Hastings
- This is about Hastings in England. There are other uses of the name Hastings
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Hastings is a town and port in southeastern England, in the historic county of Sussex. Population (2000) about 84,000. Now known as a seaside resort and education centre (Hastings College), it is near the site of the Battle of Hastings, fought in 1066. In this battle, William the Conqueror defeated and killed Harold Godwinson, the last Saxon King of England, and destroyed his army, opening England to the Norman conquest. Hastings was one of the Cinque Ports, but its significance as a port declined after the Middle Ages and its main industry became fishing
Hastings forms a single urban centre with the more suburban area of St Leonards on Sea to the west; the eastern part of the town is the former village of Ore. In the 19th century the towns became prosperous on the basis of the tourist trade from London and the Midlands, with the rise of international tourism from England it has declined substantially. It is now one of the most economically disadvantaged districts in south-east England.
Hastings is linked to London by two railway lines, to Victoria via Lewes and to Charing Cross via Ashford, Kent.
See: Hastings embroidery