History of Brighthelmston; Or, Brighton as I View It and Others Knew It: With a Chronological Table of Local Events

Brighthelmston was once a fishing village of Roman origin, its fortunes tied to the tide and the sea. By 1862, when John Ackerson Erredge wrote this affectionate chronicle, Brighton had become the most fashionable seaside resort in England, its old fishing community increasingly surrounded by elegant crescents and genteel visitors. Erredge traces this transformation with the keen eye of a native, documenting Roman coins dug from the earth, the ancient rivalry between fishermen and landsmen that shaped the town's social order, and the geological quirks that made this stretch of Sussex coast so peculiar. He weaves archaeology with anecdote, charting how a humble port became a royal playground while retaining echoes of its rougher past. The chronological table of local events that closes the volume offers timestamps to history: dates of floods, fires, famous visits, and the slow erosion of old ways. For anyone curious about the hidden layers beneath Brighton's beachfront glamour, this Victorian portrait provides a window into a town in the midst of its own metamorphosis.