The Stade

The word ‘Stade’ is an old Saxon term that dates from before the 1066 battle of Hastings and means "landing place". The Stade is situated in Hastings Old Town and was originally a small landing area. However, the building of the 1887 groyne at Rock-A-Nore and the 1896 harbour stopped shingle moving east along the coast. The result was that The Stade then steadily grew out to seaward, providing new room for the fishing fleet and many amenities.

The Stade has been a maritime center for over a thousand years and its shingle beach has always been called that way.

On The Stade is today’s Europe's biggest fleet of beach-launched fishing boats. The boats have to be hauled out of the sea after each trip, which stops them being more than about ten metres long. This means that they can only carry small amounts of gear and travel just a few miles. As a result the fleet has always fished in an ecologically sound way.

The Stade has today a vibrant working community that enjoys great traditions for many generations. It also represent the perfect combination of an historically protected area being ecologically utilized by a contemporary working force. In fact, there are not many places in the world today such as The Stade, where you can find a driving community working in a protected area of great historical relevance, one that still keeps its original look, its old traditions, standards and original atmosphere.

Unique to The Stade are also the fishermen's netshops. These are tarred and weatherboarded buildings that have been in the area for at least 400 years and before The Stade started developing as such. Centuries ago, there was nowhere to spread the fishermen's nets to dry so these netshops (or net huts) were constructed as tall as possible to give local fisherman enough space to do so. The netshops are one of Britain's most historic landmarks.

The shingle beach from which the fishing fleet launches has been known as 'The Stade' for over a thousand years.

External links

* [http://www.ohps.org.uk/fishermens_museum/ Fishermen's Museum]
* [http://www.hastingsoldtown.co.uk/Pages/OldTownHallMuseum.htm Old Town Hall Museum]
* [http://www.hastingsfish.co.uk/museum.htm Fishermen's Protection Society]
* [http://www.ohps.org.uk/fishermens_museum/ Fishermen's Museum]
* [http://www.hmag.org.uk/home/default.aspx Hastings Museums & Arts]
* [http://www.nautical-heritage.org.uk/aboutus.html Nautical Heritage Association]
* [http://www.rnli.org.uk/rnli_near_you/east/stations/hastingseastsussex/station Royal National Lifeboat Institution]
* [http://www.hastingslifeboat.org.uk/ Hastings Lifeboat]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/community/town_tours/hastings/hastingstour.one.shtml BBC Southern Counties Page]