Council wants to improve ‘poor visitor experience’ at Hastings Castle

Hastings Borough Council says the castle offers a ‘poor visitor experience’ - attracting just 30,000 visitors a year before the pandemic struck.
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Plans to improve Hastings Castle have been unveiled which will focus on making the West Hill Lift accessible, providing a new connection between Ladies Parlour and improving the visitor experience.

The council said it aims for the experience to be more educational and build the castle into a major visitor attraction.

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A spokesman said: “Hastings Castle is the only direct link the town has with the battle in 1066 that made us famous around the world.

Hastings Borough Council has admitted that the castle, despite being a historical landmark, currently offers a poor visitor experience, attracting only around 30,000 visitors a year before the pandemic struck. Picture from Hastings Borough Council's Twitter.Hastings Borough Council has admitted that the castle, despite being a historical landmark, currently offers a poor visitor experience, attracting only around 30,000 visitors a year before the pandemic struck. Picture from Hastings Borough Council's Twitter.
Hastings Borough Council has admitted that the castle, despite being a historical landmark, currently offers a poor visitor experience, attracting only around 30,000 visitors a year before the pandemic struck. Picture from Hastings Borough Council's Twitter.

“Although it dominates the seafront and town centre on top of the West Hill, it offers a poor visitor experience, attracting only around 30 000 visitors a year before the pandemic struck. Hastings Castle, the first Norman-built castle in the country, deserves to be a major visitor attraction, it has an amazing story to tell.

“We want to improve access to the castle by making the West Hill Lift accessible, provide a new connection between Ladies Parlour and the castle itself and make the visitor experience far better. We also want to make the castle much more educational, of interest to local and visiting students.

“As the project is still in its early stages, we are very interested in hearing people’s views on the kind of development they’d like at the castle, what they’d like to see in the castle and the kind of information provided to visitors.”

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The council is looking to transforming Hastings Castle through the Hastings Town Deal programme.

People are being asked to complete a survey, which closes on June 15.