History Of Brighthelmston - free ebook by John Ackerson Erredge

HISTORY OF BRIGHTHELMSTON OR Brighton as I View it and others Knew it, WITH A CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF LOCAL EVENTS.

By JOHN ACKERSON ERREDGE, ( Author of “ The Students’ Hand Book ,” &amp;c. ) BRIGHTON: PRINTED BY E. LEWIS, “OBSERVER” OFFICE, 52 a , NORTH STREET. 1862....

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PREFACE.

The publication of the History of Brighton had proceeded, with the most gratifying success, through ten monthly numbers, when it was suddenly interrupted by the lamented decease of the Author—Mr. J. A. Erredge. Death came upon him, not stealthily, but in its most awful form. It surprised him literally at the desk. Whilst talking cheerfully to the publisher, the hand of Death was laid upon him, and he fell dead to the ground;—the ink of these pages was still wet whilst the Author was extended

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Chapter I. THE ROMANS AT BRIGHTON.

Although there is no doubt that the vicinity of Brighton at a very remote period was occupied as a Roman military station, it is not the intention of the compiler of this work to date, merely on supposition, the origin of the town, coeval as it might have been with the landing of Julius Cæsar in Britain. The “Magna Britannia,” published in 1737, mentions:—“As to the antiquity of this town, there is reason to believe it to have stood a vast tract of time. From the accounts our historians give o

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Chapter II. SITUATION, SOIL, GEOLOGY, AND CLIMATE OF BRIGHTON.

Brighton is situated in 50°.55′. N. latitude, and about 3′. W. longitude, on the eastern side of a shallow bay of the south coast. The centre of the town is in a valley, which at the north diverges to Preston in two courses prominently marked by the London road and the Lewes road, Hollingbury Hill intervening. The east and north-west portions of the town are on acclivities, that to the east terminating abruptly at the south in cliffs ranging from 60 to 80 feet in height; and that to the north-

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Chapter III. THE ETYMOLOGY AND EARLY HISTORY OF BRIGHTON.

The obscurity respecting the etymology of Brighton, or more properly speaking Brighthelmston, is much to be regretted. In the Domesday Book it is written Brighthelmstun , evidently derived from Brighthelm , the name of some person of eminence, to whom it belonged, and tun the Saxon of town or dwelling. Bailey says that the name was given to the town by St. Brighthelm , a Saxon. Skinner says the town was so named from Brighthelm , a canonised bishop of Fontenoy, who lived about the middle of t

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Chapter IV. AFTER THE CONQUEST, TO 1513.

It is highly probable, from the surnames of some of the most ancient families in the town of Brighthelmston, the phrases, and the pronunciation of the old natives, and some peculiar customs of the people, that the town had, at some distant period, received a colony of Flemings. This might have happened soon after the conquest, as a great inundation of the sea took place in Flanders about that period; and such of the unfortunate inhabitants of the deluged country as wanted new habitations, could

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Chapter V. ANCIENT AND MODERN GOVERNMENT OF THE TOWN.

When king Alfred divided England into shires, the shires into hundreds, and the hundreds into tithings, tithing men or headboroughs— heads of boroughs—were the only guardians of the peace, and dispensers of justice within their respective districts, the original limits being the residences of ten creorles or freemen, with their families and slaves. Under the Saxon constitution, Brighton had two headboroughs; a proof that its population, even then, was far from being inconsiderable. These headb

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Chapter VI. THE BOOK OF ALL THE “AUNCIENT CUSTOMS.”

In consequence of the perpetual jealousies and strife between the fishermen and landsmen, a commission was sent to Brighton, in 1580, to settle every difference, assess the town rates, and arrange the public concerns of the parish. The Earl of Arundel, Lord Buckhurst (Lord of the Manor), Sir Thomas Shirley, of Preston, and Henry Shelley, Esq., were the commissioners. The number of landsmen who at that time paid parochial rates and taxes, was 102; while the number of fishermen amounted to 400.

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Chapter VII. THE TENANTRY LANDS.

Upon the general survey made throughout England, by order of King Alfred, the tenantry land of Brighthelmston, was, like the estates in general, in other parishes of the kingdom, planned and plotted out; and from time to time, down to the present date, the possessions of the different land-owners, have, from various changes in the proprietorship, been re-measured and set out; and such a procedure is termed taking the terrier. Dooms-day Book has it: Statutum de admensuratione terrarum . Dooms-d

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Chapter VIII. THE BARTHOLOMEWS.

The chauntry, or free chapel, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, was erected on a piece of land granted by the lord of the manor of Brighthelmston, to the Priory of St. Pancras, at Southover, Lewes, under a quit rent of 3d a-year. It was built to the south-west of the knappe or knab, originally called by the Saxon settlers, cnæp , (the summit or crown of a hill) from its elevated position. It is now generally known by the name of Brighton place. Attached to the chauntry was a dwelling for the two

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Chapter IX. THE WORKHOUSE.

From the deepest research which the compiler of this work has been able to make, he cannot find that any Workhouse existed in Brighton prior to 1727, in which year the following entries appear in the Town book:— February 26th, 1727,—That a mortgage be effected on the workhouse, to indemnify Thomas Simmons, in paying the moneys he made of the materialls of Blockhouse, to the constable and churchwardens; by them to be disbursed in payment of materialls and the workmen employed about building the w

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Chapter X. THE ATTACK ON BRIGHTHELMSTON BY THE FRENCH, IN 1545.

Henry the Eighth having ravaged Artois and Picardy, by the superiority of his forces, and made himself master of Boulogne, the French king to retaliate the wanton desolations, sent Admiral D’Annehault with a considerable fleet to devastate the country on the southern coast of the island. The invasion is thus described by Holinshead:— “In 37 Hen. 8th, 1545, July the 18th, the admiral of France, Mons. Donebatte, hoisted up sails, and with his whole navy (which consisted of 200 ships and 26 gallie

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Chapter XI. FORTIFICATIONS OF THE TOWN.

In consequence of the frequent incursions of the French, and the inhabitants being harassed by frequent alarm, the town resolved, in 1558, to erect fortifications, to afford them some protection for the future. A Court Baron of the manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes was therefore held on the 29th of September in that year, of which the following entry appears in the Court Rolls: I Eliz. At a Court Baron, holden for this manor, 27th September, there was granted to the inhabitants of Brighton town by

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Chapter XII. THE INCURSIONS OF THE SEA UPON THE TOWN.

Brighton has not had merely to defend itself against the aggressions of foreign invaders, but the encroachment of the sea at various times has checked its prosperity. Between 1260 and 1340, upwards of 40 acres of land had become submerged, [73a] and the sea made continual inroads upon the lower town. Previous to 1665 twenty-two copyhold tenements under the Cliff, belonging to the manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes, alone were swept away. Amongst them were twelve shops, with four stake places and f

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Chapter XIII. THE DOWER OF ANN OF CLEVES.

At the Reformation, when the monastery of St. Pancras, at Southover, was destroyed, by order of Henry VIII., on its being surrendered to that monarch, by Prior Robert Crowham, November 16th, 1537, the manor of Southover, Lewes, which included the priory, was granted to Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex, who also held one moiety of the manor of Brighthelmston-Lewes:— 4. Hen. VIII. One moiety of this manor, with several other possessions in Sussex, was recovered by petition, by Thomas, Earl of Surr

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Chapter XIV. THE PARISH CHURCH, ST. NICHOLAS.

This sacred edifice is situated upon a hill north west of the town, about 160 feet above low-water mark. It is a structure of great antiquity, and was originally dedicated to St. Nicholas, Bishop of Mira, in Lycia, who lived about the commencement of the fourth century, and was the reputed patron of fishermen, on account of the following naval miracle recorded of him in the legends of that country: A certain Lycian vessel being in great danger during a storm at sea, the affrighted crew invoked

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Chapter XV. DR. VICESIMUS KNOX AND THE SURREY MILITIA.

During the time of the Brighton Camp, in the autumn of 1793, the Surrey Militia were quartered in the town; and the Parish Church being then the only place of worship in Brighton, in connexion with the Established form of Religion, it was not an uncommon occurrence for some of the officers and men of that regiment, to attend at the morning service on the Sunday. In the beginning of August, Dr. Vicesimus Knox, Master of Tunbridge School, and late Fellow of St. John’s College, Oxford, having come

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Chapter XVI. THE OLD CHURCHYARDS.

Many persons have a natural predilection for wandering amongst the tombs. Whether in a town or village, their first impulse on arriving at a strange place, is to visit its common burial place, to ruminate amongst the tombs. A vastness, a solemnity, and a hallowedness seem to prevade the spot; and the mind in quietude has an indulgence there, a moralizing never exceeded even within the precincts of a sacred edifice. The Poet has said, The grave can teach In silence, louder than divi

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Chapter XVII. MARTYRDOM OF DERYK [118b] CARVER.

Deryk Carver, a brewer, the proprietor of what is now known as the Black-Lion Street Brewery, the oldest building in the town, a Fleming by birth, who had been resident in Brighton about eight or nine years, was the first who suffered martyrdom in Sussex, under the persecution of Mary. About the end of October, 1554, Carver, who had adopted the doctrines of the Reformation, and had been in the habit, as opportunity offered, of collecting a few people of his own persuasion in his house, for the

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Chapter XVIII. THE ESCAPE OF CHARLES II.

After the defeat at Worcester, on the 3rd of September, 1651, Charles II., on his arrival at Kidderminster, by the advice of the Earl of Derby, and under the guidance of Francis Yates, brother-in-law of Penderell, retired to “Boscobel,” a lone house on the borders of Staffordshire, where lived one Richard Penderell, a farmer, and his four brothers. By the aid of the Penderells, Charles clothed himself in the garb of a peasant, and carried a bill-hook with him into the woods, where daily he pret

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Chapter XIX. PERSECUTIONS FOR CONSCIENCE’ SAKE.

During the persecutions for conscience’ sake, several inhabitants of Brighton underwent sundry pains and penalties. In 1658, John Pullot, [134] for speaking to the Priest and people in the Steeple-house, was put prisoner into the Block-house;—Churches or houses having a steeple and a bell, were termed Steeple-houses. The next day Pullot was sent to the County gaol till the Sessions, when he was sentenced to Bridewell for six months’ hard labour, and to be whipped. In 1659, Nicholas Beard, for

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Chapter XX. THE BIRDS AND THEIR HAUNTS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF BRIGHTON.

The Sussex coast is a favourite locality for the greater portion of our British Birds, more particularly the migratory species. The high headlands to the eastward seem to be a great attraction to them by day, and, as a great many take nocturnal flight, the glare of light at night sent high into the vault of the heavens from the gas lamps in the town of Brighton, attracts a great number to this neighbourhood, and many rare specimens have been obtained. The migration of birds is a subject of con

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Chapter XXI. THE WILD FLOWERS AND MOSSES ABOUT BRIGHTON.

To an unobservant eye the vicinity of Brighton possesses no wild vegetable productions worthy of notice, and, apart from the cultivated fields, all else appears a barren waste, save and except the short sweet verdure whereon our favourite South-Down flocks luxuriate. Upon peering, however, into the hedgerows, and the waysides and the furrows, a volume is opened to the student of Botany, and there is that whereon he may sumptuously feast. Fifty years since, the observation that “Brighton was a

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Chapter XXII. BRIGHTON CAMP AND THE TRAGEDIES OF GOLDSTONE BOTTOM.

The hills and the vales about Brighton, have more than a natural history in connexion with the animal and vegetable kingdoms, to give them a feature in the nation’s chronicles. Not the least important events have been the Camps, lyrically handed to posterity by one of the most martial and spirit-stirring pieces extant, the “Brighton Camp, or, the Girl I left behind me,” music that seems inherent to drums and fifes. Although “Brighton Camp” is the familiar term used, it must be understood that t

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Chapter XXIII. THE STEINE AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.

No part of Brighton has undergone so many changes during the last century as the Steine, which was at first the drying-ground for fishermen’s nets and the “laying-up” place for such boats as were not in use at particular fishing seasons of the year. The term Steine is of Flemish origin, and is derived from Ein , Stein , or Steen , a rock, as at the time when the town received its Flemish colony, the southern extremity of the valley in which Brighton lay was edged and protected from the sea by a

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Chapter XXIX. THE THEATRES.

Besides the Assembly Rooms at the Castle Tavern and the Old Ship Hotel, and the Libraries, the Theatre has been, and still is, a place of fashionable resort in Brighton. The remnant of the first Theatre ever erected in the town has recently been restored to public notice in consequence of the premises undergoing alterations in the process of converting them into ale and porter stores, by Messrs. Charlton and Co. They are situated in North Street, and are approached by a doorway between the sho

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Chapter XXV. BRIGHTON FROM ITS SIMPLICITY TO ITS PRESENT RENOWN.

The primitive state of Brighthelmston, both as respects the condition and habits of the inhabitants and the position and style of the habitations, must to a considerable extent be left to conjecture, as there is no doubt the great changes which have taken place in and about the town to give it the importance which it at present possesses as England’s “Queen of Watering Places,” have all been effected within the last 150 years. An engraving in “The Antiquities of England and Wales,” published in

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Chapter XXVI. THE MARINE PAVILION AND ITS OCCUPANTS.

The ascendency of Brighton over every other marine resort in the kingdom may be regarded as having been established by the attachment to the town of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, George IV., who in 1782—when he was about twenty years of age,—honoured it for the first time with his presence on the occasion of his visit to his uncle, the Duke of Cumberland, who then occupied Grove House. The auspicious event was celebrated by the inhabitants with a general illumination, every pane of gl

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Chapter XXVII. ON AND ABOUT THE RACE-COURSE.

Royalty had scarcely taken up its abode in Brighton, when, according to the Racing Calendar, in 1783, racing commenced its career on the eastern down, better known as White Hawk Down, Brighton. The sports were principally amongst the officers of the Militia Regiments which were then quartered in the town, and they received the patronage of the Prince of Wales. Beyond the authority of the “Oldest Inhabitant,” transmitted orally, there is no account of the extent, formation, or the tenure of the

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Chapter XXVIII. PAST AND PRESENT PASTIMES.

Fickleness in the habits of civilized nations is in no manner more clearly exemplified than in the pastimes of the people; for although many sports are characterised as national, and are of great antiquity, modernization has greatly destroyed their originality, and refinement has detracted from the natural enjoyment of them. Even in the rural districts of England, Harvest Home possesses but little of the rustic homeliness and jollity of yore, and the happy season of Christmas lacks the “Squires

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Chapter XXVIII. THE HISTORICAL STREET OF THE TOWN.

For historical lore, few continuous ranges of buildings in the kingdom are connected with so many national and local incidents as West Street, Brighton, which was formerly approached from the west, at the south end, by a hill, that ranged with Kent Street, which originally terminated due south to the West Cliff. The hill was of an altitude that, upon its removal, to make the roadway level between Russell Street and West Street, the front doors of the houses were one story above the pathway, com

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Chapter XXIX. THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, CHARITIES, AND ENDOWMENTS.

It is the pride of the inhabitants that no town in the kingdom possesses so many Public Institutions for the general well-being of the community, as Brighton. Foremost amongst these, though a National Institution and but co-equal with similar other branches to complete its general working throughout the kingdom, is the Post Office, which, in all probability, originally formed a part of the General Postal systems as established in 1657 and 1660. We have no authority as to the primitive mode of c

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Chapter XXX. THE CHURCHES AND CHAPELS.

Immediately in connexion with St. Mary’s Hall, is St. Mark’s Church, Kemp Town. This is another instance of the benevolence of the late Marquis of Bristol. In 1838–9, he conveyed to the Trustees of St. Mary’s Hall the land on which the Church now stands. After the conveyance thereof, and when the land was no longer his own, such was his zeal to hasten the erection of St. Mark’s, that, at the expense of some £2,000, he actually built the carcase of the Church, roofed it in, and glazed its wind

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Chapter XXXI. HOVE AND CLIFTONVILLE.

Adjoining Brighton on the west, is the parish of Hove, which still retains nearly its ancient name, being written in the Doomsday Book Hov . It covers a large area of ground, and, for the most part, is laid out in fine open streets, and houses of noble elevation. Palmeira Square and Adelaide Crescent, projected by the late Baron Goldsmid, and now completed, is the most magnificent range of buildings in the parish. In 1801, the population of Hove was only 101, in 1811 it increased to 312, and

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Chronological table of local events.

693.—Bishop Brighthelm slain above Brighthelmston. 913.—First constable of Brighton appointed by Edward I. (the Elder), by the statute of Winchester. 1008.—Ulnoth, the Lord of the Manor of Brightholmston, ordered by Ethelred II. to equip and command the fleet sent by the county of Sussex to oppose the Danes. 1014.—September 28th, a great sea-flood on this eve, that of St. Michæl, which spread over the land. 1040.—Earl Godwin dispossessed of Brighton by Edward the Confessor. 1053.—April 17th, Ear

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