St Clements Caves are

show caves A show cave—also called tourist cave, public cave, and, in the United States, commercial cave—is a cave which has been made accessible to the public for guided visits. Definition A show cave is a cave that has been made accessible to ...

located on the West Hill in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

. The caves were named after a nearby parish church and since 1989 are home to the "Smugglers Adventure" tourist attraction which tells the story of

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

on the South Coast of England 200 years ago.

History

The earliest written reference about the caves was about an old man and woman who were discharged from the town workhouse for misbehaviour and who lived in the mysterious caves from 1783. The couple lived at the bottom of the 'Monks Walk',Historical Hastings Wiki
St Clements Caves - Historical Hastings Wiki
accessdate: 10 December 2019 a 140 feet (44 metres) long tunnel which is now the start of the caves tour. In the 1820s, the caves were rediscovered by a local grocer named Joseph Golding. He was cutting a garden seat into the side of the cliff for his boss when he broke through to the vast cavern. They became a tourist attraction in 1864 and were visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales. In 1873 the caves received another royal visit from Prince Albert and Prince George Frederick. During the Second World War the caves became an air raid shelter and a temporary home, originally for 200-400 people and then, for up to 900 people as the war drew on. Even once when the West Hill received a direct hit from a bomb, the caves remained undamaged.

Modern tourist attraction

On 25 March 1989 St Clements Caves reopened as the Smugglers Adventure, a centre for the history of smuggling on the south coast of England. Dozens of life-size figures, push-button tableaux, dramatic lighting, eerie sound effects and a few surprises bring the romantic yet often bloody heyday of smuggling to life. The Ballroom is now a converted gift shop and the main entrance to the attraction. In June 1998 the attraction reopened after a major refit, which introduced fictional smuggler 'Hairy Jack' who guides visitors round the caves, along with new displays, hands-on features and interactive activities. In February 2012 the Smugglers Adventure reopened after another set of major renovations, which included the installation of a brand new audio-visual infrastructure, and of new lighting systems to highlight the caves’ extraordinary architecture and natural geological formations. There is also a time capsule buried in a wall of the caves which was placed there in 1966 (the 900th anniversary year of the

Battle of Hastings The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place appr ...

) and is due to be opened in 2066.

External links

Smugglers Adventure official website
www.smugglersadventure.co.uk

www.showcaves.com
St Clements Caves History
Local history wiki relating to the caves.

References

{{Reflist Caves of East Sussex Hastings Tourist attractions in East Sussex Protected areas of East Sussex