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| The wreck of the Anne, a British 70-gun warship, lies in the beach just beyond the eastern end of the shoreline houses of Pett Level. She was run ashore in 1690 after being seriously damaged by the French navy in the Battle of Beachy Head, and was burnt to stop her being taken as a French prize. Nowadays, when the tides are extremely low and the sands have moved you can visit the wreck whose bottom is buried about 4m deep in the sands. King Charles II had built the Anne at Chatham in 1678, and she was visited by King James II in 1687, before she carried a German princess to Lisbon to be the bride of King Pedro II of Portugal. |
The Anne being burned by her captain after damage by the French |
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| The Anne is owned by the charitable trust that owns the Shipwreck & Coastal Heritage Centre, and it is there that her story is told, with photographs and reconstruction paintings of the ship, and artefacts from the wreck. Amongst them is part of an early iron grenade. |
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| There is parking on the grass verge along the Pett Level road at the base of the sea defence embankment, and at intervals there are steps up and over to the beach. Be careful as you walk around the huge expanse of the 5000 years old prehistoric forest since the beach is muddy and slippery. Also, do not walk at the base of the nearby sandstone cliffs as falls of rock can occur at any time. It you decide to explore westwards on the beach under the cliffs, do make sure that the tides are right to enable you to return to safety. It is possible to walk all the way to Hastings ‘Old Town’, but it will take about four hours, and it must be carefully planned for low spring tides. Unless care is taken you can be caught by the rising tide. |
The 1690 wreck of the British warship Anne, off Pett Level |
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