Hastings Jewel in the Crown: St Mary in the Castle

When he handed the keys over to Zoe Ashdown of the St Mary in the Castle Charitable Trust a couple of years ago, the leader of Hastings Borough Council, Jeremy Birch, said "This is the start of a very bright, new future for St Mary in the Castle... It gives me great pleasure to hand over the key to this jewel in our crown." 

Last year I interviewed 2 of the 9 trustees, Judy Rogers and Tom Frosdick, and I have spoken to them both since, and not a few times to Sean Berkeley too, who has since been appointed manager. At the interview, I discovered that Giles Sutton, the principal of Buckswood School, had taken over the lease of St Mary in the Castle from the Council, in the iterim, to help ensure its development as an arts and cultural centre for Hastings. 

The Cupola

His plan allowed time for the Trust to become a charitable body, and for its consolidation, before passing on the lease, which we are still awaiting, although I thought it may have happened sooner after the original interview. Whatever, I said then, and still believe, it's good to see philanthropists still exist in Hastings, though probably not ragged trousered!

Keeping St Mary in the Castle viable had been difficult for many years. It was named after the original church that Hastings Castle was built around, and which continued parochial services until the late 16th century under the auspices of the vicars of St Clement and All Saints. The church fell into ruin, as did the castle. In 1601 the lordship of Hastings, including authority over the castle, passed to the Pelham family, which begins my story. 

Victorian Pelham Crescent

Basic repairs to the castle began in 1824, being instigated by Thomas Pelham, the Earl of Chichester, who also commissioned the building of a new St Mary in the Castle in the centre of a crescent of Regency houses that is now Pelham Crescent. The architect was Joseph Kay, and the foundation stone for the church was laid In 1825, with the structure completed in 1828, although the houses on the western side remained unbuilt for a few more years. A shopping arcade, the design influenced by Burlington Arcade in London, was built below the crescent. 

The Cupola and Balcony

The church is of a neo-classical design with a Palladian Portico, and is set against the cliff, with catacombs and burial vaults beneath. It has a number of unique and interesting features, for example, unusual in an Anglican church, is a tank for baptism by immersion, dating from 1928, which was fed by one of the five springs found emerging from the cliff-face when the church was built.

The church became parochial in 1884, and was refurbished in 1888-89, the architect then probably being Henry Ward, who was prolific in Hastings at the time (in January, I talked about him building the new town hall in Queens Road). There were repairs to the roof made by Herbert Murray Jeffery in 1938-39, but over the following 30-40 years, the building became neglected. It ceased use as an Anglican church in 1970, and was sold to a nonconformist church, which managed to keep going for 8 years. 

The Balcony and Seating

After various failed plans, and whilst the structure again fell into disrepair, the church was acquired by Hastings Borough Council in 1990, together with 7 Pelham Crescent, where the office is now situated. Supported by Engish Heritage and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, restoration began and the building was made structurally sound, the roof was rebuilt, and the ceiling plasterwork restored.

In 1991, the Friends of St Mary in the Castle (FOSMIC) sought to make the building a cultural centre for Hastings, FOSMIC becoming a charity in 1994, and receiving a European Union grant and an award from the Arts Council lottery fund in 1995. The lease was passed to FOSMIC the following year. Work was completed in 1998, but they ran into financial difficulties. 

The Restaurant

A number of organisations and people have worked to keep the project on course. Sonrise Church, South Coat Artists, Barbara Rogers until recently had run St Mary in the Castle as an 'ethical' small business for up to three and a half years in total, and the Council itself had made a few attempts. However, by the end of 2012 the Council put the lease out to tender and approved the plans submitted by Giles Sutton, which sought to ensure the continued use of the building for cultural purposes, and a restaurant was opened on Pelham Place as well.

The Trust has ambitious plans which have been supported by Giles Sutton and the Council, and the future looks exceedingly bright. I have already talked about the music side of St Mary in the Castle a few times, and I shall be adding more very soon about this gorgeous 'jewel' in Hastings 'crown', and its future... 

Some of the photographs are my own, and I thank the Trust for the rest.