At what time this Castle was erected, or who was the builder, does not appear from either Leland, Camden, or any other writer, who has treated of the antiquities of Sussex. The walls, which are nowhere entire, are about seven feet thick. The gateway was on the north side, near the northernmost angle, but it is now demolished. Near it, to the westward, are the remains of a small tower, enclosing a circular flight of stairs. At the distance of about one hundred feet from the east side, there ran a ditch, encompassing it as far as the gate; the breadth of this ditch was one hundred feet: both the ditch, and the interval between it and the wall, seem to have narrowed by degrees, as they approached the gate, and to have terminated under it.

The highest part of these remains is one of the towers belonging to the gateway. On the right of this, in the wall, is seen a small entrance, called the sally-port. On the north-west side there was another ditch, of the same breadth as that on the east, commencing at the cliff opposite the westernmost angle, and running almost due north, leaving a plain space between it and the wall, which, opposite the sally-port, was one hundred and eighty feet. The bank, in the foreground of the drawing, shews the boundary of this ditch.

The back ground, on the right, is Beachy-Head. There is no doubt that this headland was so called

from the extensive woods of beech which grew in its vicinity; Camden, however, derives its name from the beach beneath. Large trunks of beech trees are frequently found here at low water, within two feet of the surface, and may be traced along the whole extent of coast from Hastings to Beachy-Head.

In the low ground are seen the Castle-Inn, and part of the Priory, a name now attached indiscriminately to all buildings on the west of the castle, and so called from an ancient priory, of which very little remains.

The ruins of this once so important Castle exhibit all the marks of great antiquity; it was probably originally built by the Romans, who also built Pevensey Castle. The comparatively modern fort, erected by William the Conqueror, was a distinct work from the Ancient Castle, which the Norman King, however, certainly repaired*.

Humphrey de Tilleul, son of Anfrid the Dane, refusing to stay in England, when William the Conqueror stood in need of his service, his estate was confiscated by the king, a. D. 1069; after which, Robert de Roclint, son of Humphrey de Tilleul, (or de Teliolo,) was appointed governor of the fortress built by William I. at Hastings.

In 1094, King William II. held a great council in the Castle of Hastings, which stood below the cliff, upon a site which the sea afterwards overflowed.

PLATE VIII.

Remains of Hastings Priory.

THE Royal Chapel within the Castle of Hastings was dedicated to the Virgin Mary; to this chapel were attached a dean and secular canons. The Earls of Eu were the patrons until the time when the barony of Hastings was escheated to Henry III.; this king granted the prebend of St. Mary's Chapel to Henry de Wrengham. Edward III. granted permission to the dean and chapter of his Royal Free Chapel, to enclose the Castle of Hastings, and to build a house, or priory there, for their residence. This enclosure will shew the period when the site of that castle, built by the Conqueror at the foot of the cliff, was converted to the purpose of making the foundation for the priory, and will explain how it was that the Chapel of St. Mary, within the Castle of Hastings, was supposed to be in danger from the irruption of the sea, (vide a petition of the dean, &c. thereof, for liberty to build a wall for its preservation,) which danger could not exist on the supposition that the Royal Chapel had been connected with the Ancient Castle on the cliff.

The dean and chapter of Hastings petitioned

Edward III., in 1332, for leave to repair the castle walls, to secure their chapel from the devastations of the sea. Whilst we are thus enabled to trace the last period of solicitude for the preservation of what still remained of the ancient Hastings from the fury of the elements, we are furnished by history with the epoch of its total destruction by a foreign enemy, when the weakness of the monarch exposed several parts of his dominions to the evils of invasion and insurrection. Thus it happened in the reign of Richard II., about the year 1377, the French burnt the towns of Hastings and Rye; the French fleet, consisting of fifty vessels, next attacked Winchelsea, and were repulsed. On the re-building of Hastings, it was divided into two parishes. The present town must therefore compute its erection to have taken place soon after this period; probably, when the settlement of affairs, upon the successful usurpation of King Henry IV., gave leisure for improvements. After the experience of past misery and expense along this coast, from the violence of the waves, it became naturally a matter of prudence to remove the site northward to the very foot of the hills, and the interjacent lands have gradually been converted into the beach of the sea.

As a further proof that the sea has gained considerably on this coast, it is sufficient to state that many large trees, and an entire hedge, have been

с

discovered beneath the surface of the sand, at low water, a little to the westward of the town; and, within the recollection of some of the present inhabitants, grass grew below the high water-mark, to the westward of the warm baths.

The priory of the black canons was founded by Sir Walter Bricet, in the reign of Richard I., and was dedicated to the Holy Trinity; its remains are now converted into a drying-house. That part adjoining the gate, on the right in the drawing, appears to have been the chapel, as the opening discloses the remains of a large window of that description. The back ground, on which the mills are seen, is a continuation of Castle Hill.

About two hundred yards south of the priory was a large, overhanging cliff, called King's Head Cliff, from its resemblance to George the Third; projecting farther out than any of the adjoining cliffs, it sustained a greater portion of wind and rain, which washed the softer strata away, and what remained of the harder, certainly did bear some resemblance to His late Majesty, till it was blown down on the night of Sunday, September 9, 1821. See Plate 40, Fig. 8.

In the 26th Henry VIII., the deanery of the Collegiate Church was valued at 207. per annum, and the seven prebends at 417. 13s. 5d. per annum. Henry VIII. granted, in the 38th year of his reign, the College of Hastings, with various