Exploring the physical development of the America Ground through images.
Since making the podcast, I’ve been down to America Ground several times and tried to imagine how the area has changed over the years. It's hard to visualise it!
1000 years ago, I would have been standing in the sea – looking into a natural harbour with the imposing Norman castle rising up to the east.
400 years ago, I would have been standing on a slowly growing bank of shingle – looking at the half-finished Victorian sea wall that was partly responsible for the shift in the area's geography.
200 years ago, I would have been the surrounded by the residents of the original America Ground – looking around at the ramshackle housing, noisy industry and dirt roads connecting the area with Hastings to the east and Burton St Leonards to the west.
100 years ago, I would have been standing in an area not too dissimilar to the modern America Ground – looking at the buildings and infrastructure largely funded by Victorian businessman & former MP Patrick Robertson.
My recent podcast tells the story of the America Ground and its people. In many ways this is quite a visual story, so it’s hard to do it justice purely with audio descriptions. To help with this I’ve decided to create this blog post which focuses on the physical development of Hastings with accompanying images.
The images that I use in this blog come from Steve Peak’s recent book on the topic (with his permission of course). I would highly recommend getting a copy of this book, it is brilliantly written. You can get a copy here.
Visualising America Ground
So – lets get try and get a picture of how the ground has changed over the years.
Around the time of the Norman conquest, the Priory Valley formed a natural harbour. The small settlement of Hastings was on the White Rock headland to the west and the Norman castle was build on the cliffs to the east. The image below gives you an idea of how this might have looked.
Hastings became a prominent Cinque Port (more on this in a future podcast) until a combination of coastal erosion and longshore drift blocked up the Priory Valley during the 13th century. This forced the town of Hastings to move into the neighbouring Bourne Valley at the site of the present-day Old Town. Hastings remained a small fishing village for much of the next 500 years. There was an attempt in 1580 by the Elizabethans to build a ‘haven’ (a manmade harbour) in the priory valley but construction stopped after they built the initial sea wall. We believe this stoppage was due to the contractors running away with the cash... The image below shows the new layout of Hastings in and the proposed Elizabethan haven.
This sea wall cut across the valley and dramatically altered the geography of the area. The wall stopped any drainage from the valley and meant that all the land to the north became a boggy marshland totally unsuitable for building. However, shingle started to build up along the seaward side of the wall and over the next 200 years this formed into a sturdy beach suitable for building. This land is the area that was to become known as the 'America Ground'. The image below shows you where it sits in modern day Hastings – the sea wall would have been roughly where Cambridge Road is today.
The land that formed south of the sea wall was largely shingle, but over the years it grew and firmed-up to become suitable for building. Have another look at the second image in this blog – you can see a dotted line which defines the boundaries of the town of Hastings. Hastings town itself and the beach beneath it were deemed to be under the control of the council, but this new land wasn’t claimed by anyone! Everything to the west of the priory stream (also visible in the second image) was deemed communal. The image below is what the valley would have looked like before any development.
Hastings became popular as a tourist resort from the late 18th century and started to grow rapidly. Building works were taking place to the east of the priory stream and further west in the new Burton St Leonards. Around this time the leading local shipowners – the Breed family – built a ropewalk across the America Ground along with storage warehouses and workshops. This set the precedent for building on the ground and soon many of the workers employed in the nearby construction started to move there too. The appeal was obvious: given the ground wasn’t claimed by anyone they could there live rent free, assuming they got there in time to build their house! The image below shows the kind of homes they might build. You can see that part of it seems to be fashioned from an old boat.
More people moved to the area and by the late 1820’s it had become crowded. You had a combination of industry (everything from a blacksmiths, stables, piggeries, a timber yard, shipwrights and even a few pubs!) and residential properties. The map below shows you the layout of the ground - you can see it roughly matches the present-day area. The coloured sections were owned by the Brede family and the rest was owned by the numerous other residents. The shaded area to the north is the uninhabitable and marshy priory valley.
The ground was occupied in this manner throughout the 1820’s and early 1830’s. However, in 1828 the crown took possession of the land and gave the residents seven years notice to leave. They did so, with many residents moving out to Ore or St Leonards, and most took their buildings with them. By 1835 the ground was clear and became a wasteland, commonly referred to as the ‘desert’. The image below shows the abandoned ground with Hastings in the distance. You can see Cambridge Road at the top connecting Hastings to St Leonards. The Priory stream had been culverted by this point (diverted through underground tunnels) appearing again through an iron pipe on the beach.
The land was leased by businessman Patrick Robertson in the 1850’s who saw the potential in the area. By 1849 work was underway to build tunnels under St Leonards to allow the railway to pass through – with Hastings station due to be built near the America Ground. In addition to this, the debris from building the railway tunnels had been spread over the marshy priory valley making it suitable for building. Robertson realised that this area was set to become the new town centre and started to develop the America Ground. By the end of the 1850’s most of the buildings that now stand on the ground had been built. The image below shows the Robertson’s plans for the area.
So, there we have it – a visual journey through the physical development of the America Ground! Hopefully that’s made it easier to picture the area in your head. This blog is very much focussed on the physical dimensions of the America Ground and therefore misses much of the nuance of the story. If only there was a podcast you could listen to in order fill in the gaps…
Further Reading
The America Ground Hastings - Steve Peak - 2021
The America Ground – Barry Funnell - 1989
Tamarisk Town - Sheila Kaye-Smith - 1919
Historic Hastings - J. Manwaring Baines - 1986
Visit 1066 - https://www.visit1066country.com/destinations/hastings/the-america-ground/history-of-the-america-ground
1066 Online - https://www.1066online.co.uk/hastings-history/hastings-town/america-ground
Love Hastings - https://lovehastings.com/the-story-of-the-america-ground/
Historical Hastings - https://historymap.info/Category:America_Ground
Comments