HASTINGS & ST. LEONARDS SOCIETY
Promoting Our Heritage and Civic Pride
Website: www.hastingsandstleonardssociety.org.uk
Secretary’s e-mail: hstlsoc@gmail.com
Newsletter: Issue 7 (23 rd August 2018)
Heritage Open Days events
Heritage Open Days (HODs) take place over two periods in September this year:
Thursday 6–Sunday 9; Thursday 13–Sunday 16. Hastings & St. Leonards
Society has arranged the following events:
Thursday 6 September: Start 2pm. Guided tour of St. Mary-in-the-Castle (7,
Pelham Place, Hastings TN34 3AF) with expert Brion Purdey. Meet in café area.
Duration 1 hour (approx). Brion will talk about the history of the site, the architect,
the design of the building, the crypt and some of the people incarcerated therein,
some of the incumbents, total immersion baptism, anecdotes etc. After the tour,
Brion will be happy to stay and answer any questions and expand further in the
café area, where refreshments can be purchased.
Note: the property has a lift and lavatory on the ground floor, which caters for
people with disabilities.
Saturday 8 September: 10 am–2 pm. Open Day at Emmanuel Church
(Vicarage Road, Hastings, TN34 3NA). Conservative evangelical church to the
north of the West Hill of Hastings, built 1873/74 in the early English style. There
will be a rolling slideshow giving the history of the church, and expert on hand to
answer questions. Refreshments available for donations.
Note: Wheelchair/pushchair access is best via the gate at the top of Vicarage
Road. Toilet not specifically for disabled. Children’s crèche area.
Sunday 9 September: 10.30 am start. Guided tour of Hastings Town Hall
(Queen’s Square, Hastings TN34 1TL) with HBC’s Kevin Boorman. Meet outside
the Town Hall front entrance on Queen’s Road. Duration 1 hour (approx). Built in
1880, this Grade II Listed building is described by Historic England as having “a
unique splendour”. The Town Hall now operates as the Register Office, so this is
a rare opportunity to view the interior.
Note: There is a lift and toilet facilities in the building.
Friday 14 September: Start 10 am. Short walking tour of Hastings Town Centre
with leader from the Hastings & St. Leonards Society. Meet at lower end of
Wellington Square Gardens (Hastings TN34 1PB). Duration 1 hour. Hastings
Town Centre has an interesting history, having developed during the nineteenth
century, and includes some fine architecture.
Note: The walk is mainly on the level with two roads to cross at pedestrian
crossing points.
Saturday 15 September: 10 am–2 pm. Open Day at Emmanuel Church (See
entry for Saturday 8 September for details)
All HODs events are free of charge – donations welcome. Advance booking is
not available.
Further local HODs events are arranged by other organisations. Details of these
can be found on the national HODs website:
https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting
Georgian Weekend for ‘Hastings Week’
Looking further ahead to October, in association with the Burtons’ St. Leonards
Society, we have arranged a Georgian Weekend as our contribution to ‘Hastings
Week’. The details are as follows:
Friday 5 October, 2pm, at Hastings Museum, John’s Place, Bohemia Road,
Hastings, TN34 1ET
‘Hastings and St. Leonards, 1789–1837’, lecture by Elizabeth Nathaniels,
detailing how Hastings and St. Leonards became important during the late-
Georgian period.
Saturday 6 October, 11 am, meet at St. Mary-in-the-Castle café area, Pelham
Place, Hastings seafront (TN34 3AE)
Guided walk (part 1), looking at local Georgian architecture.
Sunday 7 October, 11 am start, meet at South Lodge (West), Maze Hill, St.
Leonards-on-Sea, TN38 0BA (lower end of St. Leonards Gardens).
Guided walk (part 2), looking at local Georgian architecture.
All events are free. Booking not required.
Also in ‘Hastings Week’, we are providing the prize money for the National Town
Criers Championship, held on Saturday 13 October at Queens Square (Priory
Meadow Shopping Centre). A reminder that the fundraising booklet ‘A Bellow of
Criers’ (£4) is currently on sale at the Tourist Information Centre on the seafront,
and at Hastings Museum.
Coach Trip to Lullingstone Castle and World Garden
We have a coach trip to Lullingstone Castle and World Garden, with option to
also visit the Roman Villa (English Heritage), on Friday 21 September. At the
date of this newsletter there are four places still available. Cost for seat on the
coach is £15 (plus £1 booking fee for non-members). Pay on the gate for
admission to Lullingstone Castle/World Garden (£9 full; £7.50 senior citizen), and
Roman Villa (£7.90 full, £7.10 over 60s, free to EH members). Pick ups at Ore
Village, Hastings seafront (Old Town boating lake and Pelham Place), Warrior
Square, Silverhill and Battle. To book e-mail: hstlsoc@gmail.com
Proposal to apply for World Heritage Site Status
A brief introduction to the proposal to apply for UNESCO World Heritage Site
status for Hastings and St. Leonards was given by our member Julia Hilton at our
Open Meeting in April. It was agreed then that the Society would facilitate a
discussion of the proposal at a future Open Meeting. We hoped to arrange this
for September, but some persons who are keen to attend the discussion are
unavailable at that time, so we are intending to schedule this for October. We will
endeavour to set the date at our committee meeting early in September, and duly
advise all members.
We hope you will be able to attend some, if not all, of the events listed in this
newsletter.
H & St. L Society Committee
