Hastings Castle
Has been described as a Certain Timber Castle (Other/Unknown), and also as a Certain Masonry Castle
There are masonry ruins/remnants remains
| Name | Hastings Castle |
| Alternative Names | Haestinga; Haestingaceaster; Hasting; Hestengceastra; Hastinges |
| Historic Country | Sussex |
| Modern Authority | East Sussex |
| 1974 Authority | East Sussex |
| Civil Parish | Hastings |
Castle and Collegiate Church. Castle built circa 1170, ruined by 1399. The church was founded circa 1090, dissolved in 1547. Foundations of church, North and East curtain walls and East gate of castle visible. Probably built on an Iron Age enclosure. There is documentary evidence that a collegiate foundation existed in Hastings in the reign of Edward the Confessor, but it is not documented as so in the Domesday Survey. (PastScape)
Hastings Castle was the first such castle to be built after the Norman invasion of 1066 and features in the Bayeux Tapestry. Its subsequent history is well documented both historically and archaeologically. Promontory forts were defensive enclosures, some being occupied continuously while others were used as places of refuge. They were constructed during the Iron Age (700BC-AD43), most being abandoned during the 1st century BC. Such monuments are rare nationally, and are especially rare outside Cornwall. The Ladies' Parlour survives well despite in places having been damaged and partially buried by the earthworks of the later Norman castle and disturbed by recent partial excavation. Colleges were groups of ecclesiastical buildings used by small communities of priests living under a less strict rule than in monasteries. Their purpose was to offer prayers on behalf of a patron or founder. Most were established between the 11th-15th centuries. Early examples, such as at Hastings, are rare survivors. Together, the association of the promontory fort, the castle and the collegiate church, each important in its own right, greatly increases the significance of the monument as a whole.
The monument includes the castle of Norman origin together with its rock- cut ditch, the remains of a Collegiate church and the earthworks and interior area of an enclosure known as the Ladies' Parlour which has been identified as an Iron Age promontory fort
The Ladies' Parlour is part of a defensive enclosure which occupied the whole promontory although one half of its original area was subsequently taken over by the Norman castle. The crescent-shaped earthwork bank stands as high as 4m in places, but diminishes in height to both south and west. The ditch runs NW-SE between Castle Hill Road and the cliff edge above Burdett Place increasing in size to the south-east to a maximum of 2.4m deep and 20m wide. Within this defended area, William Duke of Normandy (later the Conqueror) built a motte and bailey castle immediately after landing with his army in 1066. The original motte, however, lies buried within a later enlargement on which stood a stone keep after 1172. The rock-cut tunnels to the north-west of the mound are storage chambers of Norman date. Much of the castle curtain wall dates from the later 12th century using sandstone cut from the 6m deep ditch east of the mound. Coastal erosion later undermined the south side of the bailey and the castle had been abandoned by the 15th century. Within the bailey area a college of priests had been established by 1094. The ruins of their church survive against the north wall of the castle and feature an upstanding square tower. The college was dissolved in 1546. (Scheduling Report)
The Castle built circa 1070. The church was started afterwards but before 1094. More building work in early 1170s to 1190s including the keep in 1172. Repairs of 1216 and afterwards progressive ruin. The walls are stone rubble, and as it exists now there are ruined walls and foundations of the church which had a central tower the western arch of which has been rebuilt, there are remains of a square tower at the west end of the nave. There remains the curtain walling along the North, North-west, North and North-east with the gatehouse on the North-east side with 2 rounded towers. Outside the walls on the north side are store-rooms (known as the Dungeons) in the form of narrow tunnel-vaulted passages. The keep and other buildings no longer exist. (Listing report)
This site is a scheduled monument protected by law
This is a Grade 1 listed building protected by law
Historic England Scheduled Monument Number
Historic England Listed Building number(s)
Images Of England
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s)
County Historic Environment Record
| OS Map Grid Reference | TQ820094 |
| Latitude | 50.856071472168 |
| Longitude | 0.585139989852905 |
| Eastings | 582000 |
| Northings | 109400 |
