Down on the Stade, in Old Town Rock-a-Nore, Hastings, lies a quiet, unassuming building, the outside of which belies the exciting adventure to be found inside. |
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The Shipwreck and Coastal Heritage Centre (SHCH) was founded and set up in 1986 by Dr. Peter Marsden, a historian and archaeologist, and a board of trusty trustees, in order to tell the fascinating story of several shipwrecks that lie off this stretch of our beautiful Sussex coast. The shoreline here is quite unique in that it has two shipwrecks, the Anne and the Amsterdam, that can be walked to at extreme low tide. The Anne, a 70 gun warship, ran ashore at Pett Level in 1690 whilst fleeing the French in a sea battle. She was badly damaged, and her captain, John Tyrell, took the agonising decision to burn her in order to stop her being captured. He was court martialled for his decision, but acquitted, and although efforts were made to salvage the ship, everyone had reckoned without the glutinous properties of the East Sussex mud. The Anne was mostly unloaded, but sank several feet into the clay seabed, and remained where she is today. She is a rather shy old lady though, and can only be seen on rare occasions when the wind has whipped away all the sand and uncovered her. Nonetheless, her story is an exciting one, and is told in greater detail at the SHCH. The other local wreck is the Amsterdam, a Dutch East Indiaman, which was on her way from Holland to Java in 1749 when disaster struck and several of the crew started to get sick. After about 50 died, and when the captain, Willem Klump, took no action to return home, the crew mutinied. They had been fired up by drinking quantities of alcohol and it had obviously given them Dutch courage, for they took over the ship and ran her aground at Bulverhythe. Although they missed the rocks, they didn’t know about the gloopy Sussex mud either, and within hours the Amsterdam started to sink. As much of her cargo as possible was removed and carted away, the tons of silver being taken to the Customs House in the High Street in Old Town Hastings. About two thirds of the Amsterdam survives today, and SCHC organises walks and talks at suitable long tides throughout the year, so that you can actually visit the wreck site for yourself. |
Many other shipwreck stories are told at the museum, both through the displays and an excellent audio-visual show, narrated by Christopher Lee. Just listening to his voice is an experience in itself! In the backyard of the museum lies the Primrose, the last Rye barge to be built. Her story is a fascinating and very local one, and although the Primrose has been closed to the public for a while, a project is afoot to get her opened again this year, with plans for fundraising events starting this month on Friday 22nd February (see p5 for details). Primrose was built about 1887 by William Clark of Winchelsea Road, Rye, and she operated until about 1944, when she was abandoned on the saltings at Rye. She was rescued from the mud in 1992 by archaeologist Valerie Fenwick and the help of several professional and local people working together. A new section on fossils and dinosaurs was set up this summer, the centrepiece being a cast of dinosaur bones given to pioneer dinosaur hunter Gideon Mantell, in the 1840s. It was, and still is, jokingly known as the “Mantell Piece.” Talks and workshops will take place in the summer season. SCHC also has a excellent shop, well worth a visit. For more information on SCHC visit the website at:
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