Hastings Old Town is the ancient heart of the settlement, compressed into the valley between the East Hill and the West Hill. The streets here — many of them narrow "twittens" barely wide enough for two people to pass — are lined with weatherboarded houses, antique shops, pubs, and fish-and-chip shops. It has a slightly crumpled, independent character that distinguishes it from the more commercial town centre to the west.
The area around the Stade (the fishing beach) is the most concentrated part of the Old Town. The black net shops — tall, weatherboarded huts used for drying fishing nets — have stood here for centuries and are a listed historic ensemble. On the beach, working fishing boats are still launched from the shingle in the traditional way. The combination of active working fishing industry and Victorian-era tourism architecture is unusual and rather wonderful.