Editing Hastings (section)

===Early history===
[[File:Hastings- Boats making the Shore in a Breeze, by John James Chalon, 1819.JPG|thumb|upright=1.3|''Hastings- Boats making the Shore in a Breeze,'' by [[John James Chalon]], 1819]]
The first mention of Hastings is from 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'' is listed in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' entry for 1050,<ref>Eilert Ekwall, ''The Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names'', Oxford University Press, 1936.</ref><ref>Mills, A. D. & [[Room, Adrian]] (2002) "A Dictionary of British Place-names", in: [[Patrick Hanks]] et al. ''The Oxford Names Companion'', [[Oxford University Press]], 2002. {{ISBN|0-19-860561-7}}, pp. 895–1264; p. 1061</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite journal |first1=Pamela |last1=Combes |first2=Malcolm |last2=Lyne |title=Hastings, Haestingaceaster and Haestingaport: a question of identity |journal=Sussex Archaeological Collections |volume=133 |year=1995 |pages=213–24 |issn=0143-8204 |doi=10.5284/1086680 |url=https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-285-1/dissemination/pdf/Vol_133_1995/SAC133_Combes_and_Lyne.pdf |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Evidence of prehistoric settlements is present at the town site: flint arrowheads and [[Bronze Age]] artefacts have been found. [[Iron Age]] forts were excavated on both 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 [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] arrived in Britain for the first time in 55&nbsp;BC. At this time, they began to [[Iron industry of Ashdown Forest|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 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]].<ref name="OpenLearn">{{cite web|url=http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/beauport-park-east-sussex|title=Beauport Park, East Sussex|date=22 June 2006|work=[[OpenLearn]]|publisher=[[Open University]]|access-date=10 August 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006145624/http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/history/beauport-park-east-sussex|archive-date=6 October 2013}}</ref> 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).<ref name="historymap.info">Historical Hastings Wiki: [http://wiki.historymap.info/Iron_Working Iron Working – Historical Hastings Wiki], accessdate: 10 December 2019</ref>

With 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 the sea.<ref name="Hastings Past">{{Cite book|last=Marchant|first=Rex|title=Hastings Past|publisher=[[Phillimore & Co Ltd]]|location=Chichester|year=1997|isbn=1-86077-046-0}}</ref>

[[Bulverhythe]] was probably a harbour used by Danish invaders, which suggests that ''-hythe'' or ''hithe'' means a port or small haven.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Hithe |title=Hithe – the definition of Hithe |access-date=31 March 2008 |publisher=[[TheFreeDictionary.com]] |archive-date=23 June 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060623103435/http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Hithe |url-status=live }}</ref>