Hastings Castle

En un regard

Le château en bref

Perched on the West Hill, above the old town of Hastings and the English Channel, the ruins of Hastings Castle are among the most symbolic remains of the Norman Conquest. Historic England notes that it was the first motte castle raised by William of Normandy after his landing in 1066, a construction depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry. The site also occupies a promontory already fortified in the Iron Age: the Ladies' Parlour, a crescent-shaped bank up to four metres high in places, preserves its trace. What survives today combines the fortress and a religious foundation. In the bailey stand the ruined walls of the collegiate church of St Mary, with the rebuilt western arch of its central tower, while stretches of curtain wall run to the north, north-west and north-east, where a gate flanked by two rounded towers stands. Outside the enclosure, vaulted passages cut into the sandstone, nicknamed the "Dungeons", served as storerooms. The cliff has retreated considerably: erosion has carried away the southern side of the bailey and the keep has disappeared. The castle, a scheduled monument and Grade I listed building, opens in the summer season and offers a presentation of 1066.