In 15 pictures: Fascinating story of the smallest museum in Sussex

Half Sovereign Cottage is situated alongside to the Hastings Fishermen’s Museum, at Rock-a-Nore Road, close to the working fishing beach.

It is formed from half an old wooden Sussex fishing boat, which has an interesting history.

Steve Peak, honorary curator of the museum, explained: "The Golden Sovereign RX 40 was built at Eridge Green near Tunbridge Wells, 28 feet long, 9 tons gross, being registered in 1970. She came to Hastings in 1984. In the early 1990s her owner gave up fishing and left the boat on the Stade. In 1993 the then Hastings MP Jacqui Lait angered the local fishing community which led to RX 40 being used against her by the fishermen in the general election that resulted in the election of Michael Foster as the first Hastings Labour MP. “After that, she was abandoned again on the Stade. Then in 1998 as honorary curator of the Fishermen's Museum I suggested that the Museum should acquire her and cut her in half and create what you see today. The stern became Half Sovereign Cottage and the bow became a net shop.”

Inside Half Sovereign Cottage is a treasure trove of old lamps and fishing gear that provides a fascinating glimpse into the history of the local fishing industry, with Hastings still having the last beach launched fishing fleet in the UK.

It is cared for by Stephen Roberts Pratt, current curator of Hastings Fishermen’s Museum, who looks after the equipment and maintains working hurricane lamps and a wood fired stove. For many years the roof of the cottage – actually the bottom of the boat’s hull, leaked, but Stephen has now repaired this.

"He said: “The cottage has a unique atmosphere and is very popular with visitors. It is very small but packed with memorabilia and fishing equipment.”

Last year the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Admiral Sir George Zambellas, paid a visit to Half Sovereign Cottage as part of a tour of Hastings Old Town.

The idea of cutting fishing boats in half is nothing new. Fishermen caught smuggling would have their boats confiscated. After one boat was found to have a false bottom, every boat seized by the Revenue officials was ‘sawn asunder amidships’, which probably accounted for the many little shacks, consisting of half boats, which once sprang up on the beach at Hastings.

Hastings Fishermen's Museum is a museum dedicated to the fishing industry and maritime history of Hastings housed in a former church, officially known as St Nicholas' Church and locally as The Fishermen's Church, which served the town's fishing community for nearly 100 years from 1854. The museum, which is free to enter and open most days of the year, is packed with artefacts, photographs and paintings relating to the fishing industry and maritime history of Hastings. Centre piece of the museum is the last Hastings’ sailing lugger Enterprise built in 1912. Visitors can go on its deck.

The Museum and Half Sovereign Cottage rely on donations to be able to keep going.