Churches

[maparole]

Can anyone offer an explanation for why there is such a huge array of churches in Hastings and St Leonard's?

I'm guessing that, as a port and close to mainland Europe, the town may well have been a haven for various non-conformists over the centuries, but I would be interested to hear if anyone else has thoughts on this.

[Richard]

Hi maparole,
History relates that there were seven churches in 1291 but that decline set in during the 14th century and two French raids wrecked the town.
By 1801, just two of the old churches—All Saints and St Clement's—survived in "The Old Town"
(The French Abbey of Fecamp, who owned large tracts of land in the area, originally built and owned All Saints Church. )

White rock area had several churches long since lost which may well have been built at the time Hastings had its port at the Priory Stream valley, protected by the (since lost) White Rock headland.
I think there was next an early Victorian expansion to cater for the rapidly growing population as well as to educate and care for the poor working classes with some degree of 'missionary' enthusiasm.
The non-conformists or 'dissenters' were, apparently, not received well in the early 1800's presumably because the official religion was 'church of england' and the Bishop of Chichester held sway and received benefits by controlling who could operate a church.
The town's first chapel (around 1807) had to be built in London and taken to the town by sea because no local firm wanted to build it.
The creation of St Leonards and the absorption of several working class areas like Ore, Halton, Silverhill and Hollington presumably added to the number of churches.

In conclusion the vast majority are Victorian entities with some interesting historical remnants.

[maparole]

That's very interesting, thanks. I shall do some more reading

[Richard]

It is quite an interesting question and deserves more thought.
In this country it seems that there were various laws and regulations denying the right to set up a church outside the Anglican (C of E) umbrella for several hundred years until the early 1800's.
Dissenters / non-conformists were penalised for preaching and also prevented from teaching:
Since the Middle Ages schoolteachers had been subject to ecclesiastical control and, by a series of Elizabethan and early Stuart statutes and injunctions, they had to be licensed by the bishop or his official. In addition, the 1662 Act of Uniformity required all those in holy orders who taught to conform to the doctrine and liturgy of the Church of England, and further penalties were enacted under the 1665 Five Mile Act against nonconformist ministers who attempted to teach
Gradually, in the early 1800's "Dissenters" were allowed to build chapels and attend meeting rooms as the laws were relaxed - but even then some universities, especially Oxford and Cambridge, continued to deny access by those of a different faith.

There were neither chapels nor meeting houses in Hastings, for 'Dissenters' of any denomination until 1805, when 'Croft Chapel' was first erected and it could accomodate 500 persons.
The next, in size and importance, was the 'Wesleyan' in Waterloo passage erected 1822.
There was a small chapel around these times called 'Ebeneezer' on east Hill and a couple at the bottom of Courthouse Street.

Nowadays we are much more tolerant of different religions altogether, even to the extent of having a 'Mosque' in St. Leonards, at Mercatoria, although, ofcourse, the Official Church in the country is still 'Church of England'.

[Gerry Glyde]

In the later part of the 19th c as landed estates were broken up for housing it was often stipulated that a developer had to include a church as a part of the sale. The 'welfare' of the masses needed to be òrdered. Earlier in the century the benefactor countess Waldegrave endowed various churches in the borough more numerous than were needed. Amongst them was Holy Trinity, outside of which is a fountain dedicated to her and paid for by the pennies of the poor. The population grew from 3k in 1800 to 65k in 1900 it was essential to ensure that there were sufficient means of ensuring a moral message.

[Richard]

It is recorded that there was a Council-led clearance of 'The America Ground', in Hastings, at around 1834.
This was widely reported to have been carried out to allow development of that specific area for an influx of wealthy "Victorians" to enjoy the health-benefits of moving to Hastings, consequently leading to a large exodus of 'poor displaced squatters' to St. Leonards.
This may have perhaps have been the reason that some Churches were also built at St. Leonards, with Christchurch being a noted example.
There is no record in Hastings at the time, before these 'clearances', of Churches built for, or attended by, 'people in need'.
It is true that Churches were recorded at Hollington and Ore in the 1820's but it seems interesting that the wealthy Victorians of the newly created St. Leonards, or those involved with the development of Hastings should suddenly feel called upon to provide for the moral welfare of these displaced people.
Perhaps they felt responsible but history does not relate exactly what happened, whatever the case, more Churches were indeed built, perhaps according to legal statute (as pointed out by Gerry Glyde) and with the intention of caring for the displaced poor and needy.
Benefactors with a strong calling to provide for the poor are well-recorded throughout history in Hastings - St Leonards and deserve more examination.

Before the 1800's we have rather little, apart from the well-documented history of Hastings as being part of 'Rameslie' (Rye?) owned in part by Normans (as bequeathed by King Canute before the Conquest) to which areas the invaders must have felt some historic 'kinship'.
The two very early churches in the Old Town and several Churches around 'White Rock' have already been touched upon but clearly little remains to fill the void between the the Austin priory of 'The Holy Trinity' of Hastings of the early 1400's (later relocated as flood waters made its site less desirable) and the early Victorian Churches previously alluded to.
The origins of the Magdalen and Lasher Charity go back to 1294, when Petronella de Cham donated over 5 acres of farmland (known as the Maudlin Lands) lying mostly to the west of the present day Bohemia Road to support the Hospital of St Mary Magdalen; a leper and pest house for the tending and relief of sick people.
Charitable bodies provided for the sick and the poor in Hastings, St Leonards, but were not necessarily tied up with a religious message provided by a designated Church body.