A LUXURY home inside a cave dating back to 14,000BC has hit the market - and it hides a mysterious secret.Local legend holds that the St Clement Caves could have been used by smugglers or even for strange occult rites.West Hill Villa is considered to occupy one of the most commanding and elevated positions within Hastings historic Old Town.OFF AGAINThe lower part of the house features an open plan sitting room/kitchen and dining area situated where the old Hastings Pottery used to be.
The earliest written reference tells the tale of an old couple who were exiled from the town workhouse for misbehaviour and escaped to live in the caves from 1783.Fast-forward to 1864, they became a tourist attraction with a spectacle known as 'Smugglers Adventure', centred around a myth that the caves were used for smuggling on the south coast of England 200 years ago.
The villa was built in the 1800s along with gorgeous features including a 90ft orangery and has since been visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales, as well as Prince Albert and Prince George Frederick.It houses a fish pool, grapevines, banana trees and other exotic plants – some of which were brought to the house by Captain Cook himself.
Captain Cook used the orangery as a safe haven for his plants during his voyages before they were transported to Kew Gardens.