St Mary in the Castle

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History

In 1824 the Earl of Chichester, Thomas Pelham saw an opportunity for development of his land at the bottom of the West Hill to house the ‘discriminating population’ of Hastings. He engaged Joseph Kay as architect and work began, including the excavation of a large section of the cliff face. The development would include a crescent with grand town houses overlooking the seafront, and a neoclassical fronted church as its centrepiece; beneath the crescent a shopping arcade would complete the grand design. The arcade was opened in the same year with the church being completed four years later in 1828.

In 1951 St Mary in the Castle was made a grade II* listed building and was followed by a period of decline. St Mary in the Castle was deemed surplus to requirements as a Church of England place of worship in 1970 and by 1986 was close to being put on the dangerous buildings register. After a campaign by a group of locals to save the building, Hastings Borough Council acquired the freehold to St Mary in the Castle and number 7 Pelham Crescent.

In 1988 the Pelham Arcade was recognised as a grade II listed building and English Heritage, with the support of the Queen Mother, embarked on plans to restore St Mary in the Castle. After extensive restoration works the building reopened as an arts centre in 1998.

In 2012 Hastings Borough Council put the lease out to tender and the proposal from Buckswood School in Guestling was approved by the council in December of that year. A charitable trust was established in 2013 and in June 2015 a ten year lease was signed by them to safeguard the future of the building as a centre for the arts.