Sea Bathing in Brighton

The Georgians go sea-bathing and visit baths at Brighton 

Sea-bathing or washing at Brighton for pleasure and for health by middle class visitors probably began in the 1730s. Local people may have bathed in the sea for some time before then but the arrival of visitors who stayed in this small, poor town started to provide much-needed income. As the

The Stanford Family of Preston Place (now Manor). Successful Georgian farmers and Victorian Suburban Developers

The Georgian and Regency period offered many opportunities to the energetic determined on ‘betterment’ and who made good use of openings. The Stanford family of the East Dean area of Sussex are a good example. With the aid of loans from members of his network of farming relatives, Richard Stanford moved to a large farm at Preston, north of Brighton as a tenant of the Western family.

    The 3rd Earl of Egremont of Petworth and Brighton

The 3rd Earl of Egremont supported charities in Brighton and used his high profile to get backers when funds were needed.  He helped to ensure that the first Royal Sussex Hospital was built.

Ovingdean Hall, the Georgian mathematical tiled birth place of Charles Eamer Kempe

Ovingdean Hall is the only country house now within the boundary of the City of Brighton and Hove built after 1700. The rest have sections built before then. It is special for three reasons.  It has a facade of cream mathematical (also called brick) tiles, the owner was a major supporter of the Anglican church in Brighton and of Ovingdean church and, he was the father of Charles Eamer Kempe (who added the e to the end of Kemp). Nathaniel an uncle of Thomas Read Kemp of Kemp Town.

Brighton’s St Nicholas of Myra, a ‘Victorian’ medieval parish church.

A small community with a church existed at Brighton in 1086 when the Domesday Book was compiled. We can assume, but we cannot be sure that the Saxon church stood on the current site, re-locations of churches did happen.  In 1086 Brighton’s church was owned by Ralph de Cayneto (later Anglicised to Cheyney) one of the three

Robert Adam, a famous eighteenth century architect seeks royal patronage at Brighton 

Robert Adam was a very fashionable architect who never designed for a member of the royal family.  In the mid-1780s, Robert was asked to revamp the house of W G Hamilton in Brighton (see left) . The elegant result has survived, called Marlborough House after the man from whom Hamilton bought it.  Robert sought patronage from the royal family and, when Grove House,  a large house to

Sue - lover of Landscape History 

I’ve always loved  history and particularly landscape history. Exploring how landscapes have changed and in particular the role of people.  For over a decade, I organised the programmes and co-managed  with Lorna Gartside the history conferences for the Sussex Archaeological Society as a volunteer.  By 2018, Lorna and I had the pleasure of greeting 180 people to each one. I also lecture, write articles and I have two publications to tackle.  The first will be a short

The Victorian and Edwardian country house in Sussex

                       c.1840-1914. 

Between 1835 and 1889 at least five hundred country houses were built or re-modelled in England, many transferring wealth earned in towns to rural areas. The houses needed large numbers of staff, 

Prints and Drawings of the Anglican parish churches of Sussex c1795-1900 on line

Many old parish churches have been altered, some have been demolished and rebuilt, new ones added. Family historians, archaeologists, historians of the landscape and its buildings should look at these free and easily accessible scans.

The impact of some Georgian and early Victorian innovations on the landscape of Sussex c1680-1850’

This period of rapid change was sandwiched between the political and related economic instability of the greater part of the seventeenth century and the great changes to our landscape economy which took place when the mid-Victorian economy surged such as major resort development. 

Georgian Brighton's Promenade

Where visitors and local people paraded  - the Steine at Brighton 1750-1800

The early story of the Steine, the open space which became one of England's first public promenades.

When the first visitors came to Brighton, the little resort lacked a seafront promenade and so visitors congregated on the open space to the east of the old town called the Steine.  It quickly became the fashionable part of the town.