Hastings
- This is about Hastings in England. There are other uses of the name Hastings
| Borough of Hastings | |
|---|---|
 Shown within East Sussex | |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Borough |
| Region: | South East England |
| Admin. County: | East Sussex |
| Area: - Total |
Ranked 338th 29.72 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Hastings |
| ONS code: | 21UD |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2002 est.) - Density |
Ranked 266th 85,786 2,886 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 97.0% White |
| Politics | |
| Hastings Borough Council http://www.hastings.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | All party |
| MP: | Michael Foster |
Hastings is a town in southeastern England, in the county of East Sussex. Population (2000) about 84,000. Now known as a seaside resort and education centre (Hastings College and University College Hastings), it is near the site of the Battle of Hastings, fought in 1066. Hastings was one of the Cinque Ports, but its significance as a port declined after the Middle Ages and its main industry became fishing It still has the largest beach-based fishing fleet in England.
History
Hastings was not a Roman settlement, although there are traces of Iron Age or Romano-British earthworks. The town of Hæstingas (probably referring to the followers of an Anglo-Saxon leader called Hæsta), is mentioned in documents from the eighth century, and a royal mint was established there in the reign of Athelstan.
William the Conqueror made his headquarters here on his arrival in England, and the Battle of Hastings was fought a few miles a way near the present town of Battle. In this battle, William defeated and killed Harold Godwinson, the last Saxon King of England, and destroyed his army, opening England to the Norman conquest.
Geography
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) and the East Hill. 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; the north-eastern part of the town is the former village of Ore.
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.
Transport links
Hastings is linked to London by two railway lines. The shorter is the former South Eastern Railway (SER) route to Charing Cross via Tunbridge Wells, Kent, opened 1852, and the longer is the former London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) route to Victoria via Eastbourne and Lewes. There is also a branch line via Rye, East Sussex to Ashford, Kent. The ex-SER route suffered for many years from the narrowness of some of the tunnels, so that special locomotives and rolling stock had to be built to meet the restricted loading gauge, for instance the Southern Railway's Schools Class and later the flat-sided Hastings diesels. This problem was eventually overcome, permitting the electrification of this line in 1996 and much improved services. The town currently has four railway stations: from west to east they are West St Leonards, St Leonards Warrior Square, Hastings, and Ore. There was formerly a fifth, West Marina.
There is a miniature railway catering for tourists near the Fishmarket. There are two funicular railways, known as the East Hill Lift and West Hill Lift respectively.
Hastings is linked to London by the A21 trunk road. Improvements in this road over the years, notably the bypasses for Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, and Pembury, have improved this route, but the dual carriageway stops well short of Hastings. Long-term plans for a much improved east-west route and a Hastings bypass were abandoned in the 1990s, but a new road to Bexhill-on-Sea was announced in 2004.
Hastings at one time had a network of trams, later replaced by trolleybuses. The "Save our trolleys" campaign was unsuccessful, and the town is now served by diesel buses.
Economic and social status
Hstings has long been known as a retreat for artists and painters.For example, the pre-Raphaelite painters including Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt admired the town for its light and clear air. In the 19th century the towns became prosperous on the basis of the tourist trade from London and the Midlands, with the rise of international tourism from England it has declined substantially. It is now one of the most economically disadvantaged districts in south-east England.
However, it is easy to overplay the disadvantage argument. There is, at first glance, no immediate clear reason why Hastings should suffer from disadvantage when compared, for example, to its large neighhbour to the east, Brighton. It has a very attractive setting, many very fine houses and a remarkably conserved Old Town, and contains within its Borough boundaries a major clifftop country park. It has a well-documented depth of history. The a key work is Historic Hastings by former curator of Hastings Museum John Manwaring Baines. Another major work of scholarship and affection is Steve Peak's monumental Fishermen of Hastings - 200 years of the Hastings Fishing Community (1985), available from the town's museums. The opening paragraph gives a flavour of the subject -
- "The Hastings fishing industry has a long and unusual history. Fishing boats similar to those used at Hastings today have worked from almost the same beach under the Hastings cliffs for at least 400, and quite probably 600 or more years. Despite the exposed landing site the Hastings fleet has survived many difficult times because the town lies next to one of Britain's most prolific fishing grounds, Rye Bay."
Hastings is currently the site of major redevelopment work, otherwise known as 'regeneration', which is not without controversy. The change in status of the former College of Further Education into a University College, through an arrangement with the University of Brighton, is funded as part of this process. Currently, one of the most notable architectural changes has been the demolition of the 1930s railway station and its replacement by a modernist glass and steel stucture opened in 2004.
Noted former residents
- John Logie Baird, pioneer of television
- Catherine Cookson, popular novelist
- Titus Oates, inventor of the "Popish Plot".
- Robert Tressell, socialst novelist
