Hastings Castle receives funding boost

Hastings Borough Council is delighted to have been awarded £288,500 from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Capital Fund grant programme for Hastings Castle. 

The funding, combined with £200,000 from the council, will allow urgent conservation repair work including stabilising vulnerable sections of the curtain walls, conserving the tower wall, chapel arch and Collegiate Church remains, repairing the Ladies’ Parlour Wall and addressing vegetation, masonry defects and other vulnerable historic features. 

Cllr Julia Hilton, deputy leader of Hastings Borough Council and lead councillor for shaping place, regeneration and community wealth building, said: “I’m delighted we have been successful in receiving this funding. Hastings Castle is a key part of our heritage, both within our town and the wider country’s history, and it is vital that it is secured for the future. This funding will help us complete some urgently needed conservation repair work to the site, while permissions for the wider Town Deal funded project are going through the processes. This work is needed both to protect the castle, which is a scheduled monument, and also protect the public who are visiting the site.” 

Louise Brennan, Director of Regions, Historic England, said: “Historic buildings are an important part of what gives places across England their character and identity, and they can be powerful assets for the communities around them. By investing in buildings at risk, we have an opportunity not only to protect important heritage, but to unlock their potential, breathe new life into historic places and showcase what makes communities distinctive.  

“This funding will support urgent conservation needs while helping projects move towards sustainable futures, whether through continued use, new uses or bringing valued buildings back into active use. We are pleased to support projects across England that demonstrate how investment in heritage can help create stronger, more distinctive and more vibrant places for the future.”  

Note to editors: 

The Hastings Castle work is being funded by Historic England’s Heritage At Risk Capital Fund grant programme. This new grant programme has been launched to support urgent repairs and regeneration of historic buildings at risk, particularly in deprived areas, aligning with government priorities on community wellbeing, economic growth, and levelling up.