Read Ebook: History of Brighthelmston; or Brighton as I View it and Others Knew It With a Chronological Table of Local Events by Erredge John Ackerson

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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 Caesar 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 of it, for some of them speak of it ever since Julius Caesar's arrival in Britain, and affirm, that this was the place where he landed his legions; but since others assert his landing to have been at Hastings, we shall not be very positive, yet may justly insist upon it as most probable, because there is good anchorage in the bay here; and besides, there appears on the west side of this town to this day, for near a mile together, vast numbers of men's bones, and some of them of prodigious size, which plainly proves that there has been some warlike engagement near it." As an illustration that what has been transmitted to us orally, especially of remote periods, cannot be relied on, there is told the following tale of "Caesar's Stile":--Dr. Stukely, or some other antiquarian, was travelling through England, when he heard that on a certain hill there was a stile called Caesar's Stile. "Ay," said the doctor, "such a road, mentioned in Antoninus, passed near here; and the traditional name confirms the possibility of a Roman camp on this spot." Whilst he was surveying the prospect, a peasant came up, whom the doctor addressed thus--"They call this Caesar's Stile, my friend, do they not?" "Ees, zur," said the man, "they calls it so arter poor old Bob Caesar, the carpenter; rest his soul; I holped him to make it, when I was a boy."

Relicts of the ancient Britons, before the time of the Romans in Britain, have at various times been found in the vicinity of Brighton. The most perfect were those discovered in a Barrow in Coney-burrow field, Hove, in January, 1856. In this field was a mound about 20 feet high, situated north of the pathway from Brighton to Hove, about N.N.E. of the church of St. John the Baptist. Some 40 years since, this hillock was covered with furze, and was a burrow for rabbits; but at a more recent date, when the habitations of men became erected contiguous, and the human family extended thither, the colony of rabbits dispersed, and their abode became the rendezvous of rustic games. Our highly respected local antiquarian, Barclay Phillips, Esq., thus describes it, and the incidents connected with it:--

"Rising from a perfectly level plain, and being unconnected with any other hills, it always presented the appearance of an artificial mound, and therefore, when, some years ago, a road was cut through it to the Hove Station of the Brighton and Portsmouth Railway, I was anxious to learn whether any antiquities had been met with; but not any were then found. Now, however, all doubt on the subject has been set at rest, and the hillock proved to be a Barrow, or monumental mound erected over the remains of an ancient British chieftain. Labourers have recently been employed removing the earth of this hill, and last week, on reaching the centre of the mound, about two yards west of the road leading to Hove Station, and about nine feet below the surface, dug out a rude coffin between six and seven feet long. On exposure to the atmosphere the boards immediately crumbled away; but a few of the knots remained, and prove to be of oak. The coffin contained small fragments of bone, some of which I have seen, and the following curious relics:--

"1. An Amber Cup, with a handle on one side. It is hemispherical in shape, rather deep, with a lip turning outwards, and is ornamented merely with a band of fine lines running round the outside about half an inch from the top. From the fact of the rim not being perfectly round, and the band before-mentioned not passing over the space within the handle, and its being marked off at each end with a line seemingly cut across, we may conjecture it to have been made and carved by hand.

"2. Head of a Battle Axe, about five inches long. It is in perfect preservation, and made of some sort of iron-stone, the wooden handle, having of course, long since decayed.

"3. A small Whetstone, with a hole neatly drilled through one end, so that it might be suspended by a thong to the person, and carried about.

"4. A Bronze Spear Head, very much oxidised, and so brittle that it broke into halves as it was being taken out of the ground. Two of the rivets and fragments of the spear handle still remain attached to the lower end of the blade.

"The workmen described the coffin as resting on the natural soil, which is stiff yellow clay, while the mound itself bears every appearance of having been formed of surface earth and rubbish thrown up together. I minutely examined the sections of the hill, and myself picked out several specimens of charred wood, and was informed that such fragments were very abundant.

"The manner of sepulture and all the relics, excepting the spear head, indicate this mound as having been the burial-place of a British chieftain before the time of the Roman invasion;--the spear-head certainly more nearly, though not exactly, resembles those used afterwards. The mound was of the simplest and most ancient form, and therefore I am inclined to think we may reckon it as at least 2000 years old, perhaps more! It has now disappeared. The last clod of that earth which so long covered the bones of a British chieftain was this afternoon carted away; and coffin, bones, and earth have been thrown pell-mell to form the mould of the future rosary of Palmyra square."

At a meeting of the Archaeological Society in London, about a month after the opening of this barrow, the cup, &c., were exhibited; when Mr. Kemble and other celebrated antiquaries gave their opinion thus:--"The cup is the only known specimen of so large a size, and the battle axe is superior to any similar object in the British Museum." Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Franks, who have the care of the antiquarian departments, both declared the "find" in this barrow to have been the richest ever known. These rare specimens of local antiquity, through the kindness of Sir Francis Goldsmid, of "The Wick," on whose land they were found, form a prominent feature of the Brighton Museum, at the Royal Pavilion.

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-west gradually sloping to the sea-shore. The southern front is bold, and commands an extensive view of the British Channel from Beachy Head to Selsea Bill.

The soil to the east and north-west is principally a thick substratum of chalk, covered with a thin layer of earth. The subsoil of the centre is marl and shingle; and to the westward there are large beds of clay of very irregular character. Dr. Mantell, in his valuable work, "The Geology of the South-east of England," says:--"The town of Brighton is situated on an immense accumulation of water-worn materials, which fills up a valley, or hollow, in the chalk. The diluvial deposit is bounded on the north-west by the South Downs; on the east it extends to Rottingdean, and is there terminated by the chalk; on the west it may be traced more or less distinctly to Bignor; on the south it is washed by the sea, and forms a line of cliffs from 70 to 80 feet high; these exhibit a vertical section of the strata, and enable us to ascertain their nature and position."

"The soil of the Downs," says Young in his Agricultural Survey of Sussex, "is subject to considerable variation. On the summit it is usually very shallow, the substratum is chalk, and over that a layer of chalk rubble, and partially rolled chalk flints, with a slight covering of vegetable mould. Along the more elevated ridges there is sometimes merely a covering of flints, upon which the turf grows spontaneously. Advancing down the hills, the soil becomes deeper, and at the bottom is constantly found to be of very sufficient depth for ploughing: here the loam is excellent, generally ten or twelve inches thick, and the chalk rather broken, and mixed with loam in the interstices."

Coombe rock,--a provincial term,--which greatly abounds in and about the eastern part of the town, is geologically known as the Elephant bed; and, according to the same authority, "is composed of broken chalk, with angular fragments of flint, imbedded in a calcareous mass of a yellowish colour, constituting a very hard and coarse conglomerate. It is not stratified, but is merely a confused heap of alluvial materials; where it forms a junction with the shingle bed, a layer of broken shells generally occurs: they are too fragile to extract whole: they appear to belong to the genera modiola, mytilus, nerita, &c. It varies considerably in its appearance and composition, in different parts of its course. In the inferior portion of the mass, the chalk is reduced to very small pieces, which gradually become larger in proportion to their height in the cliff: at length fragments of flint appear; and these increase in size and number as they approach the upper part of the bed, of which they constitute the most considerable portion. These flints are more or less broken, and resemble those of our ploughed lands that have been long exposed to the action of the atmosphere. In some parts of the cliff, irregular masses occur of an extraordinary hardness; these have been produced by an infiltration of crystallised carbonate of lime. Large blocks of this variety may be seen on the shore, opposite to the New Steine, where they have for years resisted the action of the waves. This bed also contains water-worn blocks of siliceous sandstone, and ferruginous breccia. Small nodular masses, composed of carbonate of iron in lenticular crystals, interspersed with brown calcareous spar, have occasionally been found at the depth of ten or twelve feet from the summit of the cliff. The organic remains discovered in this deposit are the bones and teeth of the ox, deer, horse, and of the Asiatic elephant; these occur but seldom, and are generally more or less waterworn; but, in some instances, they are quite entire, and cannot have been subject to the action of the waves. The wells in the less elevated parts of the town pass through the calcareous bed, shingle, and sand, in succession; upon reaching the chalk, springs of good water burst forth, and these are said to be influenced by the tides."

The sinking of the Warren Farm Well, at the Industrial Schools, has formed a very interesting subject to geologists, and on the 5th of November, 1861, the Surveyor, Mr. George Maynard, made a report to the Directors and Guardians, as to the state of the well, wherein he "wished it to be understood that he was neither a professor of geology nor an hydraulic engineer." It stated that the work was commenced on the 22nd March, 1858, and had been continued since without intermission:--"In sinking the well , I have found that the different strata perforated have been thicker than is generally set forth by professors of, or writers upon geology, proving that the dip of the strata is greater at this particular spot than is commonly found elsewhere, especially the gault, which is now being perforated. I have ascertained that the shanklin, or lower green sand, forming the bottom portion of the glaucomic strata, appear on the surface at Henfield, and continue near the base of the Downs as far as Albourne, thus proving, from the depth attained, that a considerable vale is formed in the strata between Henfield and Beachy Head. The well at the Industrial Schools lies nearly in a direct line, and not far from the centre in distance, between Henfield and the point at Beachy Head, at the base of which water is continually flowing between the malm and gault strata. Hence arises the fact of the gault stratum being so much thicker than was contemplated; but if the shanklin, or lower green sand is reached and penetrated, there is little doubt an ample and continuous supply of water will be obtained, which in all probability will run up to the level of the land at Henfield , or above the bottom pump in the well. I have tested the quality of the stratum now being penetrated, and feel persuaded that if water is obtained it will be of a good quality. I have already reported my interview with Sir Roderick Murchison and other professors of geology, at the Institute of Practical Geology, in Jermyn Street, London, at which meeting I was encouraged to hope that water would be obtained at a depth not far distant from that which the well has already been sunk; they, at the same time, expressing their surprise that the shanklin sand had not been reached before, and also kindly giving me valuable information how to proceed when that stratum was penetrated. The stratum in which the men are at work at this present time is very soft, so much so that if boring was determined on, it would be requisite to insert iron pipes, which, in my opinion, would be more expensive than the present mode of digging and steining. The depth of the well now attained is 1,080 feet."

Few organic remains have been found near Brighton. Dr. Mantell mentions but a fragment of a bone resembling the femur, and a grinder of a large size, decidedly the latter that of an Asiatic elephant, in the brick-loam at Hove; the jaw of a whale in the shingle bed; the antlers and bones of the red deer in a bed of loam, in sinking a well near the cavalry barracks; the remains of a deer in the diluvium at Copperas Gap, by the Rev. H. Hoper; and similar remains in digging a well near the Western Road.

With respect to climate, medical men, who have made it their study, have divided the town into three districts. In 1845, Dr. Wigan, then in medical practice in the town, published an elaborate treatise, "Brighton and its Three Climates," and in 1859, Dr. Kebbell, Physician to the Sussex County Hospital, produced his valuable book, "The Climate of Brighton." The former considers the north-west part of the town the most salubrious, as it is exempt from the keen easterly winds, and is generally free from the fogs and smoke of the central district. It is free, too, of the marine exhalations to which that district is subject. The air of the east division is bracing, and likewise exempt from the saline particles which impregnate the atmosphere of the lower part of the town, a district which differs but little from any inland town in a low situation, and possesses none of the quality called bracing. Fogs, night and morning, frequently hang about the middle district, which may be termed the business quarter of the town.

Dr. Kebbell says:--

"Brighton, in respect of temperature and the sensation of cold, offers great variety of climate according as the situations are more or less elevated, sheltered, or exposed. The observations of myself and others go to prove, that the elevated portions of the Montpelier districts, in the neighbourhood of All Saints' Church, are decidedly the coldest, being exposed to the full effects of the strong currents of air from the Downs. After this come the north-eastern districts, including the upper part of the Marine Parade, Kemp Town, and the portions of the town behind them on the north side of the Bristol Road, which are also very much exposed to the cold winds and draughts from the downs. The central parts of the town, from the Old Steine to St. Peter's Church, are the most sheltered from the winds; both by the downs behind, which protect them from the north-east winds; and by the buildings in front which break the force of the south-west winds; but being on a level surface and enclosed between hills, it is damper than any other part of the town; and I have noticed that in the autumn and winter, the night mists return earlier in the afternoon, and are dispersed later in the morning, than is the case in the more elevated and exposed districts. The low level or valley of the King's Road, though exposed to the full force of the south-west-winds, is still more sheltered from the cold north-east winds by the great mass of buildings and the hills behind, and is decidedly the warmest and mildest part of the town, offering a very marked contrast to the cold elevated part of the Montpelier district. Sir James Clark speaks of the West cliff as being 'somewhat damp,' but I am at a loss to conceive how this can be so, taking into consideration its sloping surface, the general porous character of the soil, together with its direct exposure to the rays of the sun. In point of warmth, the first half or third of the Marine Parade ranks next to the valley of the King's Road. Further east, towards Kemp Town, the air becomes colder and more bracing, and the draughts from the downs are more keenly felt. The parts of the town between the Western Road, and the line of Upper North Street and Montpelier Terrace, occupy, in point of climate, an intermediate position between the valley of the King's Road, and the cold and exposed portion of the Montpelier district.

I cannot conceive any place enjoying greater natural advantages than Brighton, and it is incumbent on those who think it unhealthy to state from what source the insalubrity can have its origin, always excepting those artificial and preventable causes of disease which it creates within itself. For upwards of half the year the inhabitants breathe an atmosphere which has traversed the surface of several thousand miles of the great Atlantic Ocean. This at all events must be entirely free from all sources of disease. The staple of the land upon which the town stands, and for several miles round, is composed of chalk and sand, intermixed with flints, with the dip of the strata towards the sea, which, with the absence of any dense foliage in the surrounding district, has the effect of rendering the atmosphere of the place remarkably dry and bracing. Neither is there any low-lying marsh land, where the fresh and sea water mix and infect the atmosphere, or exposure of mud at the mouths of rivers at low tide, or, in fact, any source of malaria whatever within any distance of the town, which can possibly to any appreciable or injurious extent affect its atmosphere. The winds from the land side, therefore, are probably almost, if not entirely, as healthy as those from the sea. Brighton has also no tidal harbour, nor any exposure of mud at low tide containing decaying vegetable matter, which at many sea-side places, and some much frequented by the public, is not only very offensive, but very injurious to the health."

Dr. Relhan says:--"The light sometimes obtained in these dark matters from a similitude of sounds in the ancient and modern names of places, is not to be had in assisting the present conjecture. Its ancient one, as far as I can learn, is no way discoverable: and its modern one may be owing either to this town's belonging formerly to, or being countenanced in a particular manner, by a Bishop Brighthelm, who during the former government of the island, lived in this neighbourhood: or perhaps may be deduced from the ships of this town having their helms better ornamented than those of their neighbouring ones."

The earliest record of the modern name, Brighton, is to be found in the Burrell MSS.:--

The following is quoted from the same authority--

Mr. James Charles Michell, who re-published Dr. Relhan's "Short History of Brighthelmston, in 1761," mentions it to be met with in the terrier to the tenantry land, dated 1660.

Earl Godwin was succeeded in two of the chief manors by his son Harold, who, upon the death of Edward, in 1065, was chosen king: but, from some secret arrangements between the king and William, duke of Normandy, the latter made a claim which he asserted by force of arms. He landed at Pevensey. Harold at the time was at Stanford Bridge, near York, where he had defeated Toston, his unnatural brother, and Harold Harfager, the king of Norway; and hearing of William's arrival, he immediately proceeded southward, and with the addition of some levies hastily collected at Brighthelmston and his other manors in Sussex, encamped within nine miles of the invader. On the 14th of October, 1066, he joined battle with the Normans, and after performing all that valour and judgment could do against a brave enemy, he closed his life in the field of battle, near Hastings, having been pierced in the brain with an arrow.

Harold's possessions at Brighthelmston having fallen into the hands of William the Conqueror, the town was conferred on his son-in-law, one of his generals, William, Lord de Warren, in Normandy, who was created Earl of Surrey.

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 not have anywhere applied with a greater likelihood of success than in England, as Matilda, queen of William the Conqueror, was their countrywoman, being daughter of Baldwin, Earl of Flanders.

Being thus settled in Brighthelmston, the Flemings were led by habits and situation, to direct their chief attention to the fishery of the Channel. Besides obtaining a plentiful supply of fresh fish of the best kind and quality for themselves and their inland neighbours, they, every season, cured a great number of herrings, and exported them to various parts of the continent, where the abstinence of Lent, the vigils, and other meagre days, insured them a constant market. There is no doubt, but, from time to time, additions were made to this foreign colony, from Spain, France, and Holland, as the names of some of the oldest families of the town verify; namely, Mighell , Gunn , Jasper , Jeffery , Gillam , &c.

The inhabitants were now classed into landsmen and seamen, or mariners, and they profited respectively by the advantages of their situation. The former, whose dwellings were on the cliff and part of the gentle acclivity behind it, drew health and competence from the fertile soil; while the latter, who resided in two streets beneath the cliff, found a bountiful source of subsistence and profit at the bottom of the sea. In process of time, the mariners and their families, principally descendants from the new comers, the Flemings, had increased in numbers so far as to compose more than two-thirds of the population of the town, and they had a proportionate share of the offices and internal regulation of the parish.

After this misfortune, the English fleet returned home; and Primauget's being reinforced from Brest, and being animated with his recent success, he sailed for the coast of Sussex, to wreak that vengeance on the inhabitants which was due to Henry alone. He accordingly, in the night time, landed some men, who plundered it of everything valuable that they could remove, set many houses on fire, and wantonly slew many of the inhabitants. The rest flying in terror and confusion different ways, the country became alarmed as far as Lewes and the Weald. The French re-embarked the next morning, with their booty, before the country people could assemble in any force to annoy them. Sir Thomas Howard, brother of Sir Edward, whom he succeeded, soon after, with Sir John Wallop, made a descent on the coast of Normandy, and desolated no less than twenty-one towns and villages, inhabited by people who never did, and perhaps never wished to do, any injury to their fellow men on this wide the Channel. Such is the fortune, and such are the advantages and distinctions of the royal game of war.

Holinshead mentions an attack upon the town by the French, about this time; and there is the probability that he refers to the same invasion, as he terms it a nocturnal visit from some French ships, but commanded by Prior Jehan, the high admiral. He says: "but when the people began to gather, by firing the beacons, Prior Jehan sounded his trumpet to call his men aboard, and by that time it was day. The certain archers that kept the watch followed Prior Jehan to the sea, and shot so fast that they beat the galley men from the shore, and wounded many in the fleet: to which Prior Jehan was constrained to wade, and was shot in the face with an arrow, so that he lost one of his eyes, and was like to have died of the hurt, and therefore he offered his image of wax before our Lady at Bullogne, with the English arrow in the face, for a miracle."

According to the Burrell MSS., in 1589, strict orders were given for maintaining beacons in all accustomed places, with orders to the watchmen, that if the number of invading ships did not exceed two, they were not to fire the beacons, but to cause larums to be rung from church to church as far as the skirts of the hill reached from the sea shore, and no further; and to send a post to the nearest justices: but if the ships exceeded two, they were to fire both their beacons, which were to be duly answered by the corresponding ones, and thus rouse the "force of the shire." Five discreet householders in the neighbourhood, were assigned to each beacon, one to keep watch constantly. In 1590, the beacon watches were ordered to be discharged till further orders.

Wellsbourne took its name from a stream which till within the last few years ran, in the winter time, nearly the whole length of the hundred. It rose near the upper end of Patcham street, and entered the sea at the Pool,--Pool Valley,--in Brighthelmston. Within the last thirty years it burst out with so large a current as to inundate the Level to the north of the town, and even the greatest part of the Stein. In the spring of 1806 it laid the north of the town under water. After the last inundation, in the winter of 1827-8, a large sewer, called the Northern Drain, was laid down from the northern boundary of the London Road, to the sea, its outlet being in front of the Albion Hotel. The source of this stream or bourne, being the well at Patcham, it had its name from that circumstance, and lent it to the said hundred.

The following is a list of the Constables who have served the Hundred as far as the records of them are made in the Town Books, or other proofs are given:--

On the 5th of April, 1793, at a Vestry Meeting held at the Town Hall, it was ordered: "That in future the Constable be allowed twelve guineas, to be paid in full, for all expenses during his office, including four guineas for a dinner."

It was customary at the Court Leet, each Easter, to choose a High-Constable Elect, but he was not always appointed at the next Court; as, in 1814, Mr. Ackerson was chosen, although Mr. W. Williams was the elect.

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 , 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. The decision of the commissioners gave satisfaction to all parties till 1618, when a fresh arrangement was entered into. The orders and regulations of these two commissions were directed to be "written in two several books of parchment," one of which was to be delivered to the Earl of Arundel and Lord Buckhurst, the other was to "be kepte in a cheaste locked with three locks, in some convenient place in Brighthelmston." Provision was made also for the safe custody of the key of the chest, and for the annual reading of the regulations by the Vicar, "openlye in the presence of all the fishermen and others of the parishioners, contributaries, in some convenient time and place."

The "Book of all the Auncient Customs," is dated 23rd July, in the 32nd year of Queen Elizabeth, 1580; and is kept in its original shape in a spacious box, at the office of Messrs. Attree, Clarke, and Howlett, solicitors, Ship Street. It is in black letter, on parchment, and is in a state of good preservation, although the ink, from age, is very yellow. An engrossed copy in corrected modern authority, is deposited with it, and is as follows:--

Though many of the following Customs and Regulations are now become obsolete, they are in general too interesting to be omitted in the History of the town.

"Signed

"T. BUCKHURST, RICHARD SHELLEY."

The signatures of some of the principal inhabitants follow on the next page; but it will be seen by the signs, or characters, affixed to those who could not inscribe their names, that education had made but little progress amongst them, John Slater, Bartholomew Bowredge, Stephen Pyper, William Wollay, Christopher Ingelard, Deryk Carver, and J. Duconde, the younger, being the only persons who could sign their names, and their writing even, is of a most inferior description. The figures in parenthesis correspond with those annexed to the signs as here shown, which are the "his marks" made by the persons signing. The names are:--

It is conjectured by some antiquarians that the above marks are symbols of the trade or occupation of those who assented to the foregoing recited orders; their opinion being formed from the circumstance of Stoneham, the constable, being a ship carpenter, and attaching a hatchet to his name; and for the same reason the supposition is that Oston, from his sign was a butcher, Good, a wheelwright, and Mellershe a millwright. The rest seem wholly unintelligible.

And in the year 1592, they made another order, which subjected absentees, who owned houses or any other tenements within the parish, to contribute to the public charges of the said parish, in proportion to their possessions there, as if they were residents. In case of contumacious resistance or neglect of the said orders, the constable, or his deputy, and the churchwardens, or any two of them, of which the constable or his deputy being one, were authorised by the above-named commissioners, to imprison such as offended in that particular until they shall be contented to observe and keep the same.

"The orders for the churchwardens in this town book, being in substance the same with those before transcribed from the former, they need not hero be repeated.

"The immemorial existence of the above customs in the town of Brighthelmston, is incontestible even at this day: and though some of them be now obsolete on account of the great changes which the town has experienced during the present century, no part of its existing polity can legally run counter to those ancient customs, except upon sanction of an Act of Parliament, or where the right of exercising them has been evidently given up. The commissioners in 1580, only investigated and affixed publicity and order to those customs: and their subsequent orders to the inhabitants, were no more than what a bench of justices may issue at the present day. The independent style of the ancient fishermen and landmen in the second book, seems to be that of men who were conscious of a prescriptive right of legislation in certain matters within their own parish: and the Saxon constitution, whose equitable and benign spirit still feebly pervades what we now call the British Constitution, granted the same right to every parish all over England.

"The custom of choosing three churchwardens annually is still exercised, though the cause of it has ceased to exist for more than half a century past. But the customary existence of twelve assistants and advisers to the constable has ceased, though the occasion for which they were first instituted still remains, nay, increases commensurately with the population of the town. The ancient society of the twelve shall therefore be revived. That such a society did once exist, by custom, cannot be denied: and the mere neglect of a custom for ever so many years is no deseasance of the right to exercise it at any subsequent period. But its revival shall not be for the creation or benefit of a party. Political equality is the birth-right of every Briton; and no civil power can be lawful which emanated not originally from the assent of society, and is invariably exercised for the public good. The Twelve therefore shall be chosen by ballot at a public meeting of all the inhabitants, and every future vacancy in that body filled by public election in the same manner. The gentleman who presides at present at the court leet of the town, there is every reason to suppose, would cheerfully ratify so respectable an election; and the police of so populous a parish would, in future, be managed with signal vigilance, under the inspection of twelve chosen guardians of the public peace and prosperity.

The several Laines are: West Laine, Little Laine, East Laine, Hilly Laine, and North Laine. There are besides, portions called White Hawk, and Church Hill. The Laines are set out in measured areas, termed furlongs, which furlongs are subdivided into irregular portions called paul-pieces, "eight of which make an acre," the tenantry acres varying considerably as to the number of rods they contain, ranging from 35 to 210 rods. Some of these have other pauls running into them; and in such instances, from the shape they thus assume, they are termed "hatchet pieces;" while the extreme pauls of the furlongs in the Laines, are called "headlands."

The Terrier at present used in defining property in the parish, is the "Terrier to the tenantry land in the parish of Brighthelmston, as it was measured and set out in the year MDCCXCII, by Thomas Budgen." Copies of the Terriers, in a book form, are in the hands of several of the solicitors and surveyors in the town, and the proprietors of the tenantry lands. The most concise plan is a map of the whole parish, with elaborate references. For the convenience of cultivation, a Terrier was taken, agreeable to a resolution passed by the principal landholders, at a meeting which was held at the Old Ship, on the 26th day of March, 1776, that by drawing lots the owners of several pauls in different parts of a furlong, might have their lands together in one piece in each furlong. The arrangement did not in the least alter the proprietorship of the several pauls.

The following is the whole content of the Parish, as taken by Mr John Marchant, surveyor, May 12th, 1832:--

WEST LAINE. PAULS. A. R. P. A. R. P. North Butts 76 7 3 12 Hedge Furlong 146 14 3 10 The Blacklands 96 11 2 23 Furlong, near West 300 29 1 12 Fields Cliff Butts 101 6 0 0 Furlong, heading 80 6 1 18 ditto Second Furlong from 52 3 3 19 Home Home Furlong 112 8 1 6 Wall Furlong 68 2 1 20 Furlong heading the 52 3 1 18 Barns Chalk-pit Furlong 52 3 3 32 Furlong next 56 4 1 11 Chalk-pit 102 0 21 CHURCH HILL. Church Hill 62 47 2 32 West side of ditto 216 42 0 16 Lead's Furlong 72 7 0 13 96 3 21 LITTLE LAINE. Upper Furlong 292 24 2 23 Cliff Furlong 278 13 1 4 37 3 27 EAST LAINE. Cliff Furlong 444 26 0 20 Furlong next 202 14 1 20 Newbroke Ground Second Furlong 116 11 0 16 Third Furlong 163 15 2 10 Fourth Furlong 72 5 2 34 Fifth Furlong 102 7 0 31 Sixth Furlong 108 8 3 30 Baker's Bottom 253 21 0 13 Furlong Coombe Furlong 240 17 2 9 127 2 23 WHITE HAWK. South side of the 22 1 31 White Hawk West side do 23 0 19 East side do 24 0 25 North-east side do 14 1 13 84 0 11 HILLY LAINE. Islingword Furlong 200 26 1 34 Shepherd's Acre 112 11 0 18 Furlong Fifth Furlong 298 25 1 14 Fourth Furlong 193 14 2 2 Third Furlong 366 29 3 21 Second Furlong 320 22 3 26 Gold's Butts 1 0 12 Home Furlong 247 26 1 12 Breach Furlong 266 20 1 2 177 3 21 NORTH LAINE. Home Furlong 247 16 3 25 Church Furlong 62 6 1 36 Second Furlong 216 14 1 15 Third Furlong 262 17 2 30 Shepherd's Acre 262 0 3 20 Fourth Furlong 254 17 3 35 Fifth Furlong 220 20 2 1 Crooked Furlong 97 8 2 24 Rottingdean Hedge 100 8 2 23 Furlong Home Butts 32 3 1 6 North Butts 52 6 3 0 The Crook 6 2 35 The North side of 34 3 16 Round Hill South part of ditto 22 3 32 Scabb's Castle 82 1 37 Tenantry Sheep Down 400 0 36 Field in Level 14 1 23 Black Rock Arable 20 2 0 Black Rock Down 112 2 16 The Town of 118 2 28 Brighthelmston, including the Steine, North Inclosures, Level, &c. 806 2 28 Contents of the whole Parish 1562 0 12

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