Guide of 1797 is stated " A Stage Coach runs between London and Hastings every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, throughout the year, and on Wednesday also, during the summer season. It sets out from the Swan Inn, Hastings, at five, and from the Bolt-in-Tun, Fleet Street, London, at six in the morning ; the two Coaches meet at Tunbridge about noon, where they exchange passengers and parcels, and return home at night." One can imagine the busy scene at the Swan in High Street in those days, on the early arrival of passengers from the surrounding district. In contrast to the present mode of travel by swift motor- cars, and from 70 to 80 trains to and from London daily, taking from 1½ to 3 hours for the journey. Trains with luxurious dining and sleeping, electrically lighted, and well-warmed carriages.
No. 1, High Street was formerly occupied by Mr. Langham, the father of the late Aid. F. A. Langham, a lawyer of local celebrity, before the firm moved to Robertson Street. The earliest directory of which the author has any knowledge is one published by P. M. Powell, in 1819, and among the residents in High Street whose family names are familiar at the present day are Henbrey, Wine Merchant; Pain, Pastry Cook; Mrs. Amoore, Grocer; Weeks, Fruiterer; Williams, Wine Merchant ; Barry, Bookseller ; Inskipp, Painter ; Pain, Sadler ; W. Amoore, Grocer ; Eaton, Upholsterer ; Ellis, Grocer ; West, Post Office (in Post Office Passage, leading to Winding Street) ; Bryant, Ironmonger ; Job, Watchmaker ; Breeds. Merchant ; Foster, Tailor ; Austin, Printer ; Miss Carswell, Lodgings ; Ruby, Lodgings ; Tindall, Lodgings ; Scrivens, Lawyer ; Shorter, Lodgings ; Chas. Powell, Boarding School ; M. Breeds, Lodgings ; Duke, Glover ; Swan (or Royal Hotel), Mott, proprietor, etc., etc.
Leaving High Street by Swan Lane is Hill Street, once called Cornhill, and Church Street, Paragon Buildings, Cobourg Row, Harpsichord, Gloucester Place, and The Croft. An early account of this locality is recorded by William Durrant Cooper, F.S.A., and Thomas Ross, Esq., Mayor in 1862 in the Suss. Arch. Coll., vol 14, p. 65, in an article on "Notices of Hastings," dealing with the subject of the concealed lands of Salerne, Gautron, and Salter Chantries, which existed prior to the Reformation. A special Commission was petitioned for in 1578 for procuring evidence of these Concealed Lands, and to report same to Lawrence Levytt, Edmond Coppinger and John Asheburnham, Esquires. The report contains the following relating to this locality. - " Item - And also they doe finde and lykewise presente fowar gardeins conteyninge by estimacion one roode of lande more or less, the which allwayes apperteyned and belongyd to the tenements at Bullockes Hyll durynge these twentye yeares ; and hath byn conseallyd and kepte backe by one Willyam Benett, late of the towne of Hastinge deceassyd, and one Richard Calverley, nowe of the sayde towne of Hastinge, whoe sayth that he payeth rente for the same to one -
