Hastings Sea front and Old Town

Hastings (/ˈheɪstɪŋz/ ⓘ HAY-stingz) is a seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, 24 mi (39 km) east of Lewes and 53 mi (85 km) south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place 8 mi (13 km) to the north-west at Senlac Hill in 1066. It later became one of the medieval Cinque Ports. In the 19th century, it was a popular seaside resort, as the railway allowed tourists and visitors to reach the town. Hastings remains a popular seaside resort and is also a fishing port, with the UK's largest beach-based fishing fleet. The town's estimated population was 91,100 in 2021.[3][4]

History
Early history
The first mention of Hastings is from the late 8th century in the form Hastingas. This is derived from the Old English tribal name Hæstingas, meaning 'the constituency (followers) of Hæsta'. Symeon of Durham records the victory of Offa in 771 over the Hestingorum gens, that is, "the people of the Hastings tribe." Hastingleigh in Kent was named after that tribe. The place name Hæstingaceaster is listed in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry for 1050,[5][6] and may be an alternative name for Hastings. However, the absence of any archaeological remains of or documentary evidence for a Roman fort at Hastings suggest that Hæstingaceaster may refer to a different settlement, most likely that based on the Roman remains at Pevensey.[7]


Hastings- Boats making the Shore in a Breeze, by John James Chalon, 1819
Evidence of prehistoric settlements is present at the town site; flint arrowheads and Bronze Age artefacts have been found. Iron Age forts were excavated on both the East and West Hills. This suggests that the inhabitants moved early to the safety of the valley in between the forts. The settlement was already based on the port when the Romans arrived in Britain for the first time in 55 BC. At this time, they began to exploit the iron (Wealden rocks provide a plentiful supply of the ore), and shipped it out by boat. Iron was worked locally at Beauport Park, to the north of the town. It employed up to one thousand men and is considered to have been the third-largest mine in the Roman Empire.[8] There was also a possible iron-working site near Blacklands Church in the town – the old name of 'Ponbay Bridge' for a bridge that used to exist in the area is a corruption of 'Pond Bay' as suggested by Thomas Ross (Mayor of Hastings and author of an 1835 guide book).[9]

With the departure of the Romans, the town suffered setbacks. The Beauport site was abandoned, and the town suffered from problems from nature and man-made attacks. The Sussex coast has always suffered from occasional violent storms; with the additional hazard of longshore drift (the eastward movement of shingle along the coast), the coastline has frequently changed. The original Roman port is probably now under the sea.[10]

Bulverhythe was probably a harbour used by Danish invaders, which suggests that -hythe or hithe means a port or small haven.[11]