Belmont
From the Hastings News of 01/03/1850
The sale was taking place of the Belmont Estate [the area around what became Belmont Road in Clive Vale]; nine acres of building land and two Italian villas were on offer.
The first foundation stone is laid for the first permanent building to go up on the 'Priory ground', the former America Ground that had been cleared of all buildings in 1836 when the Crown took possession of it. Wealthy London ...
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Gas Works
From the Hastings News of 22/10/1852
A new chimney was to be erected at the gas works.
Sale of the Castledown Estate, next to the Castle, to a gentleman from the metropolis for his own residence. Did not reach the reserve price of £4,200 at auction.
“Building operations on a very large scale are contemplated on the Eversfield estate, the whole of which, comprising about 400 acres, is about to be laid out for terraces, detached villas, pleasure grounds, etc. The ground is to be let ...
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Fishermen’s Museum
From the Hastings Chronicle of 09/08/1853
A Fishermen’s Church was to be erected at East Cliff, it was planned [now the Fishermen's Museum]. The foundation stone was laid on 25 August 1853.
Halton House Fete
From the Hastings Chronicle of 16/08/1853
A fete was held at Halton House, Robertsons Hill (off Old London Road), by owner Patrick Robertson MP, with music, dancing and fireworks.
The Town Council heard that Countess Waldegrave was willing to give up the Priory Meadows to the town; a committee was set up to look into it.
The former wooden steps at Claremont had been replaced by wider granite ones, the Council was told.
A new assembly room [later called the Public Hall] and arcade between Robertson Street and Priory Street were proposed, and a new company was formed.
The new Holy Trinity Church in Robertson Street opened on the apt St Michaels Day, 29 September. The ground had been purchased in early 1857 and footings were excavated by April that year. The chancel was not completed until the ...
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The big new Music Hall, also called the Central Assembly Room, lying between Robertson Street and Havelock Road, was opened on Wednesday 12 January. The News said it was "comfortably filled with, probably, the largest company that has ever gathered ...
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A new Hastings Bank opened at 5 Pelham Place.
Market Hall
From the Hastings News of 11/11/1859
A licence was granted for the new theatre in the Market Hall, near the Anchor pub, George Street.
Progress on the St Leonards Turkish Bath, at the junction of West Hill Road and Quarry Road, was going well. It was being built on the site of the Russian Bath and Spa, "slight building" which was destroyed by fire ...
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Large Stables
From the Hastings News of 04/08/1871
Large model stables had been built in Caves Road, St Leonards, by J Alton Hatchard for his fine mansions in the neighbouring Marina. Frontage 125 feet, with white bricks.
The old stabling on the south side of Crown Lane had been removed by the Hastings Cottage Improvement Society and the first block of buildings in the borough to be made from concrete were now being erected. The concrete was ...
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New Shop
From the Hastings News of 19/07/1872
Improvements at Rock's Carriage Works at White Rock. There was to be a new Gothic building by prominent local builder John Kowell; architects Jeffery & Skiller. It will be a great architectural feature of the Front line. It would have ...
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Mr Butterfield, London architect, was to advise on the restoration of St Clements Church. He suggested the removal of much of the churchyard and a large portion of the Town Hall.
Workhouse Data
From the Hastings News of 29/11/1872
New, tougher wards for the 'casuals' (tramps) had been built near the gates of the workhouse, reported the News in a long feature. It said: During the past few years it had been discovered that an astonishingly large number of ...
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Volunteers Shed
From the Hastings News of 31/01/1873
A new shed was to be the HQ of the 7th Cinque Ports Artillery Volunteers, on the corner of Hatherly Road and Southwater Road. It was economy and utility. 90 ft x 60 ft, with inside drill hall 80 ft ...
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The Council heard that Mr Andrews, surveyor, had seen Mr Howell and had agreed to set his proposed 6 houses and shops abutting on the proposed new road leading into the Priory Farm yard back a foot.
The Hastings Cottage Improvement Society inaugurated and named its new model buildings in Crown Lane as Scrivens Buildings, in memory of the late Mayor. Mr D Friend was the architect. The rents were 2s - 4s.
Prominent local builder John Howell was carrying out major development on the former Cornwallis Estate. He was laying out what was to become Cambridge Gardens, on the site of the old Priory Farm farmyard. He was also undertaking work on ...
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Death on 18th at The Mansion of Sarah Countess of Waldegrave, widow of Vice Admiral William, 8th Earl of Waldegrave, in her 87th year. She was the youngest daughter of Rev William Whitear, Prebenadry of Chichester, Rector of All ...
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Hollington Land
From the Hastings News of 02/05/1873
On 26 May, Mr Gausden was to sell by auction three plots of building land on the Ashbrook Park Estate, Hollington, plus some land at Silverhill.
The town's leading building contractor, John Howell, a Liberal councillor, was elected as alderman when one of the existing aldermen died, creating a vacancy.
Mrs Mendham, sister of the Rev WT Turner of Ore, laid a memorial stone at the new Emmanuel Church, on the corner of Priory Road and Plynlimmon Road, which she had paid for. John Howell was the builder, Jeffery and ...
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Property Sales
From the Hastings News of 11/07/1873
There had been much property for auction recently. On 15 July the South Coast Railway Company will sell nearly 1,000 feet of frontage of building land, part of the Warrior Square Estate, close to the railway. Early in August, 125 ...
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The group of windmills and the steam mill on the West Hill were to be pulled down, to open up the area for development. The mills were all on or between Priory Road and Plynlimmon Road, and had formed the ...
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New Christ Church
From the Hastings News of 07/11/1873
The foundation stone was laid on 6 November, in heavy rain, for the new church to be built on the corner of London Road and Silchester Road. This would be Christ Church, much bigger than the existing Christ Church, standing ...
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The tender of £1,770 from Messrs Hughes had been accepted for building new roads, drains, etc on the south-east portion of the Eversfield estate between London Road, Pevensey Road and Maze Hill [to become Kenilworth Road, Carisbrooke Road, Stockleigh Road].
New Town Hall
From the Hastings News of 14/11/1873
A Council meeting on 7 November agreed to try to build a new town hall, to replace the existing one in the High Street [now the Old Town Hall Museum]. Two sites were proposed: the small group of houses called ...
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The new University School, at Step Meadow [junction Holmesdale Gardens and Redmayne Drive] was opened by Mr UJ Kay-Shuttleworth MP and Lord Brassey. It was designed by Thomas Elsworthy of St Leonards. It was a large building, with a square ...
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The last of the three windmills that stood on top of the West Hill was demolished today, Saturday, 28 November. The site was soon to be built on.
The News said that the town was seeing "a commendable display of public spirit in providing for the entertainment of our visitors and residents, and an increased amount of prosperity may be reasonably anticipated, as the result. Not only has ...
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Wesleyan Chapels
From the Hastings News of 28/05/1875
Mrs Brassey laid the memorial stone of the new Wesleyan Chapel on the Cornwallis Estate [in Cambridge Road] on 25 May. The existing Chapel in Bourne Street was "inconveniently situated and too small".
A property sale on 26th saw 111 lots of the West Hill Estate, 100 plots being in St Georges and Whitefriars Road.
Croft Chapel
From the Hastings News of 06/06/1876
The last service was held on 4 June in the Croft Chapel before it was pulled down and replaced. The chapel was built in 1820 and held 300. The new chapel was to cost £2,300.
Thomas Brassey laid the foundation stone for the White Rock Baths and Aquarium on 28 June. The arrangement at present was to proceed with the baths, leaving the aquarium for subsequent consideration.
The Central Wesleyan Church in Cambridge Road, on the Cornwallis Park Estate, which cost £7,000, was opened on 14 July.
Old Humphrey
From the Hastings News of 08/12/1876
The Council on 1 December heard that plans for 36 houses on the Hastings House Estate in the Old Town were to be called Old Humphrey Avenue.
A memorial stone for the new Congregational School building in Priory Street was laid on 20 March.
St Helens Church opened on Sunday 17 June. The lessons were read by Mr CH Frewen, the builder of the church.
The first part of the new public baths at White Rock was opened by Thomas Brassey MP on Tuesday 28 May, "a most important event in the annals of this locality". The baths were said to be the largest of ...
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The remaining portion of the Mount Pleasant Estate was sold off at the Castle Hotel on 15 July. About 70 of the 83 plots were in sites in St Marys Road, and the rest in Quarry Road, Manor Road and ...
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New rooms for the school connected to St Matthews Church, Silverhill, were opened by Thomas Brassey. The small school, adjacent to the church which was near the top of London Road, was still the only one in Silverhill, despite the ...
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York Hotel Sold
From the Hastings News of 14/03/1879
The York Hotel was bought under the hammer for £240. The building was to be pulled down for road improvements. The licence was retained for another building for the site.
The official opening of the new Mount Pleasant Church took place on 15 April. As a great number of houses had sprung up here lately, the church would be useful. [It was on the corner of Hughenden Place and Mount ...
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The Ladies Baths at White Rock were opened by Lady Brassey on 14 July. The adjoining Gentlemens Baths were opened last May and the remaining space was to be devoted to private and other baths.
Sales took place at the Castle Hotel on 10 September when about 75 plots of the St Marys Lodge and the Gate Field building estates, adjoining each other and abutting on to Emmanuel Road, were sold at prices of between ...
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Origin of Library
From the Hastings News of 01/08/1879
Mr Brassey had given his recently-built Claremont Rooms to the Borough after a tiff between Brassey and the Rowing Club, which used the basement. Mr Brassey hoped the building would be used as a free library [which it was eventually].
The Royal Concert Hall in Warrior Gardens opened on 13 October. First called the Warrior Square Opera House and Concert Room, it was for many years the leading centre of entertainment and social function in St Leonards. Many famous artistes ...
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A new road connecting Pevensey Road to the edge of the Eversfield Estate was to be called Rosamond Road [now called Albany Road]. This opened up that area for expensive development.
New Chapel
From the Hastings News of 18/02/1881
The foundation stone of the new Wesleyan school chapel on the corner of Upper Park Road and Bohemia Road was laid on 16 February. The News of 8 July said the chapel "in this fast-growing neighbourhood" opened on 6 July. ...
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The Council meeting on 1 April heard that the £15,000 which had been borrowed to build the new town hall was not enough, and that an application had to be made to the Treasury for another £5,000 to pay for ...
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The Mount Pleasant School for infants was opened on Monday 23 May. The News said: "During the past five years it is probable that no locality in the whole borough has made such rapid strides in regard to building operations ...
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New Lifeboat House
From the Hastings News of 26/08/1881
The architect of the RNLI visited Hastings and discussed with the borough how to improve the site of the new lifeboat house. It was to be built in East Parade, partly on the site of the former Custom House, the ...
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The new Municipal Buildings (town hall) in Queens Road were officially opened at 1pm on Wednesday 7 September. "Municipal and magisterial affairs will now be carried on with more comfort in a centrally situated position," said the News of 9 ...
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John Howell jnr, the son of the prominent local builder John Howell, married Mrs Harford of Cambridge Gardens on 7 June. The father and son had been trading as Messrs Howell and Son, although Mr Howell snr had recently retired ...
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Gaiety Opens
From the Hastings News of 04/08/1882
The spacious and well-appointed Gaiety Theatre in Queens Road opened on Tuesday 2 August. The first performance was of Gilbert and Sullivan's English opera HMS Pinafore, by Mr D'Oyley Carte's company. Until then Hastings had lacked a good theatre, but ...
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New Baptist Church
From the Hastings News of 11/08/1882
Memorial stones were laid for the new Baptist Church in Chapel Park Road on 7 August. The church would cost £4,000, and the building work was under way. The architect was Mr T Elworthy. It was opened on 11 April ...
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New Grammar School
From the Hastings News of 15/09/1882
The foundation stone of the new Hastings Grammar School was laid on Tuesday 5 September by the mayor, Cllr Revill. There had been great difficulty in finding a site, which was at the top of a field known as Standen's. ...
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The new Queens Avenue was formally opened on Monday 23 October. The under-cover shopping Avenue [now also called the Queens Arcade] linked Queens Road and York Buildings. There were 16 shops to let, plus an upstairs Assembly Room with its ...
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Old Gaol to Go
From the Hastings News of 08/12/1882
The old gaol ('lock-up') in the Bourne was to be demolished and replaced by a new police station, the Council agreed on 1 December. The police station would be built by Thomas Taylor, for £705. [The site is today the ...
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Beauport Park Fire
From the Hastings News of 06/04/1883
A small part of the large house at Beauport Park was destroyed by fire. It was currently occupied by Sir Charles Lamb, who was away at the time.
Miss Mary Robertson, the sister of former Hastings Tory MP Patrick Robertson, died at their family home, Halton House, off Old London Road, on 9 April, aged 75. "The poor will long remember her as one of the kindest of ...
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The big first-floor room known as the Music Hall, between Robertson Street and Havelock Road, was to be renamed the Public Hall. The leaser, Mr Charles Lockey, was responding to this suggestion being made by several people, as it was ...
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The new Roman Catholic church, St Mary Star of the Sea, at the top of the High Street, was officially opened.
Lady Brassey laid the foundation stone of the new St Peter's Church, at the top of Chapel Park Road, just before its junction with Bohemia Road, on Saturday 4 August. The contractor was John Howell, and building costs (excluding site) ...
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The foundation stone of the new Beaulieu House was laid. In 1874 Stephen Hankey had bought the old Beaulieu House (a late 18th century farmhouse) and its 88 acres from Mr Habershon, the architect of St Helens Church and St ...
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The Council was informed that the Chief Superintendent of Hastings Police had just taken formal possession of the new Police Station and Fire Engine House in Bourne Street.
Cllr John Howell, the town's leading builder and president of the local Liberal Party, was acquitted of perjury at Hastings Police Court. A private investigator, Mr Kendal, from London had alleged that Howell committed perjury when Howell had hired ...
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The Buchanan Opthamlic and Cottage Hospital in Springfield Road opened on 27 March. It replaced the Buchanan Cottage Hospital, which opened in a small house in Southwater Road on 11 April 1881. That had been funded by a kind woman ...
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The foundation stone of the new Church of St Matthew, at the top of London Road, Silverhill, was laid on Wednesday 18 June.
The Hastings Hydropathic Establishment opened in the mansion and grounds of Hastings Lodge, in Old London Road, on 10 September. This had been the home of the late Frederick North MP. The News of 23 November 1883 said the Lodge ...
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The Cornwallis Bridge, which the Cornwallis Park Estate had recently completed, was formally handed over to Hastings Council on Wednesday 16 September. The bridge crossed the railway line just east of Hastings Station, connecting the top end of South Terrace ...
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Lord Brassey laid the foundation stone for the new East Sussex Hospital that was to be built at White Rock, replacing the Infirmary which had stood on that site since 1841.
Ore Place
From the Hastings News of 23/09/1887
The sale of Ore Place, at St Helens, was announced. It was the residence of the late Mr Spalding.
The new West St Leonards Station was officially opened. It is on the Hastings-Tunbridge Wells line, by the Bopeep tunnel.
The new East Sussex Hospital at White Rock was officially opened by local MP Wilson Noble, after many years uncertainty over its location. It replaced the Infirmary, which had opened there on 24 June 1841, on land bought from the ...
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An unsuccessful attempt to auction the historic Swan Hotel in the High Street was made. The reserve price was set at £7,000, but the highest bid was £6,500.
Swan Hotel Sold
From the Hastings News of 12/04/1889
The historic Swan Hotel in the High Street, the town's main hotel and meeting place for many centuries, had been sold and would be demolished. The News of 30 August 1889 said that the demolition had taken place.
Two New Schools
From the Hastings News of 02/05/1890
A special meeting of the Hastings School Board on Monday 28 April agreed to build two new schools. One, a boys school, would be on the corner of Priory Road and Croft Road, replacing the Bourne-walk Schools. The architect was ...
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"The Corporation has greatly assisted in the development of the western part of the borough by making the pretty ornamental gardens at West Marina [Grosvenor Gardens], the Railway Companies have provided two convenient and comfortable stations for the passenger and ...
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The builders of the Swan Hotel, in the High Street, were declared bankrupt. John and William Taylor started as builders in Hastings in 1878. They built several properties, including the Palace Hotel (the contract prices was £30,000). They purchased the ...
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The prominent local builder and politician John Howell, of Priory Mount, 7 Holmesdale Gardens, died on Friday 1 December, aged 69. He had always been an active campaigner for the Liberal Party. In the 1859 general election he had been ...
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The town's telephone exchange moved to new premises: 52 Cambridge Road. The aerials were on the roof of No 51. The first exchange seems to have been that started about July 1885 in 12 Claremont (upstairs at the back) by ...
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The first stone was laid on Sunday 25 June to start the work to complete the tower and spire of Christ Church, London Road. The tower will be 190 feet tall, making the church the largest edifice in the town. ...
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Liberal Club Sold
From the Hastings News of 05/10/1894
The Hastings and East Sussex Liberal Club building, 4 Pelham Street, was sold on 4 October to Mr W Stubbs JP for £1,700. The substantial and well-built building had been occupied by the club since it was put up by ...
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Death of Architect
From the Hastings News of 05/04/1895
Death of David Jones, the architect and surveyor, of 29 St James's Road, on 2 April.
The old and respected architect Henry Carpenter died on Saturday 13 November at his residence, 133 Marina. He first came to Hastings in 1850 and practised for many years in Robertson Street, designing many of the principal buildings erected around ...
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The News said: "Can nothing be down to save the Castledown House Estate?" Access to the West Hill was still only via Castle Hill Road, through the Estate, "one of the few pretty spots still to be found" in Hastings. ...
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Mr Peter Jenkins, the prominent and popular local businessman and works contractor, died suddenly of burst blood vessel at his home in St Leonards on Tuesday 27 June. "By dint of his own personal efforts and attention to business Mr ...
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The opening of a new school at St Helens owing to the growth of the district took place on Monday 7 January. The old Infants School at St Helens under Miss Alice Nelson was closed to transfer to the new ...
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Messrs Atkins Bros and Cox’s had opened a new 'hygienic bread factory' at 10 Earl Street, on a site previously occupied by the Bus Company. They were the largest baker in the town, with many bakeries and shops. The company ...
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A fire at Saxon Chambers, London Road, in the offices of architects Messrs Pigott and Oxley destroyed 600 drawings and plans.
Well-known local architect William Skiller committed suicide by hanging himself from his bedroom door. He was found dead at his residence, Rother House, 7 Quarry Crescent, on Saturday 26 October. He was 61 or 62 and married. He had been ...
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George Gaze Dies
From the Hastings Mail of 14/05/1904
The funeral of George Gaze took place on 11 May, in his 73rd year. He had been a director of the Royal Victoria Hotel since it was built. At one time he owned the Castle Hotel. He sold the Castle ...
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Death of Councillor William Cooper at his residence 11 St Matthews Drive, St Leonards, on 14 June. He was an architect in partnership with HW Coussens, a Harbour Commissioner and a Freemason. “Of retiring nature” but “much respected”. He was ...
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