How Bayeux Tapestry inscriptions and folklore brought handcrafted warmth to the Hastings Castle branding

Hastings Castle is one of the UK’s most notable heritage sites. First built in 1066 on orders of William of the Conqueror months prior to the Battle of Hastings (a date indelibly marked in the minds of English school children by history lessons and the insanely catchy noughties adverts from insurance company Hastings Direct), it’s a structural symbol of a new epoch: the end of Anglo-Saxon Britain and the beginnings of Norman rule. The castle now lies in ruins, thanks to weather, war and invasion, but it remains a site of key interest to history buffs and a point of pride for its local Hastings community. To maintain this cultural stead, the castle is currently undergoing regeneration; the development of a new visitor centre and restaurant, complete with fresh branding from designers Clare and Charlie Noon.

Clare and Charlie live in the seaside town of St Leonards, a stone’s throw from the castle, and the project arose through their continued collaboration with Troika Projects, who they’ve worked with on other local hospitality projects, like Bunka restaurant. The pair maintain personal practices – Clare as a book designer and art director, and Charlie designing within the music and hospitality industries, with previous work for Gala festival and Accidental records – but come together on branding projects, combining their unique specialisms.

“Troika’s ambition to reposition the castle as both an iconic ruin and a multicultural events space made for an especially compelling brief,” says Charlie. The aim was to pay homage to its historism while simultaneously positioning it as “a container for contemporary culture and community activity”. Charlie continues: “At its heart, the work needed to feel both grounded and forward-looking: deeply rooted in the community it serves, while articulating a bold and contemporary vision for what the castle can become.”

The crowning jewels of the identity are its logotype and brilliantly named custom headline typeface, Conqueror Sans. The forms of Conqueror Sans are influenced by inscriptions found in the Bayeux Tapestry, the world-famous 70 metre long embroidered tapestry, which depicts the Battle of Hastings and the events preceding it, dated as being made in the decade following the battle. Its tall capitals and confident serifs give it its medieval edge, but, importantly, “1066 is only one part of the castle’s story, and we wanted to avoid creating something that felt like an Anglo-Saxon or Norman pastiche,” says Clare. “Its defining qualities reflect that balance: a warmth that feels handcrafted rather than mechanical, paired with a stone-carved solidity that anchors it within both its historical and geographical context.” The headline typeface is paired with a logotype – its curvier, more rounded ancestor. It’s complete with a top-heavy S and curly G, infusing it with contemporary flourishes.

To really establish the locale as the multicultural events space it’s destined to be, Charlie and Clare made sure that at every level the rebrand was “a decisive break from heritage convention”, says Charlie. They moved away from the fusty visuals you may find at other heritage sites – think ornate heraldic imagery and gold palettes – and instead gravitated toward folkloric, hand-drawn creatures as the primary illustrative element. And the colour palette, as opposed to being deep, muted and regal, is populated with soft pastel pinks, blues and yellows with moments of a bright orange accent. All of these disparate elements come together to create something that feels truly welcoming: “The message is clear: this place is alive, strange and worth experiencing now – not only because of what happened here nearly a thousand years ago, but because of what it feels like to be here today,” summarises Charlie.

For Charlie and Clare, one of the most exciting things about the project is that it isn’t finished. As the regeneration continues, the identity has been built flexibly, so it can “grow alongside the castle rather than fossilise around it”, Clare says. This is embodied in the foamex “guerrilla-style” wayfinding you might now encounter across the town. “If signs become altered, weathered, or graffitied, that only adds to the story – another layer in the site’s ongoing tapestry,” ends Clare. “To see a place so steeped in history embrace something genuinely forward-looking – not despite its age, but because of the atmosphere and feeling that age creates – is a rare and moving thing.”