill Rugby Club, Hastings Athletic Club and Hastings Priory Cricket Club 3rd and 4th teams. Other local teams include Cinque Ports Rugby Club which plays at Grove School, and South Saxons Hockey Club which plays on the astroturf pitch at Horntye Park.

There are many bowling greens in the parks and gardens located about the town; the Hastings Open Bowls Tournament has been held annually in June since 1911 and attracts many entrants country-wide.^[42]

Since 1920 Hastings has hosted the Hastings International Chess Congress. A testament to its importance is that every World Champion before Garry Kasparov except Bobby Fischer played at Hastings including Emanuel Lasker (1895), José Raúl Capablanca (1919, 1929/30, 1930/1 and 1934/5), Alexander Alekhine (1922, 1925/6, 1933/4 and 1936/7), Max Euwe (1923/4, 1930/1, 1931/2, 1934/5, 1945/6 and 1949/50), Mikhail Tal (1963/4), Tigran Petrosian (1977/8), Boris Spassky (1965/6), and Anatoly Karpov (1971/2).

Notable people[link]

Filmography[link]

• Is Anybody There? (2007)
• Foyle's War^[43](TV, 2002 onwards)
• When I Was 12^[44]
• The Final Curtain (2000)
• Some Voices (2000)
• Last of the Blonde Bombshells (1999)
• Grey Owl (1999)
• I Want You (1998)

References[link]

Notes[link]

Bibliography[link]

External links[link]

• Hastings Borough Council official website
• A thorough history of Hastings by local historian Steve Peak

v t e Districts of South East England Berkshire Bracknell Forest Reading Slough West Berkshire Windsor and Maidenhead Wokingham Buckinghamshire Aylesbury Vale Chiltern Milton Keynes South Bucks Wycombe East Sussex Brighton and Hove Eastbourne Hastings Lewes Rother Wealden Hampshire Basingstoke and Deane East Hampshire Eastleigh Fareham Gosport Hart Havant New Forest Portsmouth Rushmoor Southampton Test Valley Winchester Isle of Wight Isle of Wight Kent Ashford Canterbury Dartford Dover Gravesham Maidstone Medway Sevenoaks Shepway Swale Thanet Tonbridge and Malling Tunbridge Wells Oxfordshire Cherwell Oxford South Oxfordshire Vale of White Horse West Oxfordshire Surrey Elmbridge Epsom and Ewell Guildford Mole Valley Reigate and Banstead Runnymede Spelthorne Surrey Heath Tandridge Waverley Woking West Sussex Adur Arun Chichester Crawley Horsham Mid Sussex Worthing

Terry Deary (born 4 March 1946, Sunderland) is a children's author. He is one of Britain's best-selling authors and was the tenth most-borrowed author in British libraries, and was voted Outstanding Children's Non-Fiction Author Of The 20th Century.^[1]

Background[link]

A former actor, theatre-director and drama teacher, Deary says he began writing when he was 29.

Most famously, he is one of the authors of the Horrible Histories series of books popular among children for their disgusting details, gory information and humorous pictures and among adults for getting children interested in history. Books in the series have been widely translated into other languages and imitated. A cartoon series has been made of the series of books and was shown on CiTV in 2002. A Horrible Histories live action comedy sketch show of the same name was shown on CBBC since 2009. Deary himself has played some parts.

Deary has commented: "I've no interest in schools. They have no relevance in the 21st century. They were a Victorian idea to get kids off the street. Who decided that putting 30 kids with only their age in common in a classroom with one teacher was the best way of educating? At my school there were 52 kids in the class and all I learned was how to pass the 11-plus. Testing is the death of education. Kids should leave school at 11 and go to work. Not down the mines or up chimneys, mind, but working with computers or something relevant. Everything I learned after 11 was a waste of time. Trigonometry, Boyle's law: it's never been of any use to me. They should have been teaching me the life skills I was going to need, such as building relationships, parenting and managing money. I didn't have a clue about any of these things at 18. Schools need to change." ^[2] Terry Deary has said of historians: "They are nearly as seedy and devious as politicians..They pick on a particular angle and select the facts to prove their case and make a name for themselves... They don’t write objective history... Eventually you can see through them all. They all come with a twist."

Deary received an Honorary Doctorate of Education from the University of Sunderland in 2000.

As of January 2011, he retired from writing children's books after 35 years. He lives in Burnhope, County Durham, England.

Selected books[link]

Series[link]

• Horrible Histories
• Truly Terrible Tales
• Master Crook’s Crime Academy
• Tudor Chronicles (also known as Tudor Terror)
• Tudor Tales
• Roman Tales
• Egyptian Tales
• The Fire Thief
• The Knowledge
• Pirate Tales
• True Stories
• Time Detectives
• The Spark Files

Other books[link]

• Spooks (1997)
• Hope Street (1980)^[3]
• Ghost For Sale (2001)
• The Treasure Of Crazy Horse (2001)
• The Custard Kid (2001)
• The Wishing Well Ghost (2002)
• Into The Lion's Den (2002)
• Footsteps In The Fog (2003)
• The Boy Who Haunted Himself (2004)
• The Last Viking (2005)
• Great big Father Christmas joke book

External links[link]

• Terry Deary's homepage
• Terry Deary at LibraryThing
• Terry Deary's speech at the Game Based Learning Conference, London, March 2009

Children's literature portal

References[link]