a circular shield , such as was sometimes used during the reign of Henry III. There seems then very strong reason to believe that the men of Hastings so effectually contributed to the safety of England by their prowess. in her time of greatest need, that they acquired these arms as a national reward.
If she, with Winchelsea and Rye, sent a full quota , her aid must indeed have been invaluable; and she may well claim to have borne the brunt of the fray, for more than half the English fleet must have sailed under her flag. Yet she continued to decline. In 11 years, i.e. in 1229, Seaford and Pevensey were incorporated as limbs of Hastings, to assist her in supplying even her diminished number of six ships. Bulverhythe, Hydney, which cannot now be identified , but is known to have been between Eastbourne and Pevensey; Higham , near Pevensey; Beaks bourne, near Canterbury, where the great traveller Dr. Beke dwells in the midst of his ancestral demesne, whose energy and spirit of adventure bespeak him no degenerate descendant of the hardy portsmen of yore ; and Northey[1], near Pevensey Sluice, were added at the same time, but not incorporated.
About this time the Dean and Canons of Hastings petitioned the King to repair the walls of the Castle to secure their chapel,which they stated to be " Sita infra Claustrum predictum : quod per frequentes inundationes maris pro -
- ↑ Northey ceased to be a limb before the time of the Commonwealth .
