Welcome to St Mary In The Castle

We hope you will visit this wonderful arts centre. During opening hours our cafe offers excellent coffee, tea and hot chocolate as well as a range of hot and cold lunches. Exhibitions are often held in the cafe, gallery and crypt and entry is free during cafe opening hours. Our magnificant auditorium is open for events, and for occasional guided tours.

IN THE GALLERY

Free entry, café opening hours. 

We sell tickets for our events from the cafe.

Our café is open Wednesday - Saturday 11-3, Sunday 12-3 (and often later if it's busy). We are also open on bank holidays. We offer a wide range of delicious hot lunch options, from fish pie to jacket potatoes, plus freshly ground coffee and the best hot chocolate in Hastings.

We are delighted to host a wide variety of events, ranging from jazz breakfasts and classical music concerts to conferences and health events... See our events page and calendar for details.

WE ARE OFTEN ASKED WHETHER THE BUILDING IS OPEN FOR VISITORS. AT THE MOMENT THE AUDITORIUM IS OPEN FOR EVENTS ONLY, WITH OCCASIONAL OPEN DAYS AND GUIDED TOURS.

DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE FRIENDS OF ST MARY IN THE CASTLE? THEY WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: ENQUIRIES ON 01424-442601.

St Mary in the Castle

 

The auditorium here is famous for its wonderful acoustics, especially for music. We also have a built-in PA system and stage lighting.

Access is no problem. We are between the Town Centre and Old Town on the sea front, ten minutes from Hastings Station, on most bus routes, and are opposite the Pelham Place car park (only £1 for any time from 6pm until dawn). The auditorium is fully wheelchair-accessible with disabled toilets. We also have a hearing loop in the auditorium.

For more details of this wonderful building, and a photo collection, see: http://www.1066.net/fosmic/

LOOKING FOR ACCOMMODATION IN HASTINGS? GO TO www.accommodationinhastings.co.uk

THE FUTURE...

WE HAVE AGREED WITH HASTINGS COUNCIL TO CONTINUE TO MANAGE THE VENUE UNTIL THE END OF AUGUST 2012 AS A CENTRE FOR ARTS, EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY USE. UNFORTUNATELY THE COUNCIL DOES NOT SEE ST MARY'S AS PART OF ITS "CULTURAL REGENERATION" PROGRAMME. IT HAS NOW PUT THE BUILDING OUT TO TENDER. WE CANTHEREFORE TAKE BOOKINGS ONLY UP TO 31ST AUGUST. 

Our latest statement on the position is:

   The key to running an arts and community programme here is continuity. Hirers, especially the really important ones like the Philharmonic Choir, the East Sussex youth music service, promoters of music or comedy events, organisers of wedding fairs and the like, need to book ahead. They often ask for assurances not only of the next booking, but being able to use this as a regular venue.. We have been working for three years under the extreme difficulty of short-term licences, and last summer we were forced to turn away far too many important booking enquiries for the autumn and 2012. 
   We are urging Hastings Council to make an urgent decision on the future of the building since this is the only way to maintain continuity of its operation as a public building.


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				Further events: Please see our Events page