- Source: 121 All Saints Street Hastings
121 All Saints Street Hastings is a Grade II listed building in the Conservation Area of Hastings Old Town, East Sussex, England. It was built in 1648, is timber-frame, jettying to the front and side, and with a dragon beam, and bears the crest of Sir James Duke, 1st Baronet. It is one of the best preserved half-timbered houses in Hastings.
History
The house was constructed in 1648 during the English Civil War, at a time when Hastings was garrisoned by the Parliamentarians. The oak timbers were cut to size at a saw mill, and reassembled on site. Carpenters’ marks are visible from this process. Panels were of wattle and daub, some of which survive in their original state. A brick chimney stack with fireplaces for cellar, ground and first floors provides the house with structural support. The house is jettied to the front and side. Features include a dragon post and dragon beam, and bressumer beams with chamfer stop ends. The roof is a queen post structure, and would originally have been thatched; now clay-peg tiles. It appears that the original timbers for the roof were not adequately dried before construction, as purlins have warped substantially creating a clearly visible bow on the roof.
Work about 1750 included installing a brick paver cellar floor, which is extant. The house is associated with smuggling, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. 1820 repairs utilised Baltic timber from Riga. For much of the nineteenth century it was a grocer's shop, for a time selling produce from the farms of Sir James Duke, 1st Baronet, whose crest is displayed. It was also a registry office for births and deaths, and for a time a post office. An example of late Victorian concealed shoes was found hidden in the mortar of a cellar wall.
In 1950s the house was scheduled for slum clearance but saved by the work of a local builder. It is now a key part of the historic environment of Old Town Hastings.