says " To a few others I am also under obligations for information received at different times ; but to none more than to my ingenious and worthy friend, who furnished the drawings for the plates, and the map ; and to whose steady friendship and active zeal upon this, as well as numberless other occasions, I am greatly indebted."
Mr. John Goldwsorthy Shorter was a native of the Premier Cinque Port, and after his retirement as a Schoolmaster, he became a Jurat and eight times Mayor of Hastings, seven times alternately from 1803 to 1815, with Mr. Edward. Milward, junior. The coincidence is that his grandson now lives on the spot where his brother-in-law had his library, just one hundred and thirty years ago.
St. Clement's Caves.
The present entrance to these Caves is of modern origin. They were known to Mr. John Collier the owner of the land, and to his successor, Mr. Edward Milward, senior, long before Gloucester Place was thought of. Probably about the middle of the 18th Century. The following is a rare and quaint view of the Caves from an old print, which was published in the Gentleman's Magazine of 1786, and described as one of "The Antiquities of Hastings."
There is little doubt that the use of sand for building purposes and for sprinkling floors, before carpets were cheap, "or before the use of blotting paper for drying writing ink," caused a want which was readily filled by the inexhaustible supply from that part of the Croft called the Coney Banks, although some think they were used by smugglers for secreting contraband, which idea has been exploded long since, and ridiculed by old hands. Smugglers seldom used a hiding place more than once or twice. After being disused, early in the 19th Century, an opening was accidentally made by a gentleman named Scott while digging in his garden at the back of Gloucester Place. Then an idea struck a Mr. Golding that the opening of these Caves to the public, with music and dancing, would prove a profitable hit. He applied to Mr. Milward, and obtained permission to cut a new and more convenient entrance. This Mr. Golding and his descendants carried them on many years, during which the St. Clement's Caves became one of the " Lions " of the town, and are still open to the public daily. A new entrance from the West Hill, near the Lighthouse, was made during the late Mr. Edwin Smith's tenancy, making a visit less fatiguing than formerly.
One writer states that these Caves were a popular resort of the soldiers from Halton Barracks, for card playing and other games. Every visitor should see these immense excavations.
Hill Street, Church Street, and Croft Road, were generally designated as " On the Hill." It is now called Croft Road, commencing from Paragon Buildings. No. 6 was formerly the rectory house and bears a date and initials R.C.A., 1710. A few doors beyond is a disused burial ground under the charge of the Church-
