⇐ S.I.H. 1983 (No. 13)S.I.H. 1985 (Issue 15) ⇒
Sussex Industrial History: Journal of the Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society, edited by E. J. Upton, B.A., published 1984 (issue no. 14, Sussex Industrial History, ISSN: 0263-5151) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
The Palace Pier, Brighton, by William D. Everest, published 1984 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 14, article, pp.2-7) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:Amusement Piers are a traditional part of the British seaside and Brighton has featured in their history from the beginning.
Until the early part of the nineteenth century, Brighton was an important seaport for the growing traffic of passengers and goods between England and France. For many years, passengers had been ferried to and from packet boats and other vessels by means of local rowing boats called 'punts'. These boats were also used to pull the rafts on which luggage, horses and carriages were loaded. Even then, the passengers often had to be carried on the backs of fishermen the last few feet to the beach. In the days before the railways most of the heavy goods, like coal, were brought by sea and unloaded onto the beach.
A company was formed called the Brighthelmston Suspension Pier Company and Captain Samuel Brown, a specialist in naval architecture and marine engineering, was appointed the engineer to build a suspension pier. Land was purchased under the East cliff, suspension chains were anchored 54 feet into the cliff below New Steine and the other end into the sea bed under the landing stage. Four cast iron towers build on clumps of wooden piles driven into the sea bed held the chains, from which the deck was suspended. A T-shaped platform, 80 feet wide on its own wooden piles, was the landing stage for the boats.
Built in less than twelve months, the Brighton Suspension Chain Pier was an advanced engineering achievement for its day. The official opening was on the 25th November 1823 and in 1825 the first steam vessels began to operate at Brighton. Like many good ideas, another and more popular use was found for the new pier by accident. It was used by the residents and visitors as a way of affording out-of-door recreation for what may be termed select Society. The toll fee of 2d tended to keep it more or less exclusive as a fashionable promenade. The towers were hollow and contained small shops or stalls and at the head of the Pier was a camera obscura. There was also a floating-bath attached to the north-east end of the pier-head for the convenience of bathers and a band played once a week in the season.
Until the early part of the nineteenth century, Brighton was an important seaport for the growing traffic of passengers and goods between England and France. For many years, passengers had been ferried to and from packet boats and other vessels by means of local rowing boats called 'punts'. These boats were also used to pull the rafts on which luggage, horses and carriages were loaded. Even then, the passengers often had to be carried on the backs of fishermen the last few feet to the beach. In the days before the railways most of the heavy goods, like coal, were brought by sea and unloaded onto the beach.
A company was formed called the Brighthelmston Suspension Pier Company and Captain Samuel Brown, a specialist in naval architecture and marine engineering, was appointed the engineer to build a suspension pier. Land was purchased under the East cliff, suspension chains were anchored 54 feet into the cliff below New Steine and the other end into the sea bed under the landing stage. Four cast iron towers build on clumps of wooden piles driven into the sea bed held the chains, from which the deck was suspended. A T-shaped platform, 80 feet wide on its own wooden piles, was the landing stage for the boats.
Built in less than twelve months, the Brighton Suspension Chain Pier was an advanced engineering achievement for its day. The official opening was on the 25th November 1823 and in 1825 the first steam vessels began to operate at Brighton. Like many good ideas, another and more popular use was found for the new pier by accident. It was used by the residents and visitors as a way of affording out-of-door recreation for what may be termed select Society. The toll fee of 2d tended to keep it more or less exclusive as a fashionable promenade. The towers were hollow and contained small shops or stalls and at the head of the Pier was a camera obscura. There was also a floating-bath attached to the north-east end of the pier-head for the convenience of bathers and a band played once a week in the season.
White and Thompson Limited & Norman Thompson Flight Company Limited, by John D. Land, published 1984 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 14, article, pp.7-11) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:At the end of the first decade of the 20th Century electrical engineer Norman A. Thompson, in financial partnership with wealthy Douglas White and aeronautical engineer F.W. Lancaster as designer, founded White and Thompson Limited at Middleton-on-Sea, Sussex.
Brief History of Shoreham Airport, by Richard Almond, published 1984 in Sussex Industrial History (issue No. 14, article, pp.11-16) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:The history of Shoreham Airport goes back to the very beginning of English flying; it was one of the first half dozen flying fields in the country. Only three of the original still remain, and Shoreham is the only one still operating as a public licensed airport. In May 1910, artist and past pupil of Lancing College, Mr. Harold Piffard, began testing a 40 hp pusher biplane that he had designed and built at his studio in London. Remembering a suitably flat area in the brooks south of the College he hired a small field and hoisted a red flag to warn the local residents whenever tests were to be carried out. The landlord of the nearby 'Sussex Pad' seeing the goings on bet a crate of champagne that the machine would not fly the length of the field, but after delays waiting for suitable weather 'Piff' was successful on the 10th July, so winning the wager and becoming the first to fly a powered aircraft over Sussex.
By early 1911 a recognised aerodrome existed, and a race from Brooklands to Shoreham on the 6th May was won by Gustav Hamel in a Blériot monoplane. In June ten wooden hangars and a grandstand were built for the 'Circuit of Europe' and 'Round Britain' air races, the first truly international events to be held. Shoreham was a refuelling and timed staging post and the field was extended to 500 yards square. A official opening ceremony for the new Brighton (Shoreham) Aerodrome, as it was then known, was held on the 20th June attended by the Mayors of Brighton, Hove and Worthing.
By early 1911 a recognised aerodrome existed, and a race from Brooklands to Shoreham on the 6th May was won by Gustav Hamel in a Blériot monoplane. In June ten wooden hangars and a grandstand were built for the 'Circuit of Europe' and 'Round Britain' air races, the first truly international events to be held. Shoreham was a refuelling and timed staging post and the field was extended to 500 yards square. A official opening ceremony for the new Brighton (Shoreham) Aerodrome, as it was then known, was held on the 20th June attended by the Mayors of Brighton, Hove and Worthing.
Charcoal Burner's Hut in Fittleworth Wood, Fittleworth, by Mark Gardiner, published 1984 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 14, article, pp.16-18) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:The archaeology of woodland industries is a relatively neglected field of study, for the remains produced by these activities are generally very slight. Within Fittleworth Wood though, there is considerable earthwork evidence for both stone-quarrying and wood-using industries. Among the coppice stools are former saw-pits, some shallow quarries and adjacent spoil-tips produced by stone extraction; there is also the earthwork remains of a circular hut.
Ice Houses and the Commercial Ice Trade in Brighton, by R. G. Martin, published 1984 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 14, article, pp.18-24) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:In Britain the practice of storing ice in specially constructed chambers was started in the 17th century and continued up to the early 20th century. At first ice was collected exclusively from local ponds and lakes and was placed in the private Ice Houses of large estates where, if properly insulated, it would last the year through. These Ice Houses were usually built partly or wholly below ground, typically with a cylindrical pit of about 3 metres in diameter and 6 metres deep with a domed top. An entrance passage, horizontal or with steps leading down was often used for access and occasionally a Loading shaft through the top. Materials used were usually brick but other local materials such as clunch, sandstone and flint rubble were also used. An Ice House of a much larger character at Petworth House was described in Sussex Industrial History No. 13, (1983), pp. 15 - 21 by the author. The expressions 'Ice Well' and 'Ice House' are synonymous.
Mining and Subterranean Quarrying in Sussex, by Paul W. Sowan, published 1984 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 14, article, pp.25-39) accessible at: The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:Sussex has some of the country's oldest underground mineral workings, for flint, as well as two of the south-eastern counties' remaining active mines - those for gypsum at Brightling and Mountfield. There have been others whose existence is witnessed by scattered mentions in the literature, and it seems more than likely there are others again, waiting to be found. In the last few years elsewhere in the south-eastern counties unrecorded mines (some worked as recently as earlier this century) have been discovered in Berkshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex and Surrey.
The purpose of this article is to summarise what little is on record concerning subterranean mineral workings in Sussex, in the hope that this will encourage others to take up fieldwork and detailed research. A wide range of kinds of source material is cited here to illustrate some of the seams of information which may be worked. These seams are by no means all exhausted. Obscure, national, and specialised sources have been consulated, which local workers can supplement from better-known traditional local sources. Some guidance, and some interesting comparisons, may be derived from consideration of adjoining Kent and Surrey, too, as these counties' mines (in broadly comparable rocks) are better documented than those in Sussex. National grid references, where given, can usually give only a very approximate indication of location for as-yet unidentified sites.
The purpose of this article is to summarise what little is on record concerning subterranean mineral workings in Sussex, in the hope that this will encourage others to take up fieldwork and detailed research. A wide range of kinds of source material is cited here to illustrate some of the seams of information which may be worked. These seams are by no means all exhausted. Obscure, national, and specialised sources have been consulated, which local workers can supplement from better-known traditional local sources. Some guidance, and some interesting comparisons, may be derived from consideration of adjoining Kent and Surrey, too, as these counties' mines (in broadly comparable rocks) are better documented than those in Sussex. National grid references, where given, can usually give only a very approximate indication of location for as-yet unidentified sites.