Hastings Net Shops Museum
Net Shop U3, Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3DW
The Hastings Net Shops are unique, so this is the only Net Shops in the world! It was built about 1835 and was used for storing all kinds of fishing gear until 1989, when the family that owned it gave up fishing. The building and its contents were then given to Steve Peak, who added many old fishing items he had been collecting, and called it the Net Shops Museum. Steve has maintained it ever since, keeping it as it was in the 1980s.
Many of the items inside are very old, going back well before the Second World War. Some come from the sailing lugger EVG RX 152, which used this net shop until she was blown up by a mine in Rye Bay in 1943. The main purpose of net shops was to keep dry all nets and ropes made of natural materials that would rot if left wet. Today all fishing materials used are synthetic, and therefore do not suffer if left in the open, and so they can be stored on the beach.
The Museum has three floors, plus a cellar. It originally had only two floors, but in mid-Edwardian times the building was lifted up and another floor inserted underneath, along with a cellar. The top floor and roof were burnt off in June 1961 in a fire which destroyed the four net shops then standing to seaward (those standing there today have all been built since 1961).
Timings
- Saturday 12 September:
- 12.00-15.00
Location & directions
Net Shop U3, Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 3DW
Booking information
- Pre-booking requirement:
- Pre-booking not required
Additional information
- Estimated duration:
- 3 hour(s)
