125-592: The Hastings & St. Leonards Observer , commonly known as just the Hastings Observer , is an English weekly tabloid newspaper, published every Friday since 1859 in Hastings , East Sussex . First published in 1859, The Observer is the town's only weekly newspaper. Nowadays, the paper is edited and created by Sussex Newspapers, and printed by Johnston Press at their headquarters in Hilsea , Portsmouth . Prior to this,
250-439: A Quoit Brooch Style buckle , which would indicate settlement here to the early 5th century. Subsequent excavations revealed a considerable area of Saxon buildings. Of the 22 buildings excavated, three were sunken huts, 17 are rectangular founded on individual post holes, one is represented by post holes between which are beam slots, and one by eight single large posts. Highdown is the only 5th-century Saxon cemetery found outside
375-402: A King Æðelstan . A little later, Æðelberht was King of Sussex, but he is known only from charters. The dates of Æðelberht's reign are unknown beyond the fact that he was a contemporary of Sigeferth , Bishop of Selsey from 733, as Sigeferth witnessed an undated charter of Æðelberht in which Æðelberht is styled Ethelbertus rex Sussaxonum. After this we hear nothing more until about 765, when
500-624: A Romano-British community was based there and that they controlled a group of Saxon mercenaries. Despite the difficulties presented by the large forest tract of the Weald that separated Sussex from Surrey, similarities in the archaeological record from this period between Sussex and Surrey help to substantiate the claim of Ælle of Sussex to be the first Bretwalda in the Thames Valley . Such unified regional commands were probably not long-lasting. J. N. L. Myres posits that archaeological evidence, in
625-685: 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. But, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1011 relates that Vikings overran "all Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Haestingas", indicating
750-522: A charter of Elizabeth I in 1589, the bailiff was replaced by a mayor. Muslim scholar Muhammad al-Idrisi , writing c.1153, described Hastings as "a town of large extent and many inhabitants, flourishing and handsome, having markets, workpeople and rich merchants". 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
875-505: A charter of King Ethelred the Unready as Eaduuine dux . His name was also added to a forged charter dated 956 (possibly an error for 976). In the next generation, Wulfnoth Cild , a Sussex thegn , played a prominent part in English politics. In 1009 his actions resulted in the destruction of the English fleet, and by 1011 Sussex, together with most of South East England, was in the hands of
1000-632: A definitive story. The preservation of Ælle's sons in Old English place names is unusual. The names of the founders, in other origin legends, seem to have British and/ or Latin roots not Old English. It is likely that the foundation stories were known before the 9th century, but the annalists manipulated them to provide a common origin for the new regime. These myths proport that the British were defeated and replaced by invading Anglo-Saxons arriving in small ships. These origin stories were largely believed right up to
1125-517: A grant of land is made by a king named Ealdwulf , with two other kings, Ælfwald and Oslac , as witnesses. In 765 and 770 grants are made by a King Osmund , the latter one was later confirmed by Offa of Mercia . The independent existence of the Kingdom of Sussex came to an end in the early 770s. In 771, King Offa of Mercia conquered the territory of the Haestingas ; he may have entered Sussex from
1250-470: A holiday camp before closing in 1986. It was demolished, but the area is still known by locals as "the Old Bathing Pool". The 2021 census reported 91,497 inhabitants. Hastings returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) 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 July 2024 ,
1375-529: A large part of central Sussex between the Rivers Adur and Ouse until the founding of Lewes in the 9th century. By the 11th century the towns were mostly developments of the fortified towns ( burhs ) founded in the reign of Alfred the Great. The ancient droveways of Sussex linked coastal and downland communities in the south with summer pasture land in the interior of the Weald. The droveways were used throughout
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#17330938704411500-506: A mint near Selsey where the finds of coins termed Series G sceattas are concentrated. That a cash economy had returned by the 10th century is suggested by the various mints which became increasingly plentiful after King Æthelstan reorganised England's coinage. There were mints at Chichester, Lewes and Steyning. A new mint also seems to have existed on a temporary basis in the Iron Age hillfort at Cissbury , which may have been refortified as
1625-506: A network of urban centres such that farmers were within 15 km to 30 km of market facilities. Agriculture seems to have flourished on the Sussex coastal plain and on the Sussex Downs. The fact that the Sussex coast appears to have been relatively densely settled for centuries implies that the land was being more competently farmed than was typical of the standard of the day. The Weald
1750-488: A nominal 100 hides (a measure of taxable value linked to land area) but in Sussex they were generally much smaller. Sussex may also have had eight virgates for every hide; in most of England a hide was usually made up of four virgates. The population of Britain as a whole is likely to have declined sharply around the 4th century from around 2–4 million in AD ;200 to less than 1 million in AD 300. There would have been
1875-545: A period of harsh West Saxon domination. According to Bede , the subjection reduced the kingdom of Sussex to "a worse state of slavery"; it also included placing the South Saxon clergy under the authority of Wessex through the bishops of Winchester . Cædwalla also seized the Isle of Wight where he ruthlessly exterminated its population, including its royal line. According to David Dumville, Cædwalla's savage behaviour towards Sussex and
2000-543: A refuge during the Danish invasions in the reign of Æthelred the Unready . The Cissbury mint seems to have worked in close association with the mint at Chichester rather than replacing it. By the eve of the Norman conquest, there were further mints at Arundel, Pevensey and Hastings. Lewes seems to have prospered with overseas trade; coins from Lewes stamped "LAE URB" travelled as far as Rome. The substantial sea-faring trade of Lewes
2125-536: A sense of identity. The boundaries of the Kingdom of Sussex probably crystallised around the 6th and 7th centuries. The Domesday Book lists four Mardens on the East Hampshire/ West Sussex border. The Old English for Marden would have been Maere-dun meaning "boundary down", reflecting their position. A tributary of the River Ems rises south of Stoughton and travels north to North Marden, completing
2250-423: A sheltered harbour. Attempts were made to build a stone harbour during the reign of Elizabeth I , but the sea destroyed the foundations in terrible storms. The fishing boats are still stored on and launched from the beach. Hastings was then just a small fishing settlement, but it was soon discovered that the new taxes on luxury goods could be avoided by smuggling; the town was ideally located for that purpose. Near
2375-420: A shingle spit created by the great storm of 1287, was declared to be Crown Property after an inquiry held at Battle during 1827 and the land was cleared in preparation for the development of this area of land by Patrick Francis Robertson . 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
2500-459: A similarly sharp decline in the population of Sussex during this period. At the end of the 4th century there was a decline in the birth rate across Roman Britain; this population decrease would have been exacerbated by the transfer to Continental Europe of three large armies, recruited in Britain in the last 30 years of Roman rule, as well as plague and barbarian attack. Sussex's population around 450
2625-595: A territory based on the former kingdom and Romano-British civitas of the Regni and its boundaries coincided in general with those of the later county of Sussex . For a brief period in the 7th century, the Kingdom of Sussex controlled the Isle of Wight and the territory of the Meonwara in the Meon Valley in east Hampshire. From the late 8th century, Sussex seems to have absorbed
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#17330938704412750-458: A witness. However, the charter is now believed to have been a 10th- or early-11th-century forgery. There is another charter, that is thought to be genuine, that records a series of transactions of a piece of land near modern-day Burpham in the Arun Valley . It starts off with a grant of land, at Peppering, by Nunna to Berhfrith probably for the foundation of a minster. Berhfrith transferred
2875-578: Is Helena Dollimore of the Labour and Co-operative Party . Prior to 1983, the town formed the Hastings parliamentary constituency by itself. 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". Its importance was such that it also gave its name to one of
3000-399: Is " Cfb " (Marine West Coast Climate/ Oceanic climate ). Some of the areas and suburbs of Hastings are Ore , 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. The original part of St Leonards was bought by James Burton and laid out by his son,
3125-573: Is a theory that Watt may have been a sub-king who ruled over a tribe of people centred around modern day Hastings, known as the Haestingas and Nunna is described, in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , as the kinsman of Ine of Wessex who fought with him against Geraint , King of the Britons, in 710. According to Bede, Sussex was subject to Ine for a number of years and like Cædwalla, Ine also oppressed
3250-505: 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 . 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
3375-543: Is estimated to have been no more than about 25,000, rising gradually to around 35,000 by 1100. At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Sussex had some of the highest population densities in England. Approximate populations of Sussex towns shortly after the end of the Saxon period in 1086 at the time of the Domesday Book may have been as follows: The account of Ælle and his three sons landing at Cymenshore appears in
3500-565: Is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 1050, 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 . Evidence of prehistoric settlements have been found at the town site: flint arrowheads and Bronze Age artefacts have been found. Iron Age forts have been excavated on both
3625-574: Is indicated by the payment of 20 shillings for munitions of war payable whenever Edward the Confessor 's fleet put to sea. This is the probable origin of the Cinque Ports organisation that flourished under the Normans. The River Ouse would have been navigable at least as far north as Lewes. Armstrong argues that while Sussex was separated from much else of mainstream English experience, this should not hide
3750-461: Is of both biological and geological interest. The cliffs hold many fossils and the site has many habitats, including ancient woodland and shingle beaches. As with the rest of the British Isles and Southern England, Hastings experiences a maritime climate with mild 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
3875-519: Is recorded in 982, because he was buried at Abingdon Abbey in Berkshire, where one version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was compiled. According to the abbey's records, in which he was called princeps Australium Saxonum, Eadwinus nomine (Eadwine leader of the South Saxons), he bequeathed estates to them in his will, although the document itself has not survived. Earlier in the same year he witnessed
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4000-657: 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. An additional theatre is located in Cambridge Road, the Henry Ward Hall in a space shared with the His Place church in what used to be the Robertson Street United Reformed Church . There is a small four screen Odeon cinema in
4125-557: Is traditionally thought to have been located at what is now known as the Owers Rocks, south of Selsey , however there is no archaeological evidence to support the existence of Ælle and his three sons in the Selsey area. From 491 until the arrival of Christianity in the 7th century, there was a dearth of contemporary written material. Because of the lack of written history before the 7th century it has made it difficult for historians to produce
4250-482: Is typical of the towns which developed from the fortified burhs , which had intramural streets running around the town walls; this allowed garrison troops to defend the town and large peripheral blocks that were left as hedged areas ( hagae ) into which fugitives from the countryside could flee. Deposited around c. 470 as the kingdom of Sussex was being established, the Patching hoard of coins represents
4375-475: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle , a collection of seven vernacular manuscripts, commissioned in the 9th century, some 400 years or more after the events at Cymenshore . The account describes how on landing Ælle slew the local defenders and drove the remainder into the Forest of Andred. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle goes on to describe Ælle's battle with the British in 485 near the bank of Mercredesburne , and his siege of
4500-520: The Battle of Hastings , which took place 8 mi (13 km) to the north-west at Senlac Hill in 1066. It later became one of the medieval Cinque Ports . In the 19th century, it was a popular seaside resort , as the railway allowed tourists and visitors to reach the town. Today, Hastings is a popular seaside resort and is still a fishing port with the UK's largest beach-based fishing fleet. Its estimated population
4625-547: The Isle of Wight and the territory of the Meonwara (the Meon valley of present-day Hampshire). Æðelwealh also married Eabe, a princess of the Hwicce , a Mercian satellite province. In 681, the exiled St Wilfrid of Northumbria arrived in the kingdom of the South Saxons and remained there for five years evangelising and baptising the people. There had been a famine in the land of
4750-573: The Kingdom of Sussex ( / ˈ s ʌ s ɪ k s / ; from Middle English : Suth-sæxe , in turn from Old English : Suth-Seaxe or Sūþseaxna rīce , meaning "(land or people of/Kingdom of) the South Saxons"), was one of the seven traditional kingdoms of the Heptarchy of Anglo-Saxon England . On the south coast of the island of Great Britain , it was originally a sixth-century Saxon colony and later an independent kingdom . The kingdom remains one of
4875-516: The Midlands may have taken place in the 5th century. For much of the 7th and 8th centuries, Sussex suffered invasion attempts by the kingdom of Wessex to its west. King Æðelwealh formed an alliance with Christian Mercia against Wessex, becoming Sussex's first Christian king. With support from St Wilfrid , Sussex became the last major Anglo-Saxon kingdom to become Christian. South Saxon and Mercian forces took control of what are now east Hampshire and
5000-595: The Saxon Shore fort at Andredadsceaster (modern day Pevensey ) in 491 after which the inhabitants were massacred. The legendary foundation of Saxon Sussex, by Ælle, is likely to have originated in an oral tradition before being recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. According to legend, various places took their names from Ælle's sons. Cissa is supposed to have given his name to Chichester , Cymen to Cymenshore and Wlencing to Lancing . Cymenshore
5125-613: The South Saxon bishopric , where it remained until after the Norman Conquest , when it was moved to Chichester by decree of the Council of London of 1075 . Shortly after the arrival of St Wilfrid, the kingdom was ravaged with "fierce slaughter and devastation" and Æðelwealh was slain by an exiled West Saxon prince Cædwalla . The latter was eventually expelled, by Æðelwealh's successors, two Ealdormen named Berhthun and Andhun . In 686
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5250-463: 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. 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
5375-478: The 11th century. 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 ceded the overlordship of Haestingas to Ine as part of the treaty. 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
5500-399: The 19th century. Archaeology gives a different settlement picture to that indicated by the South Saxon foundation story. Germanic tribes probably first arrived in Sussex earlier in the 5th century than AD 477. The archaeological evidence that we do have indicates the area of settlement by the location of cemeteries of the period. The origins of the settlers can be derived by comparing
5625-722: The Cinema de Luxe in Hastings, and the Elite Cinema in St. Leonards, featured in a 1942 legal case, Regal (Hastings) Ltd v Gulliver , a leading case heard in the High Court and the Appeal Court , and ultimately resolved in the House of Lords , on the issue of company directors ' duty of loyalty to the company they direct. Kingdom of Sussex The Kingdom of the South Saxons , today referred to as
5750-476: The Confessor , who had spent much of his early life in exile in Normandy, was pro-Norman and in Sussex gave to the abbot of Fécamp Abbey the minster church at Steyning, as well as confirming land existing land grants at Hastings, Rye and Winchelsea. To his chaplain, Osborn , later William's Bishop of Exeter, Edward gave the harbour and other land at Bosham . Many of the Saxon nobles grew jealous and from 1049 there
5875-495: The Conqueror, and Saxon power in Sussex was at an end. The earliest recorded Viking raid on Sussex took place in 895 and it was particularly difficult for a scattered farming community to meet these sudden attacks. In 895 the population of Chichester killed many hundreds of Danes who plundered the area. Eadulf, a Saxon noble, was appointed to organise the defence of Sussex but died from the plague before much could be done. Alfred
6000-544: The Danes. In an early example of local government reform, the Anglo-Saxon ealdormanries were abolished by the Danish kings and replaced with a smaller number of larger earldoms. Wulfnoth Cild was the father of Godwin , who was made Earl of Wessex in 1020. His earldom included Sussex. When he died in 1053, Godwin was succeeded as Earl of Wessex (including Sussex) by his son Harold , who had previously been Earl of East Anglia. Edward
6125-509: The East and West Hills. This suggests that the inhabitants moved early to the safety of the valley in between the forts. The settlement was already based on the 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 shipped it out by boat. Iron was worked locally at Beauport Park , to
6250-495: The Great almost certainly inaugurated the building of a series of burhs or forts to be garrisoned at the threat of danger by men drawn from the surrounding population. The development of the burhs across the southern half of England suggests a considerable awareness of a repeated problem The Burghal Hidage documents five such fortifications in Sussex ;— at Chichester , Burpham , Lewes, Hastings and Eorpeburnan . In
6375-634: The Hastings Bonfire Society stages a traditional Sussex Bonfire which includes a torchlight procession through the streets, a beach bonfire and firework display. Hastings Pirate Day takes place in July every year. Hastings, as of November 2017, still holds the Guinness World Record for the most pirates in one place. Other events include the Hastings Beer and Music Festival , held every July on
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#17330938704416500-412: The Isle of Wight can be explained by Sussex's westward expansion with assistance from Mercia at the expense of Wessex and Cædwalla was determined that this should never happen again. Of the later South Saxon kings we have little knowledge except from occasional charters . In 692 a grant is made by a king called Noðhelm (or Nunna ) to his sister, which is witnessed by another king called Watt . There
6625-470: The Isle of Wight. Cædwalla of Wessex killed Æðelwealh and "ravaged Sussex by fierce slaughter and devastation". The South Saxons forced Cædwalla from Sussex and were able to lead a campaign into Kent , replacing its king. At that time Sussex could have re-emerged into a regional power. Shortly afterwards, Cædwalla returned to Sussex, killing its king and putting its people into what Bede called "a worse state of slavery". The South Saxon clergy were put under
6750-408: The Kingdom of Kent, where he was already dominant. By 772 he apparently controlled the whole of the Kingdom of Sussex. Offa also confirmed two charters of Æðelberht , and in 772 he grants land himself in Sussex, with Oswald , dux Suðsax , as a witness. It is probable that about this time Offa annexed the kingdom of Sussex, as several persons, Osmund , Ælfwald and Oslac , who had previously used
6875-525: The Kingdom of Sussex were sometimes different from other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and regions. By the Late Saxon period, the main administrative unit of Sussex was the district known as the rape . Their origins may be earlier, possibly originating in the Romano-British period. The rapes were sub-divided into hundreds , which served as taxation and administrative districts. In England generally these contained
7000-627: The Kingdom of the Haestingas , after the region was conquered by the Mercian king Offa . A large part of its territory was covered by the forest that took its name from the fort of Anderitum at modern Pevensey, and known to the Romano-British as the Forest of Andred and to the Saxons as Andredsleah or Andredsweald , known today as the Weald. This forest, according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle ,
7125-459: The Norman conquest. William ordered 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
7250-515: The Ouse and Cuckmere was believed to have been the location for the federate treaty settlement of Anglo-Saxon mercenaries. Whatever the original settlement pattern of the early Germanic settlers, their culture came to rapidly dominate the whole of Sussex. There is some evidence to support the treaty hypothesis, based on the grave finds of the period. For example, the excavation of one of the cemeteries, at Rookery Hill at Bishopstone, East Sussex , yielded late Roman or insular Roman metalwork including
7375-501: The Ouse/Cuckmere area, and is 2 km from a hoard of Roman gold and silver that was found in 1997. The Patching hoard , as it came to be known, contained a coin as recent as AD 470. Thus, Highdown cemetery would have been in use by Saxons when the hoard was buried at Patching. The settlement that used Highdown as a burial ground in the 5th century has never been identified, but White speculates that there may have been some link between Patching and Highdown, and Welch has suggested that
7500-424: The Oval (Previously Alexandra Park), the Hastings Musical Festival held every March in the White Rock Theatre , the International Composers Festival split between Hastings and Bexhill during August and the Hastings International Chess Congress . There is also a small Wildman event in late January. There are two main theatres in the town, the White Rock Theatre and the Stables Theatre. The White Rock theatre
7625-436: The Priory Quarter, which still remains unfinished but now houses Saga offices, bringing 800 new jobs to the area. Hastings has an Army Cadet Force (ACF) detachment which is part of Sussex ACF . This detachment is based in the old Territorial Army Unit Building on Cinque Ports Way, and is affiliated to PWRR . Hastings also has a Royal Air Force Air Cadet Squadron, 304 (Hastings) Squadron of Sussex Wing RAFAC, based in
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#17330938704417750-454: The Priory Quarter. 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 on public sector employment. The regeneration scheme saw the construction of the University Centre Hastings , (now known as the University of Brighton in Hastings) the new Sussex Coast College campus and construction of
7875-436: The Saxon era by the South Saxons and probably originated before the Roman occupation of Britain. The droveways formed a road system that clearly suggests that the settlers in the oldest developed parts of Sussex were concerned not so much with east–west connections between neighbouring settlements as with north–south communication between each settlement and its outlying woodland pasture. The droving roads had an enduring effect on
8000-576: The South Saxons attacked Hlothhere , king of Kent , in support of his nephew Eadric , who afterwards became king of Kent. At this time, a new South Saxon hegemony extending from the Isle of Wight into Kent could conceivably have seen Sussex re-emerge as a regional power but the revival of Wessex ended this possibility. Eadric's rule in Kent lasted until Kent was invaded by Cædwalla who had managed to establish himself as ruler of Wessex. With his additional resources, Cædwalla once more invaded Sussex, killing Berhthun. Sussex now became for some years subject to
8125-505: The South Saxons sought to secure their independence by alliance with Mercia. To the South Saxons, the more distant influence and control of a king from Mercia is likely to have been preferable to that of the West Saxons. The alliance between Mercia and the South Saxons was further sealed by Æðelwealh , king of Sussex, receiving baptism into the Christian church through the Mercian court, with Wulfhere acting as his sponsor, making Æðelwealh Sussex's first Christian king. Wulfhere gave Æðelwealh
8250-404: The South Saxons when Wilfrid arrived. Wilfrid taught the locals to fish, and they were impressed with Wilfrid's teachings and agreed to be baptised en masse . On the day of the baptisms the rain fell on the "thirsty earth", so ending the famine. Æðelwealh gave 87 hides (an area of land) and a royal vill to Wilfrid to enable him to found Selsey Abbey . The abbey eventually became the seat of
8375-472: The UK, the stretch of coast from the Isle of Wight southeastern coast Sandown Bay 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 July 1911. Temperature extremes since 1960 at Hastings have ranged from 34.7 °C (94.5 °F) in July 2022, down to −9.8 °C (14.4 °F) in January 1987. The Köppen climate classification subtype for this climate
8500-415: The Weald of Sussex and Surrey and appears to have attempted to find support in Sussex. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle records a further campaign against the South Saxons by the West Saxons in 725. According to a charter dated 775, the former abbot of Selsey , Bishop Eadberht of Selsey ( c. 705 x?709) – (716 x?), was given a grant of land by King Nunna ; the document included King Watt as
8625-460: The West Saxon dynasty. According to Heather Edwards in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , it is probable that Sussex was not annexed by Wessex until 827. The earldom of Sussex seems later to have been sometimes combined with that of Kent. Æthelberht of Wessex was ruling Sussex and the other south-eastern kingdoms by 855, and succeeded to the kingship of Wessex on the death of his brother, King Æthelbald , thus bringing Sussex fully under
8750-422: The architect Decimus Burton , 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. The population of the town in 2001 was 85,029, by 2009 the estimated population
8875-412: 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 settlement of St Leonards . Such extensive development needed a large transient workforce. Many of the people coming into Hastings at this time settled on some waste-ground to the west of the main town called the America Ground . This land, originally
9000-540: The castle ruins, on the West Hill, are " St Clement's Caves ", partly natural but mainly excavated by hand by 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 assumed health-giving properties of seawater, as well as the local springs and Roman baths. Once this came about,
9125-426: The coast between Hastings and Eastbourne at Pevensey. 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, opening England to
9250-418: The control of West Saxon Winchester . Only around 715 was Eadberht of Selsey made the first bishop of the South Saxons , after which further invasion attempts from Wessex ensued. Following a period of rule by King Offa of Mercia , Sussex regained its independence but was annexed by Wessex around 827 and was fully absorbed into the kingdom of Wessex in 860. The Kingdom of Sussex had its initial focus in
9375-489: The court of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders , a relative of Tostig's wife, Judith of Flanders . When they returned in 1052 to an enthusiastic welcome in the Sussex ports, Edward had to reinstate the Godwine family. In 1064 Harold sailed from Bosham, from where a storm cast him up in Normandy. Here he was apparently tricked into pledging his support for William of Normandy as the next king of England. On 14 October 1066, Harold II,
9500-496: The crown of Wessex. From 895 Sussex suffered from constant raids by the Danes , till the accession of Canute , after which arose the two great forces of the house of Godwine and of the Normans . Godwine was probably a native of Sussex, and by the end of Edward the Confessor 's reign a third part of the county was in the hands of his family. The death of Eadwine , Ealdorman of Sussex,
9625-554: 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
9750-461: The departure of the Romans, the town suffered setbacks. The Beauport site was abandoned, and the town suffered from problems from nature and man-made attacks. 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 frequently changed. The original Roman port is probably now under
9875-607: The design of grave goods and pottery with the designs of similar items in the German homelands. The principal area of settlement in the 5th century has been identified as between the lower Ouse and Cuckmere rivers in East Sussex, based on the number of Anglo-Saxon cemeteries there. However, there are two cemeteries in West Sussex at Highdown , near Worthing and Apple Down, 11 km (7 mi.) northwest of Chichester. The area between
10000-452: 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. This situation has now become the subject of parliamentary consideration. Ethnicity in 2001 Until
10125-528: The development of tourism, fishing was Hastings' major industry. The fishing fleet, based at the Stade , remains Europe's largest beach-launched fishing fleet 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. Hastings fishing vessels are registered at Rye , and thus bear
10250-403: The earliest early mediaeval coins found in Britain. The hoard includes five imported siliquae that had not been clipped, so coin-clipping had probably ceased by then, although the coinage had probably collapsed decades earlier than this, after Roman rule in Britain collapsed. In the first quarter of the 8th century the Kingdom of Sussex was among the kingdoms producing coinage, possibly from
10375-607: 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
10500-534: The east, swine pastures were named denns , in the centre they were referred to as "styes" ( stig ) and in the west, folds . These places grew from being sheds for animals and temporary huts for swineherders, to permanent farms, water-mills, churches and market towns. Churches in the High Weald are mostly on isolated ridge-top sites, away from the pioneer farms being established on the valley sides, as at Worth and Itchingfield to this day. Land divisions in
10625-488: The form of distinctive Saxon saucer brooches, suggests that Ælle's forces penetrated north as far as modern day Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire to the west. H. R. Loyn suggests that this initial regional hegemony may have ended after the Battle of Mount Badon . After 491 the written history of Sussex goes blank until 607, when the annals report that Ceolwulf of Wessex fought against the South Saxons. Threatened by Wessex,
10750-529: The form of lagoons, salt marsh, wide inlets, islands and peninsulas. To the South Saxons of the 5th and 6th centuries this coastline must have resembled their original homeland between coastal Friesland , Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein . The landscape gave rise to some key regional differences within the kingdom. The rich coastal plain continued to be the base for the large estates, ruled by their thegns , some of whom had their boundaries confirmed by charters. The Downs were more deserted. South Saxon impact
10875-401: 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
11000-548: The group. In the 13th century, much of the town and part of Hastings Castle was washed away in the South England flood of February 1287 . 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 seaport, Hastings' days were finished. Hastings had suffered over the years from the lack of a natural harbour, and there have been attempts to create
11125-438: The land to Eolla, who in turn sold it to Wulfhere. The land then went to Beoba who passed it on to Beorra and Ecca. Finally King Osmund bought the land from his comes Erra and granted it to a religious woman known as Tidburgh. The charter is undated but it has been possible to date the various transactions approximately, by cross referencing people who appear both on this charter and on other charters that do provide dates. On
11250-422: The last Saxon king of England was killed at the Battle of Hastings and the English army defeated, by William the Conqueror and his army. It is likely that all the fighting men of Sussex were at the battle, as the county's thegns were decimated and any that survived had their lands confiscated. At least 353 of the 387 manors, in the county, were taken from their Saxon owners and given to the victorious Normans by
11375-441: The least known of the Anglo-Saxon polities, with no surviving king-list, several local rulers and less centralisation than other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The South Saxons were ruled by the kings of Sussex until the country was annexed by Wessex , probably in 827, in the aftermath of the Battle of Ellendun . In 860 Sussex was ruled by the kings of Wessex , and by 927 all remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were ruled by them as part of
11500-452: The letters "RX" ( R ye, Susse X ). 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
11625-498: The new kingdom of England . The foundation legend of the kingdom of Sussex is that in 477 Ælle and his three sons arrived in three ships, conquering what is now Sussex. Ælle became overlord, or Bretwalda , over the other Anglo-Saxon kingdoms south of the Humber. Historians are divided over whether or not Ælle really existed; however archaeological evidence supports the view that a short-lived expansion of South Saxon authority as far as
11750-466: The north of the town. It employed up to one thousand men and is considered to have been the third-largest mine in the Roman Empire . There was also a possible iron-working site near Blacklands Church in the town – the old name of 'Ponbay Bridge' for a bridge that used to exist in the area is a corruption of 'Pond Bay' as suggested by Thomas Ross (Mayor of Hastings and author of an 1835 guide book). With
11875-402: The paper was produced in a building purposely designed for the paper, the F.J. Parsons Printworks (Observer Building) . Hastings Hastings ( / ˈ h eɪ s t ɪ ŋ z / HAY -stingz ) is a seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, 24 mi (39 km) east of Lewes and 53 mi (85 km) south east of London. The town gives its name to
12000-449: The pattern of Sussex settlement. When churches came to be built, an ideal site was where a drove crossed a river. Eventually traders gravitated to churches, founding villages, and in some cases market towns such as Ditchling, Shermanbury , Thakeham , Ashurst and Shipley . Different names existed for the swine pastures in different parts of Sussex. In the territory of the Haestingas in
12125-428: The people of Sussex in the same harsh way for many years. In 710 Sussex was still under West Saxon domination when King Nothhelm of Sussex is recorded as having campaigned with Ine in the west against Dumnonia. Sussex evidently broke away from West Saxon domination some time before 722 when Ine is recorded as invading Sussex, which he repeated three years later, killing a West Saxon exile named Ealdberht who had fled to
12250-524: 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 . The German submarine U-118 was towed loose in a storm in the early morning of 15 April 1919 and ran aground on the beach at Hastings in Sussex at approximately 00:45, directly in front of the Queens Hotel. The wreck was an attraction until it
12375-494: The reign of Æthelred the Unready , the threat of the Danes continued — in 994 and 1000 the Anglo Saxon Chronicle records burning, plundering and manslaughter on the coast of Sussex and neighbouring counties. The most serious attacks took place in 1009, when a Viking army took up position over the winter period on the Isle of Wight and ravaged Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The rectilinear street plan of Chichester
12500-527: The rest of Anglo-Saxon England has been emphasised, Roman roads must have remained important communication arteries across the forest of the Weald. The Weald was not the only area of Sussex that was forested in Saxon times—for example, at the western end of Sussex is the Manhood Peninsula , which in the modern era is largely deforested, but the name is probably derived from the Old English maene-wudu meaning "men's wood" or "common wood" indicating that it
12625-530: The rich trade that Sussex had with other parts of Europe. By the 1060s Lewes also supported a cattle market. By the end of the Anglo Saxon period and the Domesday Survey by the Normans in 1086, Sussex contained some of the richest and most heavily populated pockets of England on the coastal plain, albeit alongside some of England's most economically underdeveloped areas in the Weald. By this time, Sussex had
12750-450: 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. Combe Haven
12875-449: The royal title, now sign with that of dux . Offa may not have been able to maintain control in the period 776–785 but he appears to have re-established control afterwards. Mercian power collapsed in the years following Offa's death in 796, and the South Saxons re-emerged as an independent political entity. After the Battle of Ellandun in 825 the South Saxons submitted to Ecgberht of Wessex , and from this time they remained subject to
13000-546: The same building. The town also has a Sea Cadet squadron, T.S. Hastings . This sits adjacent to the Army and Air Cadet building on the seafront. The site features a climbing wall and other training facilities. 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) and usually falls around 1–3 May, and
13125-404: 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
13250-457: The sea. Bulverhythe was probably a harbour used by Danish invaders, which suggests that -hythe or hithe means a port or small haven. From the 6th century AD until 771, the people of the area around modern-day Hastings, identified the territory as that of the Haestingas tribe and a kingdom separate from the surrounding kingdoms of Suth Saxe ("South Saxons", i.e. Sussex) and Kent . It worked to retain its separate cultural identity until
13375-516: 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
13500-548: The south of Sussex lay the English Channel, beyond which lay Francia, or the Kingdom of the Franks . By the 680s, when Christianity was being introduced, there is no doubt that the district around Selsey and Chichester had become the political centre of the kingdom, though there is little archaeological evidence for a reoccupation of Chichester itself before the 9th century. Ditchling may have been an important regional centre for
13625-562: 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 . 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
13750-463: 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 has not happened yet and so far only office space has been created as part of
13875-508: The town expanded, westwards only as there was little space left in the valley. It was at this time that the elegant Pelham Crescent and Wellington Square were built; other building followed. In the Crescent (designed by architect Joseph Kay ) 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. Building the crescent and church necessitated further cutting away of
14000-452: The town was still considered a separate 'county' or province to its neighbours 240 years after Offa's conquest. During his reign, Athelstan established a royal mint in Hastings in AD 928. The start of the Norman Conquest was the Battle of Hastings , fought on 14 October 1066, although the battle itself took place 6 mi (9.7 km) to the northwest at Senlac Hill. William had landed on
14125-589: 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 and a restored cinema in St Leonards called the Kino Teatr. The new luxury 'Sussex Exchange' Cinema, bar and conference venue is situated in St. Leonards. The Regal cinema and
14250-460: The transaction, where Eolla has acquired the land from Berhfrith and sells it to Wulfhere [ c. AD 705 x (716x?)], Nunna's subscription is followed by a certain Osric who was possibly Nunna's co-ruler. The other witnesses who followed Osric were Eadberht and Eolla, both who can be identified as ecclesiastics. Nunna's last surviving charter, which is dated 714 in error for 717, is witnessed by
14375-687: The western boundary of the South Saxons. Bede described the western boundary with the Kingdom of Wessex as being opposite the Isle of Wight. To the east at Romney Marsh and the River Limen (now called the River Rother or Kent Ditch), Sussex shared a border with the Kingdom of Kent . North of the Forest Ridge in the Wealden forest lay the sub-kingdom of Surrey, which became a frontier area disputed by various kingdoms until it later became part of Wessex. To
14500-514: Was 120 miles (190 km) wide and 30 miles (50 km) deep (although probably closer to 90 miles (140 km) wide). It was the largest remaining area of woodland and heath in the territories that became England and was inhabited by wolves, boars and possibly bears. It was so dense that Domesday Book did not record some of its settlements. The heavily forested Weald made expansion difficult but also provided some protection from invasion by neighbouring kingdoms. Whilst Sussex's isolation from
14625-627: 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. 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, and cricketing royalty such as Dr. W. G. Grace and Sir Don Bradman . The centre houses 56 stores and covers around 420,000 ft . Further retail areas in
14750-517: 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
14875-537: Was 91,100 in 2021. 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 'the constituency (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." Hastingleigh in Kent was named after that tribe. The place name Hæstingaceaster
15000-504: Was conflict between the disgruntled Saxon nobility, the king and the incoming Normans. Godwine and his second son Harold kept the peace off the Sussex coast by using Bosham and Pevensey to drive away pirates. In 1049 the murder by Sweyn Godwinson of his cousin Beorn after Beorn has been tricked in going to Bosham resulted in the entire Godwine family being banished. It was from Bosham in 1051 that Godwin, Sweyn and Tostig fled to Bruges and
15125-465: Was dismantled in 1921. 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
15250-492: Was greatest in the Weald. Along the north scarp of the Downs runs a series of parishes with land evenly distributed across the different soils to their northern boundaries; the parishes were more or less equal in area, around 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares). In the early mediaeval period, the rivers of Sussex may have acted locally as a major unifier, linking coastal, estuary and riverside communities and providing people in these areas with
15375-491: Was laid on a large concrete structure, but there was insufficient money to complete the work and the "Harbour Arm" remains uncompleted. In fact, during World War II, it was partly blown up to discourage possible use by German invasion forces. Between 1903 and 1919 Fred Judge FRPS photographed many of the town's events and disasters. These included storms, the first tram, visit of the Lord Mayor of London, Hastings Marathon Race and
15500-426: Was once woodland. The coastline would have looked different from today. Much of the alluvium in the river plains had not yet been deposited and the tidal river estuaries extended much further inland. It is estimated that the coastal plain may have been at least one mile broader than it is today. Before people reclaimed the tidal marshes in the 13th century the coastal plain contained extensive areas of sea water in
15625-604: 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 were the first, followed by Hastings and Hythe then Rye and Winchelsea . At one point 42 towns were directly or indirectly affiliated with
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