Bohemia Village Voice

Last weeks mystery anchor.

Where is this anchor and chain located? It has been sitting in the car park at Hastings Museum for “a good five years,” said Alison Hawkins, of the museum staff. “Its acquisition was suggested by local historian Steve Peak, and I believe it originally came from the Bulverhythe area.”  Steve later confirmed that it is an example of a ‘heaving off’ anchor, used probably in the nineteenth century by boats trying to get back afloat after unloading their cargo onto the beach.  “It would have been buried in the sand at the low water mark level,” said Steve, “with a rope running up the beach. Some of the fishing boats in the Old Town still used such a device as late as a few years ago. Nowadays, they all have bulldozers to push themselves off back into the sea.”