The Hastings area is famous for the battles that were fought there and most visitors tread the well-worn tourist paths, probably not realising the wealth of history they are missing.
The Hastings Hundreds were established after the Norman Conquest and consisted of a collection of villages. Each Hundred was allocated to a knight loyal to the king and contained 100 families. There are thirteen in all, splitting this book into thirteen chapters. Each chapter covers a local area that can be explored on its own or with its neighbours.
The Hastings Hundreds tells the story of each of the areas, giving details of what there is to see and do. It will hold great appeal for all interested in the history of Hastings.
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This book is about the towns, villages and hamlets that are too often passed through on the way to somewhere else. This area of Sussex is the gateway to Old England, here the battle was fought and lost that was to see the end of the Saxon dynasty and the spread of the influence of the Normans.
Sussex was once the home of the iron industry. From before the Roman iron ore had been dug and the precious metal extracted. The forests provided the charcoal for smelting, and the sea, reaching then into the heart of the county, took the iron away. The countryside throbbed to the sound of water-powered hammers and plumes of smoke from the furnaces curled into the sky. Thriving little ports sent and received goods from all round the world, and in the dead of night, through the quiet lanes, the smuggler plied his trade.
Gunpowder, timber, cannon and iron were being made in the valleys and coppices of this beautiful landscape. The wealth it created built and maintained the big houses, churches and the community.
Then it was gone, iron was made cheaply using coal and the better ores in the north of England, a series of accidents moved the gunpowder industry nearer London and the wood was running out. The ports, ravaged by raids from the French, began to silt up as the sea retreated. Sussex went back to sleep.
Away from the main roads the centuries roll back. You can sit and wonder at the beauty of Penhurst and look at a scene that has not changed much in centuries. There is still quiet to be found in the country, if you know where to look.
Some of the lanes you have to travel hardly qualify as roads, the hedges on either side nearly meet in the middle, but don't worry, you will get there in the end. As the lanes wind past the old Saxon field boundaries and you stop near a dark copse, it is not a great leap of imagination to hear the sounds of the past and feel the real heart of East Sussex.
I make no apology for the number of churches that appear, as they are part of the character of the villages. The great and good and the not so good have all left their mark.
The great Victorian restorations have changed them; some for good or ill, but whatever we think of the work done many would not have survived without it. From church after church comes the story that they were in terminal decay and we have to thank them for saving many. But the restoration is ongoing. Donations to help save the fabric of the church are always welcome, so try to buy a guidebook and some postcards.
East Sussex is lucky in the number that are open to the public. Many counties have theirs locked to deter vandals, but here they are welcoming, to be used and cherished.
Each one of the places in the book has been visited; many more than once, and I would like to thank the people of East Sussex for their friendly responses to my questions, when they obviously had better things to do. Thank you all.
David Ingram