Editing Hastings (section)

===Hastings and the sea===
[[File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - The Fish Market at Hastings Beach - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|''The Fish Market at Hastings Beach'', [[J. M. W. Turner|Turner]] (1810)]]

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, Kent|Sandwich]], [[Dover]] and [[New Romney]] were the first, followed by Hastings and [[Hythe, Kent|Hythe]] then [[Rye, East Sussex|Rye]] and [[Winchelsea]]. At one point 42 towns were directly or indirectly affiliated with the group.

[[File:Hastings Castle 2012-07-28.jpg|thumb|[[Hastings Castle]], with the Pier and Town Centre in the background, and [[Eastbourne]] on the horizon]]

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 [[English Channel naval campaign, 1338-1339|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.

[[File:Hastings town centre postcard.jpg|thumb|left|Hastings town centre and the Memorial from an old postcard]]
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 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.<ref name="Smuggling on the Sussex Coast">{{cite web|url=http://www.hmag.org.uk/LocalHistory/ |title=Hastings Museum |publisher=Smuggling on the Sussex Coast |access-date=10 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090318003820/http://www.hmag.org.uk/LocalHistory/ |archive-date=18 March 2009 }}</ref> Near 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, the town expanded, westwards only as there was little space left in the valley.

[[File:Bottle Alley Hastings.jpg|thumb|right|The double decker promenade that runs from Hastings Pier beyond Marine Court (seen in the distance), with a break at Warrior Square, was built in the 1930s by the borough engineer [[Sidney Little]]]]
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 (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 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-on-Sea|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 a shingle spit created by the great storm of 1287, was declared to be Crown Property after an inquiry held at [[Battle, East Sussex|Battle]] during 1827 and the land was cleared in preparation for the development of this area of land by [[Patrick Francis Robertson]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://wiki.historymap.info/Category:America_Ground |title=Hastings local history Wiki |access-date=2 November 2019 |archive-date=31 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031233119/http://wiki.historymap.info/Category:America_Ground |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{main|Hastings Old Town}}

[[File:Historische Altstadt-Hastings.JPG|thumb|left|George Street, Old town]]
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.

{{anchor|Hastings Harbour Act 1890}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Hastings Harbour Act 1890
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act for the incorporation of Commissioners and for the construction of Harbour Piers and other Works at Hastings in the County of Sussex and for other purposes.
| year                  = 1890
| citation              = [[53 & 54 Vict.]] c. cxliii
| introduced_commons    = 
| introduced_lords      = 
| territorial_extent    = 
| royal_assent          = 4 August 1890
| commencement          = 
| expiry_date           = 
| repeal_date           = 
| amends                = 
| replaces              = 
| amendments            = 
| repealing_legislation = 
| related_legislation   = 
| status                = 
| legislation_history   = 
| theyworkforyou        = 
| millbankhansard       = 
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/Vict/53-54/143/pdfs/ukla_18900143_en.pdf
| revised_text          = 
| use_new_UK-LEG        = 
| UK-LEG_title          = 
| collapsed             = yes
}}
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 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 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 [[Imperial German Navy|German]] [[submarine]] [[SM U-118|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 was dismantled in 1921.<ref name="wreck">{{cite web|url=http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?138132|title=U-118|access-date=24 January 2010}}{{User-generated source|date=November 2024}}</ref>

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 Old Bathing Pool".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seasidehistory.co.uk/hastings_lido.html|title=The Bathing Pool at Hastings and St Leonards|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517053426/http://seasidehistory.co.uk/hastings_lido.html|archive-date=17 May 2008}}</ref>
[[File:Hastings Old Town July 1965.jpg|thumb|Hastings Old Town July 1965.]]
The 2021 census reported 91,497 inhabitants.