Hastings, though not the oldest, is considered to hold the first rank among the ancient maritime boroughs called the Cinque Ports, which were originally instituted for the defence of the coast, and endowed with special privileges on condition of supplying a certain number of ships and mariners for that purpose. Dover, Sandwich, and Romney are considered the oldest of the Cinque Ports, as they are the only ones which are mentioned in Domesday as privileged ports. Hastings and Hythe are supposed to have been added by William the Conqueror; and the number being thus increased to five, occasioned the community to be called the Cinque Ports. Although Winchelsea and Rye, which had previously been members of Hastings, were constituted principal ports at some period between the Conquest and the reign of King John, the name of Cinque Ports still continued to be given to the community. The Cinque Ports are governed by a lord warden, who is also governor of Dover Castle. A certain number of persons (called Barons) deputed from the Cinque Ports, have the privilege of supporting the canopies above the king and queen at coronations.
There was formerly a pier at Hastings, at which vessels could unload; but it was destroyed in a violent storm, about the commencement of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and never rebuilt. From the remains of this pier, which are still to be seen at low water, it appears to have run out in a south-eastern direction from the centre of the Marine Parade, below where the fort now stands. The fort, in a great measure, answers the purpose of a breakwater in resisting the waves, which in high tides, accompanied with a strong wind from the seaward, would otherwise be likely to do serious damage to the lower part of the town.
The trade of Hastings is very inconsiderable; its imports being chiefly coals for the consumption of the town, and its exports principally oak timber and plank, for the purposes of ship-building. The great supports of the town are the numerous visitors who take lodgings there during the bathing season, and the fishery, which gives employment to about 500 persons. What may now be considered the old town of Hastings is situated in a hollow between two hills, the East and the Castle-hill, and consists chiefly of two streets, which run nearly parallel to each other, and are called High-street and All-Saints-street. The new town of Hastings, which has been almost wholly erected within the last thirty years, lies to the south and westward of the Castle-hill, so called from the ruins of the old castle on its top. There are two old churches at Hastings, St. Clement's and All-Saints', and a modern chapel, St. Mary's, in Pelham-crescent, immediately under the Castle-hill. From the accommodation which it affords to visitors, and the beauty and interest of the walks and rides in its vicinity, Hastings is one of the most agreeable watering-places on the southern coast of England.
HASTINGS.
FROM THE BEACH.
We have elsewhere remarked upon the origin and early history of this fashionable watering-place, and at the same time traced its connexion with those once important towns, the Cinque Ports: on the present occasion we propose to occupy our space with its modern features, and to include a brief notice of its more aristocratic neighbour, St. Leonards. The older streets, that lie close under the hill and stretch up towards London, are narrow and inconvenient; they are mostly occupied as shops, but new ranges of smart and commodious dwelling-houses have been built on every hand. For many years the visiters to Hastings had to submit to the inconveniences attendant upon a residence in a small fishing-town; but these have now been removed, and hotels and private lodging-houses, provided with all the luxuries of modern requirement, are to be found in abundance. The rapidity with which Hastings can be reached from the metropolis, while it has greatly increased the number of its visiters, has, perhaps, robbed it of part of that exclusiveness for which it was formerly distinguished. It is now the summer resort of a large and constantly-increasing number of the middle class, who derive a new stock of health from its genial breezes and bracing waves, while their expenditure forms the support of the large and constantly-increasing resident population.
Of St. Leonards, we may remark that it is quite a creature of our own day. Mr. Burton, the architect of a large part of the buildings about the Regent's-park, commenced the formation of a new town here in 1828. His plan was conceived on a bold scale, and was very fairly carried into execution. A noble esplanade extends for more than half a mile along the beach. A handsome range of buildings, called the Marina, some five hundred feet in extent, stretches along the sea-front of the town, with a covered colonnade of the same length. Other terraces and scattered villas, bearing in character a considerable resemblance to those in the Regent's-park, were also erected, together with a church, assembly-rooms, bath-houses, and hotels of large size and the most complete arrangements. There are also pleasure-grounds and other contrivances for the amusement or comfort of visiters. St. Leonards has been able to boast of a large array of noble and distinguished visiters from its earliest infancy. Her present Majesty heads the list, she having, when Princess Victoria, resided with her mother, in 1834, at the western end of the Marina. The Queen Dowager is also among the names it delights to remember. The house in which she lived is now called Adelaide House. Among its literary visitants Campbell has perhaps the first place, he having left a permanent record of his residence at it in the Lines on the View from St. Leonards:—