Russian Gun

The Russian gun which stood for many years opposite Pelham Crescent in Hastings, facing the sea, was a tribute to men who had fought in the Crimean War.

Award of Gun

A letter, reproduced in the The Hastings & St Leonards Observer read;
"To the Mayor of Hastings

July 10th 1857

Sir, in reply to your letter of the 3rd instant, I am directed by Lord Panmure to inform you that his Lordship has much pleasure in presenting to the town of Hastings one Russian gun as a trophy of the late war, for the correct mounting and careful preservation of which his Lordship feels confident he may rely on the public spirits of the place.

War Office"

Display

The gun was one of several captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean War and was delivered to Hastings from the Admiralty on 9th October 1857, arriving on the 15th of October, having been transported by the South Eastern Railway Company. Only the barrel of the gun was actually Russian, the mounting being of English manufacture. Standing almost in front of the access road to Pelham Crescent - the wheels actually lined up with the road nearly perfectly (although this was most likely more by accident than design - the gun having been situated adjacent to the east side of Beach Terrace), the gun was reportedly fired more than once at ceremonial occasions into the sea. Sheltering under the wheels of the gun was also reportedly an elderly woman who sold sea shells.

Museum Years

In later years the gun stood in the grounds of Hastings Museum at Johns Place, but in 1942 it was taken away for use as scrap metal during the Second World War.

Images

• Images
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  Beach Terrace and the Russian Gun c1900

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  Russian-gun-at-Breeds-Place-1905.

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  The-Parade-c1905.