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Sussex Industrial History: Journal of the Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society, edited by Dr. Brian Austen, published 1985 (issue no. 15, Sussex Industrial History, ISSN: 0263-5151) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16389/15] & The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
The Harbours of Sussex as part of an Inland Transport System in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries, by John H. Farrant, published 1985 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 15, article, pp.2-11) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16389/15] & The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:The stretch of coast within the bounds of the ancient county of Sussex has no intrinsic significance in transport history. Since the silting of Rye harbour in the seventeenth century, it has lacked a major natural harbour, for Chichester was and is accessible only to small craft. None of the harbours had more than a local hinterland (with one exception mentioned below): although the hinterlands cannot be defined with much precision, and varied over time and for different commodities, in general they probably did not reach beyond the limits of the county because of the proximity of Southampton to the west, London and the Medway to the north, and Dover to the east.
Furthermore, 'harbour' has to embrace any place frequented by shipping, whether or not graced by harbour works, because much cargo was landed from vessels run aground on the beach until the 1820s and continued to be at Hastings and in Chichester harbour until about 1880.
Furthermore, 'harbour' has to embrace any place frequented by shipping, whether or not graced by harbour works, because much cargo was landed from vessels run aground on the beach until the 1820s and continued to be at Hastings and in Chichester harbour until about 1880.
The Offham Chalkpit Tramway and Incline - A Survey and Description, by R. G. Martin, published 1985 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 15, article, pp.11-15) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16389/15] & The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:The tramway at the Offham Chalkpit extended from the chalk pit base level down to a branch off the Upper Ouse Navigation known as Chalkpit Cut. It was built in 1809 and is shown on the First Edition of the 25 inch Ordnance Survey map published in 1873, but on the Second Edition, dated 1898 there is no sign of the tramway and the chalk pit is described as "disused".
George Shiffner and the Offham Chalkpit Tramway, by Tom Evans, published 1985 in Sussex Industrial History (issue no. 15, article, pp.15-18) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16389/15] & The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:A recent re-examination of the Shiffner manuscripts at the East Sussex Record Office, Lewes has been undertaken with special attention to those that throw light on the sources of supply of materials for plateways in the South of England in the early years of the nineteenth century.
George Shiffner was an industrialist with Russian origins, a military background and was later M.P. for Lewes, (1812-1826). He lived at Coombe Place, Offham just north of Lewes and operated a business at the Offham chalk pits. During the "canal mania", when the River Ouse above Lewes was being canalised under the direction of William Jessop Jnr., George Shiffner had the intention of supplying chalk by means of a "cut" from the Ouse and an inclined plane with a plateway to transport the chalk to barges moored at a wharf and possibly with limekilns near the foot of the incline. In 1807 this must have been quite a revolutionary project for rural Sussex.
George Shiffner was an industrialist with Russian origins, a military background and was later M.P. for Lewes, (1812-1826). He lived at Coombe Place, Offham just north of Lewes and operated a business at the Offham chalk pits. During the "canal mania", when the River Ouse above Lewes was being canalised under the direction of William Jessop Jnr., George Shiffner had the intention of supplying chalk by means of a "cut" from the Ouse and an inclined plane with a plateway to transport the chalk to barges moored at a wharf and possibly with limekilns near the foot of the incline. In 1807 this must have been quite a revolutionary project for rural Sussex.
The Ashburnham Limeworks at Glaziers Forge, Burwash, by W. R. Beswick, published 1985 in Sussex Industrial History (issue No. 15, article, pp.18-21) accessible at: W.S.R.O. [Lib 16389/15] & The Keep [LIB/506525] Download PDF
Abstract:The limeworks of the Ashburnham estates were important during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, not only as a source of family revenue but as a supply of lime to the surrounding Weald. At this time, the iron smelting industry was beginning to phase itself out so that wood fuel for such operations as this, would once more become available and at an economic price. It therefore made good sense to exploit the limestone of the Purbeck bed which ran in a north-westerly direction, across part of the estate from Orchard Wood near Battle, to Poundsford Farm in Burwash Parish.