Fascinating history of popular Hastings venue that has now closed

He writes:

The St Mary-in-the-Castle Church vebue and its seafront café closed at the end of October as the charitable trust which has been managing them for nearly a decade is ending its lease with Hastings Council.

The church was built from 1824-28 as part of the large-scale development that created Pelham Crescent and Pelham Place. They were designed by the well-known neo-classical architect Joseph Kay, who later remodeled central Greenwich.

Behind the scheme was Thomas Pelham, the 2nd Earl of Chichester, who owned Hastings Castle and the cliff below it, which he decided to cut back so that he could construct there the high-class buildings named after him that were to inspire the rapid expansion of Hastings as a seaside resort. In 1820 he built the big eight-house terrace of Pelham Place (where the Deluxe Leisure Centre is today), and then in 1823 he started on Pelham Crescent.

Part of the Crescent are the shops and cafe fronting promenade, plus the almost-forgotten arcade which lies semi-underground behind them. The arcade eventually became the store of wine merchants Ellis, Son & Vidler, which it was until the 1970s. Their main outlet was at 23 Grand Parade, and the company name was visible on the side of the arcade until about three years ago.

The church was built under a special Act of Parliament as a proprietary, semi-private chapel, but open to the public. Underneath it are catacombs and burial vaults, and it had a burial ground on the West Hill with a pathway alongside it (very well-used today) named Wallingers Walk after the Church’s first incumbent, the Rev William Wallinger. The church was named after the St Marys Church that was part of, and may have been older than, Hastings Castle, some of which can still be seen.

The interior of the church is shaped like a D, avoiding the customary rectangular shape, in order to bring the congregation into closer proximity with the preacher. This also made the church a high-quality auditorium, which has been a big attraction for it.

In 1884 the Earl of Chichester presented his chapel to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners and it became the parish church of St Mary-in-the-Castle.

The church’s later history was not happy. It merged with Emmanuel Church in 1953, and ceased to be used in 1970. It was then sold to a nonconformist congregation, which found itself unable to maintain the building, and, after various abortive plans whilst the structure decayed further, it was acquired by Hastings Council in 1990, and repairs were carried out in following years.

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