This Virtual Cache will take you to locations around Hastings Old Town which have either a major historical relevance or something a bit more Hastings
Hastings Old Town was occupied in medieval times, and much of it is around 500 years old; it lies mostly in the valley between the West Hill and East Hill, we weren't very original when it came to naming things! The Old Town is full of historic places with lots of twittens (alleyways) and passageways to get you places. The Stade, the shingle beach, is home to the biggest beach-launched fishing fleet in Europe. This virtual will walk you through different locations starting on the West Hill near the castle, through the Old Town and along Rock-a-Nore to the cliffs.
The walk shouldn't take too long and is family friendly. There are a few steps that a pushchair can be carried up and a funicular railway if walking up/down hills is too much.
Locations
1) Hastings Castle
GZ is known as Ladies' Parlour and was the site of an Iron age fort that occupied the whole promontory, the high land that juts into the sea. This area was then occupied by the Normans in 1066 when a wooden motte and bailey castle was created (prefabricated in Normandy, a flat pack castle 900 years before IKEA!), the first Norman castle in England. The castle was ordered to be rebuilt in stone in 1070 by William the Conqueror along with St Mary's Chapel. Through the years the castle suffered damage from erosion, the French, dissolution of the monasteries and bomb damage. The castle decayed from the 14th Century before becoming farmland for the Pelham family before becoming overgrown and forgotten. The castle was rediscovered in 1824 when work on Pelham crescent began.
From where you are standing you will be able to see the East Gate and wall, the foundations of two large towers.
To log this first location take a photo of the castle ruins from GZ
On the way to the next location you'll be walking past one of the two funicular railways of Hastings, The West Hill Lift. This funicular railway runs through the cliff down to street level through a tunnel built from 7 million bricks. The lift still uses its original Victorian carriages that are 126 years old!
2) Cannon Ball in a Church
Welcome to St Clement's Church, the oldest building in Hastings that is still in everyday use. The church has a lot of history and was featured in the TV show Foyle's War. It's origins can be traced back to 1080, it was ravaged by the French in 1339 and again in 1377 and was rebuilt in 1380. The famous Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Rossetti married Elisabeth Siddall here in 1860. The stain glass windows were replaced post-war due to a nearby bomb blast blowing in the windows.
At the waypoint location you'll be able to see the bell tower, either side of the windows you'll see some round objects. One of the objects is a cannonball that was shot inland by the Dutch in the 17th Century. Instead of removing the cannonball the church authorities carved another one on the other side so that they matched.
To log this location take a photo of the bell tower and use a finger/pen/other tool to point at the REAL cannonball
3) Swan Inn & Gardens
Welcome to Swan Gardens the former site of the Swan Inn/Hotel. Swan Inn stood on this spot and was the focal point for social and general activity for about 400 years, the building dated back to 1523 with some 14th Century references to the site. The 16th century building was pulled down in 1879 and rebuilt and became the Swan Public House. At lunchtime on Sunday 23rd May 1943 10 Focke-Wulf 190’s dropped 25 bombs and machine gunned the town. The Swan Hotel was one of five public houses and two hotels hit by the bombs. 25 people died as a result of this raid, many of whom were in the Swan. The bomb that destroyed the Swan Hotel was also the one that blew out the windows of the nearby church. The site now is a memorial to those who lost their lives.
Near to this location you should be able to find a sign that states what other buildings stood on this site and were destroyed. How many houses were destroyed?
To get to the next location continue walking up the High Street, one of the two one way streets in the Old Town, the original main paths through the town. High Street used to have two way traffic including double decker buses. As you walk up the street look at the old buildings including the Old Town Hall and the Old Bank House. Another interesting feature are the wooden blocks at the entrance of the Laindons Hotel that were used so that the horse and carts wouldn't wake people sleeping in the Inn.
4) Smuggling Cottage
From where you standing outside St Mary Star of the Sea you'll be able to see a cottage that has a small window on the south side. This window was used to let smugglers know if it was clear to bring their goods in as a lamp that was hung from this window could be seen down the entire street to where the Old Sea Wall use to be. This is a common stop on the popular ghost walks in Hastings.
Walk up to the raised pavement and take a photo down the street to see how far the lamp could be seen.
5) Ghost of Dunkirk
In front of you is the 'Ghost of Dunkirk' the Cyril and Lilian Bishop, a former Hastings lifeboat that has been put on display and was one of the Dunkirk Little Ships. The lifeboat was the first lifeboat in Hastings to have an engine and operated in Hastings between 29 April 1931 and 19 March 1950. She was launched 99 times and saved at least 34 lives. She earned a distinguished life-saving record during the Second World War, and also suffered the only known complete capsize of a Hastings lifeboat. The boat saved an unknown, but possibly substantial, number of soldiers from the beaches of Dunkirk, plus another 21 lives in 48 other recorded launches. The lifeboat was the only vessel from Hastings to take part in the evacuation of Dunkirk even though the fishing boats at Hastings are beach launched instead of being moored in a harbour. The lifeboat was sailed to Dover by Coxswain George Moon, my great, great uncle, and control handed over to the navy. Only 2 RNLI lifeboats used in the evacuation were manned by their own crew. After her service as an RNLI lifeboat she became a fishing boat in Scotland and sold to a buyer in France in 1993. She was bought back and restored in Hastings in July 2016.
Take a photo in front of the lifeboat, your face does not have to be in the photo.
6) All Saints Church
The second of two ancient churches in the Old Town, it is a Grade II* listed building was built in the 15th Century. It has some interesting features including a 15th century doom painting depicting Christ seated on rainbows, flanked by the Punishment of the Damned and the Heavenly Jerusalem, and Father Willis organ built in 1878 and is tonally unaltered since it's construction. During 1660 and 1674 the Rector was Samuel Oates, the father of infamous Titus Oates who fabricated the Popish Plot to kill Charles II. In 1619 a former Rector, The Rev. William Parker, died and left in his will that a foundation of which a school should be formed, this led to the William Parker School, a local still open school, to be established in 1621.
At street level there is a plaque stating that the church was occupied during the Civil War and the town guns surrendered. Who was the Colonel that occupied Hastings?
7) 16th Century Pub
This pub is a 16th century timber framed building that was refronted in the 18th Century and is home to many old stories. There are tunnels that run from the cellar than could have possibly been used by smugglers who frequented the pub in it's early years. Two mummified cats were found in the chimney during renovations in the 19th century. It has been alleged that a local Witch, Hannah Clarke, put her two cats up the chimney in 1665 and sealed it with a brick wall, in an attempt to ward off plague using witchcraft. These cats inspired the name of a local Morris side, Hannah's Cat. The mummified cats can be found in a box mounted on the wall.
Take a picture of the pub sign looking down the street towards the sea.
Continue walking down All Saints Street, home to some of the oldest surviving buildings in Hastings, there are 90 listed buildings on All Saints Street alone!
8) Winkle Island
The symbolic gathering of the Winkle Club, a charity formed in 1900 by the local fishermen to help the underprivileged. The island is part of a unique area in Hastings called 'The Stade' (the old Saxon term for 'landing place') and the stretch of shingle beach from which Hastings' famous fishing fleet has been launched every day for over a thousand years. The island is the central meeting points for many outdoor events during the year including traditional Good Friday marbles, Hastings Jack in the Green and Hastings Old Town Week. Each Winkle Club Member (or 'Winkler') carries a winkle shell which they must produce when challenged to 'winkle up'. Failure to do so results in a fine which goes towards local charities.
Take a picture of the Winkle Sculpture.
Walk along Rock-A-Nore towards the Fishermen's museum. Look out for the Net Huts, the tall black structures and the wet fish shops. The Net Huts were built for the fishermen to store and fix their nets in. With so many fishermen and so little space the huts grew up in height. As you get close to the museum you'll pass the East Hill Lift the second funicular railway on Hastings and the steepest in Britain. This apparently came about due to engineers misreading the drawings. At the top there are great views across the Old Town all the way to Beachy Head and Eastbourne.
9) Boat in a Church
Originally known as Church of St Nicholas, the Fishermen's museum was built in 1854 and was paid for by the Rector of All Saints Church. Shrimp nets, life buoys and painted sea views were used to paint the interior. The church was used as a military store during the Second World War but became badly damaged by the 1950's. The Old Hastings Preservation Society saved the church from demolition and restored the building which was re-opened as the Fishermen's Museum in 1956.The children of local fishermen are still baptised at the original church font that remains in position to this day. The museum is free to enter and is full of local history, stuffed animals and other oddities. It is open every day, except Christmas Day: April - October 10am - 5pm November - March 11am - 4pm
Inside the Museum is the Enterprise RX 278, the last of the old clinker-built sailing luggers that were the standard boat in the Hastings fishing fleet until the First World War. She was built in 1912. Outside are several other boats owned by the Museum, including the 1919-built Edward and Mary RX 74, one of the first Hastings boats to have an engine.
Take a seat on the anchor nearby that's been converted into a seat and take a photo of the fishing boats that are owned by the museum.
10) Rock-A-Nore Cliffs
Rock-A-Nore is the area of the Old Town that extends east of Winkle Island and was seen as the place to build if it didn't fit in the smart seaside image of the town. Over a hundred years ago a mortuary, an artillery battery, an engineering workshop, large stables, a lifeboat house, a military drill hall, an ice-making factory, several boat-builders, a tan house, a sewage manure works and a refuse burning plant could all be found along Rock-A-Nore.
From where you are standing you can look along the cliffs east towards Ecclesbourne Glen and Fairlight. Over recent centuries many fossils have been found along the cliffs including the skeletal remains of dinosaurs, pterosaurs and fish, and other creatures and vegetation that inhabited this environment around 140 million years ago. The cliffs consist of two geological formations, the Wadhurst Clay formation and Ashdown formation. In recent years the cliffs have been the site of many dramatic rock falls due to extreme weather so less fossil hunting has occurred. Near to your location is a display board that includes further information about the geology, history and flora and fauna of the area.
Stand on the groyne and take a photo eastward showing the cliff face
To 'find' this cache you must upload the photos you've taken on your tour into you online log, you must also send me the answers to the questions at locations 3 and 6