of Hastings, Dover, and Pevensey, as the first and most essential step towards securing him the throne. The present town may be called the New Town, as there was formerly another which stood without the present one, and was swallowed up by an inundation os the sea ; but when that event happened, is very uncertain. As a proof that the sea has gained considerably on the coast here, an entire hedge has been discovered beneath the surface of the sand at low water, a little to the westward of the town near the white rock, and pieces of wood and stick brought away from it. Some of the present inhabitants remember grass growing below the high water-mark, a little to the westward of the bathing-room.
Mr. Somner, in his account of the Roman ports and forts, seems to think that Hastings or Pevensey was the ancient Anderida of the Romans ; though Mr. Camden places it at Newenden, in Kent.
