New Moves to Save St Mary
KENT BARKER
A new steering group has been formed to seek fresh and sustainable uses for St Mary in the Castle. The iconic Hastings building and concert venue has been closed since November 2022 when the Castle charitable trust ended its ten-year lease from Hastings Borough Council.
Now a group called the St Mary in the Castle Drivers Group (SMITCDG) is seeking specialists who can provide an ‘Options Appraisal’ to examine possible uses for the building. As a first stage, interested parties are invited to bring in fresh expertise along with ideas and concepts for the building which may not have been considered so far.
The SMITCDG is backed by the Hastings Commons heritage development trust and describes itself as “a team of individuals with a long history of supporting the building and a strong drive to find a solution as the building sits deteriorating”.
They say that suggestions currently focus on creating a profitable space on the ground floor accessed from Pelham Arcade, which will complement the venue upstairs. Options for this may include a “Hastings History Experience and Tourism Centre”, a “food & beverage-led approach”, “partnership with a national/regional cultural organisation” or a wider scheme, “including some residential development to cross-subsidise”.
A budget of £10,000 is available for the successful group from the initial submissions to provide a final report including any research, development and expenses. It will be expected to complete the document of up to twenty pages within three months; interview 8-10 key people including HBC, previous staff, management, stakeholders and event managers to get a better understanding of what has worked or failed in the past; present viable options for a visionary outcome; and “think creatively and independently to create new, inspiring and brave options’”
St Mary in the Castle was built between 1825 and 1828 forming the centrepiece of Pelham Crescent, designed by Joseph Kay for Thomas Pelham. Its Grade II * listing says: “The scheme provided all that the visitor could wish for. Within walking distance of the town centre, it included accommodation with unsurpassed sea views, set round a picturesque chapel. The enclosed arcade… advertised 28 shops ‘for the sale of all fashionable merchandise’ on the lines of John Nash’s Royal Opera Arcade and Samuel Ware’s Burlington Arcade in London. The church ceased to be used in 1970 and was sold to a nonconformist congregation, which found itself unable to maintain the building. After various abortive plans whilst the structure decayed further, in 1990 the Council acquired it.”
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