The Stag, All Saints Street, Hastings old town


	*The Stag*

Shepherd Neame
14 All Saints Street, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3BJ
Tel: 01424 425734		E-mail: info@thestag.org

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The Stag in All Saints Street, Old Town, Hastings

One of Hastings oldest pubs, offering a warm welcome, with two bars and a wonderful garden.

We serve genuinely home cooked food lunchtimes and evenings from
Tuesday to Sunday and you will find details on the
Garden and Food page.

We have a variety of music on a regular basis throughout
the year andyou will find more about this on the
Events and Accommodation page.

A Brief History of The Stag

Tales of smugglers, secret passages and hidden treasure blended with a slice of Old Hastings conjure up visions of stormy nights and friendly inns, none more so than that most picturesque of Hastings pubs, The Stag.

Standing in an elevated position on the eastward side of All Saints Street, Old Town, with its whitewashed walls and oak beams, it is so typical of the cottages that adorn this ancient street. Features such as the ornate wood carvings that have been uncovered over the years indicate that part of the building dates back to Tudor times if not earlier.

The Front Bar with beamed ceiling
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One of the three fireplaces

The building in fact has a wealth of oak beams, winding passages and stairways, cupboards that lead nowhere and even a false front. There are inglenook fireplaces, wide chimneys that could conceal a man, and a secret passage that led to caves at the rear of All Saints churchyard. This accumulation of history and character no doubt prompted the old Ministry of Local Government in the 1950's to have the building listed as one of Special Architectural or Historic Interest.

Probably one of the most bizarre features of The Stag is the adornment of the bar by two mummified cats hanging from the oak beams. The remains of these unfortunate creatures were discovered just prior to the first World War during the installation of a new fireplace when they were exhumed and mounted aloft as a pair of petrified sentinels.

The Front Bar

The Back Bar

Legend tells us that The Stag was once a haunt of smugglers. There is undoubtedly some element of truth in this nefarious association although some of the more tenuous claims must be regarded as supposition. However, in 1906, hidden treasure was discovered when alterations to a ceiling in the bar uncovered a horde of spade guineas and Spanish doubloons which were subsequently declared treasure trove resulting in a reward for the honest workmen who made the find.

From the earliest days the first landlords would have brewed their own beer with local hops and water from the Bourne stream. As trades began to develop, the art of brewing was not neglected and by the early 17th century John Brett was the leading brewer, doubtless supplying the many inns now trading in the area such as The Stag. The quality of this early beer was very much dependent upon the state of the Bourne stream and it was not unknown for the Bailiff of the Bourne to place an order on the brewer instructing him under penalty not to take water from the stream below a certain point owing to the fact that its contents had been supplemented with liquids other than water.

The first of the brewers to own the Stag was Breeds & Co. of the Hastings Brewery who supplied beers and stouts through to 1931 when they were acquired by George Beer & Rigden of Faversham. Fremlins bought control of Beer & Rigden in 1949 and in 1967, they in turn were taken over by the Whitbread group. The Stag is today a Shepherd Neame pub, with the company being the oldest brewer in Britain.

The Back Bar
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Last Updated 21/12/05

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