Among its many consequences, William the Conqueror’s victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 led to the practice of archiving in England. The first archives of Antiquity were governed by politics and power. However, the archive’s function is intrinsically dichotomous from its Classical manifestation. Through its records, the archive assembles stories and builds collective identities. The archive is thus an embodiment of memories and their inherently fluid quality, an open-ended artefact constantly being written and rewritten. Oral history exemplifies this notion: contrary to the fixed nature of written histories, it emerges organically through telling and retellings.

Responding to emotional displacement and the resulting loss of memories as a by-product of gentrification, the Hastings Archive of Oral History embraces the dynamic interpretation of the archival, seeking to bolster collective identity and social cohesion by facilitating this process. Situated at Hastings Castle, it recognises the deep historical entanglements of the town and uses the ruins as a boundary between private and public, past and present.