Attractions :: UK Piers and Harbours

The Stade

The Stade meaning 'landing place' was given its name during the Battle of Hastings. For over 1000 years, this has been the starting point for fishermen. Lacking a natural harbour, various attempts over the centuries to build a man-made harbour have all resulted in varying degrees of failure. The result is that Hastings now holds the largest fleet of beach-launched fishing boats. It is due to this that the boats you see here are no more than ten metres long. As such, these boats only travel a few miles out to sea with little fishing gear on board. An excellent piece of luck for the local eco-system! Another interesting feature of the Stade are the historic 'net shops'. Unique to Hastings and Whitby, these are tall, wooden buildings whose unusual construction was brought about to avoid paying the land tax. The huts are used as dry storage space with the nets themselves being dried on the beach. Other places to visit in the Stade are the Fishermen's Museum, the Shipwreck Heritage centre, the Smugglers' Adventure, Underwater World and the Hastings Lifeboat Station.