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Cave or grotto

St Clement's Caves

West Hill, Hastings, East Sussex

Smugglers' caves under the hill above Hastings.

A network of caves runs under the West Hill above Hastings. In the 1700s and 1800s they were used by smugglers to hide goods landed on the beaches.

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When
1700s
Where
50.8570, 0.5870
Group
Caves & grottoes

Visiting

Open most of the year. The West Hill Cliff Railway runs up nearby.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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