The History of Rock-a-Nore

Rock-a-Nore in the Old Town must surely be one of the most interesting areas in Hastings. From one end of the road to the other is a wonderful diversity of structures, each with its own story to tell of the town's early history. In the first of a two-part article, local historian Ken Brooks takes us for a walk along the Rock-a-Nore of old.

Before the road was built in the 1850s the land at the base of the East cliff was used by fishermen as a working area and as a safe haven for their boats during stormy weather. The name 'Rock-a-Nore' possibly originates from the French 'Rock a-noir' (i.e. darker than the chalk cliffs to the west). It may also be derived from 'Rocks-to-the-North', as recorded in a 1582 document.

1. THE FISHERMEN'S CHURCH

The Church of St. Nicholas was built in 1854 at Rock-a-Nore by the Rector of St. Clements Church at his own expense. It was never consecrated as a church because it was intended as a 'chapel of ease' to All Saints Church, which would serve the local fishermen and their families. The interior of the building was decorated with shrimp-nets, life-buoys and painted views of the sea.

The first chaplain of the Fishermen's Church was Tom Tanner, a missionary who was affectionately known to the locals as 'the Reverend Tom'. Among the Church's visiting preachers was the author Charles Kingsley who delivered a sermon here in 1857.

The Church closed in September 1939, and was then used by the army as a military store until the early 1950s. By this time it was in a very poor condition and demolition looked almost certain. Fortunately, the building was saved by the Old Hastings Preservation Society and, after restoration, it was converted into a Fishermen's Museum. The Museum was officially opened to the public on 17th May 1956 by the Mayor of Hastings, Alderman T. Hussey, in a ceremony that was televised by the B.B.C.

Its largest and most impressive exhibit is a full sized fishing boat, the 'Enterprise', the last surviving sailing lugger constructed in Hastings. It was built at Rock-a-Nore in 1912 and was in regular use until 1955. The engineless lugger was donated to the museum by its owner, Harold Pepper. In April 1956 the Enterprise was moved into the Museum after the removal of a section of the south wall, which was then rebuilt. Other items of interest include the last of the horse capstans, which were used to pull fishing boats up the beach, and Biddy the Tubman's tub. The baptismal font, still in its original position, is used occasionally for the baptism of local fishermen's children.

2. THE TAN HOUSE

In the days before synthetic fibres the 'tan house' used to carry out an important service for a small fee. Fishermen would bring their nets, ropes, sails and clothing to be soaked in a tank of spring water (still at the back of the premises) to remove the salt water. The equipment was then boiled in a cauldron of preservative tanning fluid - a special mixture containing approximately 50% tannin that was made from 'catechu', a dark extract of Indian plants. The process, known as 'barking', preserved the fishermen's gear from rotting, but it also stained everything to a distinctive brown colour, including their canvas smocks. This explains why Hastings fishermen were once known as ‘Tanfrocks'.

Its use as a tan house came to an end in 1939 when Rock-a-Nore Road was closed for military reasons during the Second World War.

In 1946 the building became the Rock-a-Nore Garage, with a 'swing-out' petrol pump to the right of the building. Since 1986 the business has been owned by Nic Mucci.

3. THE HERMIT'S CAVE

Several caves may be seen in the cliffs overlooking Underwater World and the Shipwreck Heritage Centre. The caves were probably formed at the end of the last Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, when melt-water enlarged cracks in the frozen sandstone.

In the mid-19th century, six families lived here, including Mr. Butler, an ex-cooper (barrel maker).   His address in the 1851 census is given as: Thomas Butler, Hermit's Cave, East Hill Cliff. At that time the primitive living conditions provided dry homes for poor and homeless people. This extract from an 1853 'Hastings Excursion Guide' gives a vivid description of life in the caves:

"An Irishman named Butler enlarged the existing excavations to form a good-sized sitting room with a sleeping room beyond. His wife, children and grandchildren live with him, but the family is further increased by a miscellaneous assemblage of dogs, pigs, goats, rabbits, geese, ducks, turkeys, pigeons, squirrels and a variety of other bipeds and quadrupeds. The birds and beasts roam as they please all dwelling socially and pleasantly together.  The wife was earnestly engaged in appeasing the clamours of a hungry pig and arbitrating between two noisy brats."

Just over a hundred years later the caves were once again occupied - this time by hippies, then known as 'beatniks', until they were evicted by Hastings Council in June 1963.