Shipwreck Museum will be joining in Hastings Pirate Day fun

Curator Tim McDonald explained: “The museum is the perfect venue for any celebration of the sea, but especially to one devoted to pirates, corsairs, buccaneers and privateers – what's the difference – all will be explained at the Museum.

"Amongst the array of fascinating nautical artefacts guaranteed to stir your maritime instincts, there is a section devoted to the 17th-century warship Anne, whose wreck sits to the east of Hastings at Pett Level.

"This vessel is the only known surviving and accessible wreck of a vessel of the Thirty Ships of the Line ordered in 1677 by King Charles II and his Chief Secretary to the Admiralty, Samuel Pepys. In 1687, she was ordered into the Mediterranean to track down Barbary pirates, a mission which she undertook with considerable success. And so, over the Pirate Day weekend, visitors will be able to learn all about this genuine pirate-hunting ship.

“The venerable great Rye barge Primrose, which sits in the yard of the Museum, didn't actually encounter pirates, confining her movements to the inland waterways of Sussex and Kent, but she will also be participating in the piratical shenanigans and proudly displaying skull-and-crossbones regalia.

“And talking of bones, there will be a display of bones and fossils on the Sunday when Will Richardson will be presenting a treasure trove of geological and palaeontological finds from the local area - those in search of dinosaurs, look no further.

“As visitors arrive, they will be welcomed at the entrance by William from the Rye Bay Yacht Squadron, inviting people to step aboard his mini pirate ship and learn a bit more about sailing the briny.”