Publications
A Survivor of Storms, Hastings Old Town: an architectural history to 1750, by David and Barbara Martin, Christopher Whittick with Jane Briscoe, published 2016 (260 pp., Domtom publishing, ISBN-13: 9781906070533) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/509088] & Old Hastings Prervation Society
Abstract:In historical times the relative success of one town over its neighbours depended upon more than the strength and wealth of its hinterland. Because of its strong castle and a harbour offering the shortest crossing to Normandy, the 11th and early 12th centuries ensured Hastings was the principal port in East Sussex. Coastal erosion subsequently robbed it of these advantages and, as a result, it was able to survive only because of its fishery, which sustained but a poor and fluctuating level of affluence. Even so, there is good survival of 15th and 17th century houses, though very few which date from either the 16th or first half of the 18th centuries. It was not until the second quarter of the 19th century that the town found a new niche as a seaside resort, a role which once more allowed it to assert its dominance over the surrounding region.