French Raids on the South Coast

1340

During the Hundred Years War, the south coast of England was repeatedly raided by French naval forces. Hayling Island, exposed and poorly defended, was vulnerable to these attacks. Raids in the fourteenth century caused destruction and disruption to the island's small community. The church and the priory may have been damaged, and the population, with no castle or fortification to shelter behind, could do little but flee or submit. The raids were part of a wider pattern of coastal warfare that affected settlements from Sussex to Devon, and they left Hayling and its neighbours in a state of periodic insecurity. The experience of French raids was a reminder that island living on the south coast carried military risks as well as economic advantages.