History
In 1806 the Duke of Wellington used the Grade 2 listed building next door (Antiques Warehouse) as his HQ while based in Hastings. At this point there was a building on what is now our garden, and it’s believed that the Duke hid in the basement (now the sunken area of the garden) at some point during his stay.
Fast forward nearly 150 years … on Sunday 23rd May 1943 the Swan Inn, one of the busiest social hubs on the South Coast, took a direct hit from low level Focke Wulf fighter bombers during one of the worst air raids Hastings witnessed during the second World War. As the picture above clearly shows, the building opposite (a Heating & Sanitary shop) at 55 High St clearly sustained some serious damage also, not least of all its entire roof was blown off.
As an aside, it was thought that the same bomb weakened the upper floor of the building at 8 Winding St (now the kitchen, lounge, dining room of this holiday apartment). In the mid nineties this collapsed (thankfully on a Saturday afternoon while the shop was shut) under the weight of paint stored up there.
Not much is known about what happened to 55 High St between that fateful day and mid nineties. Clearly the building was damaged beyond repair and flattened, and a large brick wall was put up adjacent to the High St. By the early nineties the plot was being used as a dumping ground by the tyre depot based at 8 Winding St (now Trade Paints), and was 6 foot deep in used tyres.
Trade Paints then moved in, and with the help from Hastings Trust the garden was cleared of tyres and the landscapers got to work. For the next few decades the garden simply served as a back entrance to Trade Paints, and was available to the public during open hours. And finally, Sweet Cheeks kiosk served a lovely cuppa and cakes in recent days (hence the glorified ’shed’).
Having reinstated the missing floor at the start of 2021, and thus built this holiday apartment, the garden (aka 55 High St) was closed to the public and used as the entrance to the property above Trade Paints. The garden is now available for exclusive use by those staying here to make their own history.
