Pett

The manor of Pett belonged to a succession of families, including the Halle family, the Levett family, the Fletchers and the Medleys, before eventually passing to the Earls of Liverpool. Between early 1913 until 1916, a secluded bungalow in Pett Level was the home of sculptor Jacob Epstein and his wife Peggy Using the garden shed there as a studio, during these three years Epstein produced a number of notable works. Pett Level has had an independent lifeboat service since 1970, serving the coastal and inland waters between Hastings and Camber.{{cite news|work=BBC News|title=More than £15,000 raised to refloat lifeboat ==Landmarks==

There is a Site of Special Scientific Interest partly within the parish. Hastings Cliffs to Pett Beach runs along the coast and is of both biological and geological interest. The cliffs hold many fossils and have many habitats, including ancient woodland and shingle beaches. These include a sunken forest, a warship which is thought to have sunk in 1690, a lost series of Martello towers. At Cliff End the beach has some fossils and some dinosaur footprints made by iguanodons and ankylosaurus up to 100m years ago in the Lower Cretaceous. Sunken forest A sunken forest can be seen in the sand at low tide in the shore opposite the levels. The forest stood around 6500 years ago, before the melting of the glaciers after the last ice age raised sea levels. The forest can be seen as spongy wooden roots, fallen trunks and tree stumps across large areas in the sand. Sea conditions may bury the remains in sand from time to time until uncovered again by storms. The trees have been identified as oak, birch and hazel. Wreck of HMS Anne HMS Anne was a 70-gun third rate ship of the line of the English Royal Navy, launched in 1678. She was badly damaged at the Battle of Beachy Head on 30 June 1690. Her captain beached her here and she was set on fire to prevent capture by the French. Her remains were discovered when the vessel was partly dug up by a mechanical excavator in 1974. The wreck is usually exposed by low tides which are below 0.6m above the chart datum (Dover). She lies in sand on a firm clay substrate on top of the prehistoric submerged forest. An explanatory panel is placed opposite her location on the sea wall. ==In popular culture==

Pett Level beach was the filming location for parts of the video of David Bowie's 1980 number one hit single "Ashes to Ashes." Jonathan Miller filmed the beach scenes for his 1966 TV film of Alice in Wonderland at Pett Level. Sir John Gielgud played the Mock Turtle and Malcolm Muggeridge was the Gryphon. ==References==