England · Ruin
Hastings Castle
Hastings Castle is a medieval keep-and-bailey castle ruin on the sandstone cliffs above the town of Hastings in East Sussex, England. Built soon after the Norman Conquest and rebuilt in stone, much of the site has since fallen into the English Channel and survives as cliff-top ruins open to the public.
Its prime
1220
Today
Ruin
As it stood in 1220
What Hastings Castle looked like in its prime.
Perched on a low sandstone cliff above the English Channel, the castle comprised a stone keep on a motte and an enclosed bailey with curtain walls; many stretches of wall run parallel to the cliff edge. Surviving medieval masonry is coarse local stone with a large pointed chancel arch and fragments of high wall faces; the interior of the bailey was grassy at ground level and the cliff face below the castle is visibly eroded where sections have collapsed into the sea.
Its story
The story of Hastings Castle.
Built Before the Battle of Hastings, 1066–1070
Immediately after landing in England in 1066, William of Normandy ordered three fortifications to be built: Pevensey that September, re-using the Roman Saxon Shore fort of Anderitum, Hastings, and Dover. Hastings went up before the Battle of Hastings was fought some miles to the north, first as a wooden motte-and-bailey castle near the sea. In 1070 William issued orders for the castle to be rebuilt in stone, along with St Mary's Chapel.
The Counts of Eu, King John and Peter of Savoy, 1066–1268
The Counts of Eu held Hastings Castle for most of the Norman period, beginning with Robert. In 1216, while he retreated from a French army that had landed in Kent under Prince Louis of France, King John gave orders to destroy — to slight — the castles at Hastings and Pevensey. Henry III re-fortified the castle in 1220.
In time the house of Eu forfeited control of Hastings when the family heir, William, made the decision to keep his French assets over the English ones and was denied the right to his inheritance. In 1249 Henry III bestowed rule of the castle and its lands, the Honour of Eu, on his wife's uncle Peter of Savoy. Peter held the rights until 1254, when they passed to the Lord Edward, the future Edward I; in 1262, in need of funds, Edward quitclaimed the Honour and Hastings back to Peter, who held the rights until his death in 1268.
Storms, French Raids and the Falling Cliff, from 1287
In February 1287 violent storms hit the south coast of England with such force that the soft sandstone cliffs eventually succumbed, large sections of the cliff face falling into the sea along with parts of the castle. In both 1339 and 1377 the town was attacked by the French, leaving many burnt buildings, and throughout the next century erosion went unchecked, taking gradually more of the castle.
Pelham Farmland to Public Ruin, 1591–1968
Thomas Pelham purchased the site on 23 June 1591, and the Pelham family used it for farming until the ruins had become so overgrown that they were lost from memory.
In 1824 the castle's owner, the Earl of Chichester, commissioned archaeological investigations of the ruin; the chapel floor and parts of the chancel arch and walls were re-constructed out of blocks found lying on the ground, and in the 19th century a garden was created on the motte. Hastings was a target for bombing raids during the Second World War, and the castle took further damage. It was designated a Grade I listed building on 19 January 1951, the year Hastings Corporation purchased the site and converted it into a tourist attraction; a further archaeological excavation followed between 22 June and 13 July 1968.
Step inside
7 places to explore in 1220.
The record describes 7 distinct spots at Hastings Castle, including 2 interiors: st mary's chapel, chancel arch, keep interior (upper floor). Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
Build Your Own Castle
Recreate Hastings Castle with AI to explore it.
The artist rebuilds it as it stood in 1220, a photoreal reconstruction that belongs to you alone. Pay with coins, no subscription needed.
Recreate this castle →Defend this castle →Whose castle
Clans who held Hastings Castle.
The families that held Hastings Castle for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Eu
The Counts of Eu held the castle for most of the Norman period, beginning with Robert, until the heir William forfeited it by keeping his French lands.
Pelham
Purchased by the Pelham family, who farmed the site as the ruins grew over.
Nearby
