Well loved Hastings Old Town pub could be bought by community after being offered for sale

The pub was recently offered on the market by Hastings estate agents Just Property with a price tag of £950,000.

The Jenny, as it is known locally, is a popular music venue, supporting local bands, and often has live music on up to four days a week as well as hosting a popular weekly sea shanty session on Thursdays.

The pub is also home to the annual Boxing Day Spronkers competition – an event unique to Hastings were people play conkers using sprouts rather than horse chestnuts. The rear bar contains a bar billiards table with the pub having a team in the local league.

The upper floor of the pub has rooms for B&B and also has a large function room that has been used for community events in the past.

A campaign called ‘Let’s Save The Jenny Lind’ attracted 240 members within three days of being set up at the weekend. Members are concerned that the popular local venue could end up being converted to flats or Air B&B accommodation.

One member commented: “The fear is that if it gets sold to someone who has no interest in running a pub, that would be tragic.” Another said; “The Jenny Lind exudes atmosphere and creativity and needs to be retained as a pub.”

Former Hastings Council leader Peter Chowney said: “There is no change of use permission for conversion to residential. The argument is about retaining its use as a B&B as an ancillary to the pub. preventing its conversion to residential.”

One of the main suggestions put forward by the group is to list the Jenny Lind as an Asset of Community Value, which could create an option for the community to buy it and keep it as a pub.

The Jenny Lind has a long history. It opened in 1851 and stands on the site of the Bell, an old Hastings Inn dating back to the Reformation of 1600. From 1850 until 1898 the Jenny Lind was a free house until the freehold was purchased by Watneys. Then, just before the First World War, the police opposed the licence. However, not enough money was available for the compensation payment and they withdrew.

On the outbreak of the Second World War the Jenny Lind closed and in 1941 its licence was transferred to the brewers. In 1943 it was badly bombed and after the had to be demolished and completely rebuilt. The interior of the back bar was restored with old timbers and the pub re-opened in 1951, a century after it first opened in 1851. In 1957 retired boxer Don Cockell became landlord. He is remembered for his famous fight with Rocky Marciano for the world title in 1955.

In August 1990 the pub changed its name to the Penny Farthing. The ground floor windows, etched with silhouettes of Jenny Lind holding a nightingale and the carriage lamps at the front, were removed. However the name of Penny Farthing lasted for only a short time before reverting back to the Jenny Lind.

The pub takes its name from world-famous soprano singer, Jenny Lind, who was known as ‘The Swedish Nightingale’. She was hugely successful in Europe and toured America from 1850 to 1852.

This is not the first time the pub has been offered for sale in recent years. In 2019 the pub was on the market with Christie & Co, with an asking price of £795,000 after the then owner Linda Challis decided to retire.