Hastings (and its next door neighbour, St Leonards) is located on the south east coast nestled neatly between Rye to the east and Bexhill and Eastbourne to the west. It is a lively seaside town offering a wide variety of activities and places of interest.
There’s a great variety of places to eat, drink and enjoy the atmosphere of the towns within walking distance of Anne’s House and we can provide an up to date list of recommendations on arrival.
Hastings and St Leonards are home to a large and diverse group of artists, some internationally renowned and others up and coming, We are proud to support local artists by collecting their work and you can get a flavour of the local art scene from the work displayed within our house. If you’re interested in finding out more about any of the work you see during your stay just ask. Here are a few examples of just some of the artwork currently on display at Anne’s House.
The Hastings Contemporary is a museum of contemporary British art located on The Stade in Hastings, East Sussex and is a not for profit organisation. The gallery opened in March 2012 as the Jerwood Gallery and cost £4m to build. The gallery contains both temporary exhibitions and a permanent collection that includes work from artists including: L. S. Lowry, Augustus John, Stanley Spencer, Walter Sickert, Ben Nicholson, Patrick Caulfield, Maggi Hambling, Craigie Aitchison and Prunella Clough.
Hastings Castle is a keep and bailey castle ruin situated in the town of Hastings, East Sussex. It overlooks the English Channel, into which large parts of the castle have fallen over the years.
St Clements Caves are located on the West Hill in Hastings, East Sussex. The caves were named after a nearby parish church and since 1989 are home to the "Smugglers Adventure" tourist attraction which tells the story of smuggling on the South Coast of England 200 years ago.
Hastings Pier is a public pleasure pier in Hastings, East Sussex, England. Built in 1872 and enjoying its prime in the 1930s, it became a popular music venue in the 1960s. The structure suffered major storm damage in 1990, and was closed to the public for a time before closing completely in 2008, and 95% destroyed by a fire in 2010. Hastings Pier Charity oversaw a rebuilding project, with the pier reopening on 27 April 2016. The redeveloped pier won the 2017 Stirling Prize for architecture. The charity went into administration in 2017 and the pier was sold to a private buyer in 2018. The pier re-opened on 1 April 2019.
Hastings Museum & Art Gallery is a museum and art gallery located in, Hastings, East Sussex, England. Established in 1892, it originally resided in the Brassey Institute, but moved to its current location in 1927. As of 2019 it had around 97,000 objects of local history, natural sciences, fine and decorative arts, and world cultures. The early local history gallery recounts the history of the area from prehistory to the Saxons. Local wildlife is displayed in dioramas of different local habitats, and there is a dinosaur gallery. Other galleries include local wildlife and a Native North American collection, featuring the Plains and Sub-Arctic areas and the life of Hastings-born conservationist Archibald Belaney, who adopted the name "Grey Owl".
Hastings Country Park was formed in 1974 and covers 345 hectares east of Hastings in England. Sandstone cliffs, glens covered with gorse and trees, footpaths, nature trails, picnic areas and ample car parking are some of the features at the country park. Set in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, it is also a Local Nature Reserve as Hastings Country Park & Fairlight Place Farm. An area of 184.5 hectares has been designated Hastings Cliffs Special Area of Conservation. Most of the park is in Hastings Cliffs to Pett Beach Site of Special Scientific Interest and it is also part of Hastings Cliffs Special Area of Conservation and Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay Special Protection Area. Two areas in the park are Geological Conservation Review sites.