Note 10 — PART II HISTORICAL STUDIES (continued 2)

The importance of Hastings before the Conquest is shown not only by the action of its ships in 1049, but also by its possessing a mint. Yet the only mention of this town in Domesday is the incidental entry that the Abbot of Fécamp had 'in Hastings' appurtenant to his Manor of Brede, 'iiii. burgenses et xiiii. bordarios'.10 One is fairly driven to the bold hypothesis that Hastings, which ought to have figured at the head of the county survey (as did Dover in Kent), was one of the important towns wholly omitted in Domesday.11 The fact that its ship-service, when first mentioned, was as large as that of Dover is a further proof of its importance.