122-520: Portslade is a western suburb of the city of Brighton and Hove in the ceremonial county of East Sussex , England. Portslade Village , the original settlement a mile inland to the north, was built up in the 16th century. The arrival of the railway from Brighton in 1840 encouraged rapid development of the coastal area and in 1898 the southern part, formerly known as Copperas Gap , was granted urban district status and renamed Portslade-by-Sea , making it distinct from Portslade Village. After World War II
244-406: A municipal borough as a result of the 1972 Local Government Act , losing unitary control of town affairs to East Sussex County Council . This reform was later followed by a reduction of wards to 16 in 1983. Brighton Borough Council remained under this structure until unification with Hove. A small parish at the end of the 18th century, Hove began to expand in the early 19th century alongside
366-597: A "prisoner for conscience sake". In September 2006, Brighton & Hove bus company honoured Fr. Enraght's memory by naming one of their new fleet buses after him. Edward Vaughan Hyde Kenealy QC (1819–1880) was an Irish born barrister , writer and poet who lived in Wellington Road, Portslade with his wife and eleven children from the 1850s until the mid-1870s. Kenealy commuted to London and Oxford for his law practice but returned at weekends and other times to be with his family. He chose Portslade because of his love of
488-449: A Sussex gentry family that gave their name to the present parish of Poynings . Hangeton was a medieval downland village in the 13th century, and by the early 14th century it had a population of about 200. Later, the village was abandoned for around six hundred years. It started to grow again in the 1950s with other areas of Brighton and is now popular for its views of the sea and green spaces. Between Hangleton and Westdene , south of
610-404: A community hall; it is now a locally listed building. The urban district of Portslade-by-Sea was abolished in 1974, being absorbed into the borough of Hove . No successor parish was created for the area and so Portslade was directly administered by Hove Borough Council. The borough of Hove merged with neighbouring Brighton in 1997 to become the unitary authority of Brighton and Hove , which
732-594: A defence against the Vikings , though it's difficult to pick it out amongst the grassy plats now. It is a mixed farm with corn crops, beef cattle, a bit of livery stabling, and hay meadows. The farm manages the sites of Old Erringham Combe and Anchor Bottom to preserve their natural value. Around the farmstead there is red star-thistle (a Brighton Downs speciality), musk thistle , spear thistle , welted thistle , creeping thistle , teasel , and viper's bugloss , all adding summer colour. Old Erringham Combe ( TQ 205 081 )
854-550: A flowery bank on its western slope ( TQ 286 091 ), a bushy lynchet and an old dewpond site on its brow. The Sussex Border Path takes you north to Pangdean Bottom and the Pyecombe parish. Pangdean Bottom is the west of the A23 and is rented by a tenant farmer from Brighton and Hove City Council , who have owned it since 1924. It includes ancient chalk grassland slopes where there are still chalkland flowers and butterflies. In late summer,
976-688: A lack of scrub control has allowed the species-rich Down pasture to be lost to simplified scrub and even secondary woodland. Hazelholt Bottom ( TQ 235 084 ) is a tranquil slope with large flowery glades. There are often roe deer in the wide corn field below the slope. The National Trust own the south slope and Whitelot Bottom further south, but Whitelot was ploughed up after 1945 and has never been returned to public use. Hazelholt has rich old chalk grassland with cowslips in spring and devil's-bit scabious in September. In mid-summer, there are many butterflies, including adonis blue and chalkhill blue . At
1098-405: A landmark church and a former convent. Mile Oak is a newer development. Until the 1920s it was only a small group of farm buildings with surrounding corn fields, sheep downs and market gardens. Then, suburban housing started to be built, and there was considerable further development in the 1960s with the construction of bungalows and other private housing. In the 1990s, after the construction of
1220-535: A layer of superficial acidity, with sorrel , bent-grass , and tormentil growing there. To the south is Hollingbury Golf Course, the Roedale allotments and Hollingbury Park ( TQ 314 075 ). The park was originally part of the golf course. Its Edwardian pavilion was the original (circa 1908) clubhouse. East of the Park is the two-century-old Hollingbury Woods , now full of the rotting carcasses of beech giants toppled in
1342-545: A little Iron Age settlement on the Hill. They were surrounded by a rectangular ditched enclosure and perhaps made into a 'temenos' or temple. Ritual deposits of animals and coins were buried at the site. Evening shadows reveal dips and hummocks at the Hill's southern end, although they are probably due to the trench digging of the large army camp that came here during the First World War. There are three places that were spared
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#17328477000391464-457: A nationally important population of the chalkhill blue butterfly on Mill Hill. The underlying rock is chalk on the downs, with alluvium in the old river channels. The Adur district has a variety of habitats in a small area, including natural chalk downs and butterfly meadows, freshwater and reed beds, salt marsh and estuary, brackish water lagoons, woodland, shingle seashore, chalk platform undersea, and large expanses of sand. Southwick Hill and
1586-571: A stretch of coast and some downland areas. Just to the south of Brighton and Hove in the English Channel is the Rampion Wind Farm , which provides renewable energy to the country. Brighton has been the most populous settlement in Sussex since at least the 17th century, and a town hall and evidence of citizen's control over town affairs predates 1580. The original parish of Brighton covered what
1708-421: Is Ladies Mile Down ( TQ 318 093 ), which has designated as a Local nature reserve . The area is a remarkable survival of plateau chalk grassland on Downland, where almost all such flattish sites have been destroyed by modern farming. The ancient turf has preserved lots of odd linear banks, which are surviving fragments of an Iron Age and Romano-British lynchetted field system. The banks once stretched across
1830-646: Is a city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex , England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administered by Brighton and Hove City Council , which is currently under Labour majority control. The two resorts, along with Worthing and Littlehampton in West Sussex, make up the second most-populous built-up area of South East England , after South Hampshire . In 2014, Brighton and Hove City Council and other nearby councils formed
1952-684: Is a coastal town and port in the Adur district, in the county of West Sussex , England. In 2011 it had a population of 20,547. The town is bordered to its north by the South Downs , to its west by the Adur Valley, and to its south by the River Adur and Shoreham Beach on the English Channel . The town lies in the middle of the ribbon of urban development along the English south coast, approximately equidistant from
2074-718: Is a lot of history on the slopes, including a large 4000 year old Bronze Age settlement, a possible 'henge' (as in Stonehenge ), now lost under the A27 bypass, and evidence of Iron Age and Romano-British field systems. To the north of the city boundary is Fulking parish. The final stretch of the Monarch's Way passes through Mile Oak and Porstlade. It is a 625-mile (1,006 km) long-distance footpath that runs from Worcester to Shoreham . Aldrington sits between Portslade-by-Sea to its west and Hove to its east. For centuries Aldrington
2196-409: Is also a lot of history to be found on these slopes including a large 4000 year old Bronze Age settlement, which may have been a henge (as in Stonehenge ), as well as evidence of Iron Age and Romano-British farming activity. Mount Zion's east slopes, north of New Barn Farm, are just as special. They have always been grazed and there are three coombes dotted with old anthills and orchids including
2318-516: Is an old-fashioned mosaic of habitats, making it a great refuge for Downland wildlife. The south-facing bank is the hottest place, but below it there are willows and a tiny tongue of wet grassland where lesser marsh grasshopper , autumn lady's-tresses orchid, bastard toadflax , rockrose, betony , wild thyme , and other herbs grow. Summer butterflies in the area include wall brown and clouded yellow , and day-flying moths like yellow belle , dusky sallow , common carpet , and grass moths enjoy
2440-500: Is famous for its glowworm displays on midsummer evenings. On the steep east side of the hill there is large thyme , autumn gentian and many butterflies. Bee orchids can be also found in some years. To the north of this area is the Poynings parish and the impressive geography of Devil's Dyke . To the east is Round Hill where there are many signs of the past from different periods of human history. There are several old barrows in
2562-430: Is interspaced with parks and allotments . The main shopping area is on Station Road. Boundary Road in neighbouring Hove is the location of Portslade and West Hove station , with direct trains to London Victoria with a journey time of just over an hour. The adjacent areas of West Sussex are Southwick and Fishersgate with Fishersgate occurring south of the railway line. Fishersgate has its own railway station and like
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#17328477000392684-562: Is not what it was. Until recent years, it was the best place on the Brighton Downs to get a sense of what Down pasture was like during late Victorian and Edwardian times through to 1940. The tenant farmer continuously grazed the whole Hill and, as a result, it was something of a time capsule from a particular period of Downland history, that of the long agricultural depression from 1876 to 1940, when scrub took over many old pastures and cattle replaced many sheep flocks. In recent years, however,
2806-533: Is now known for its windmill and secondary school. To the east of West Blatchington is Westdene . Hangleton is to the north of Aldrington and sits between Portslade Village and West Blatchington. The manors of Hangleton and Aldrington formed part of the Fishersgate Half Hundred , together with the neighbouring manor of Portslade. The lords of the Hangleton manor from 1291 to 1446 were the de Poynings,
2928-562: Is one of the commonest flowers here, with some of its associated fungi. The west facing slopes of Varncombe Hill ( TQ 279 105 ) were sold by Brighton Council with the rest of Saddlescombe Farm to the National Trust , but the Trust did not dedicate them as Access land , though they qualified and the National Trust had the power to do so. To the east of Waterhall is Sweet Hill . The Hill has
3050-454: Is probably the reason why Stanmer is so called, as "stan mere" is likely to derive from the Saxon "stony pool". Between the church and the barn is a Tudor well 252 feet deep and a wooden donkey wheel, like that at Saddlescombe, contained within a flint well-house. The well was in use until mains water was installed in 1900. Shoreham-by-Sea Shoreham-by-Sea (often shortened to Shoreham )
3172-540: Is quite different in character. Portslade-by-Sea is largely an industrial port, with a busy canal area that opens up to the River Adur and the English Channel . It has a long history of human settlement and the name came from the Roman port, Novus Portus. Portslade Village has kept more of its antiquity and retains many elements of the downland village it once was. Many of the buildings have their original flint walls, and there are some early manor house ruins, tree-lined parks,
3294-486: Is still good for butterflies. In spring one may still see the green hairstreak or orange-tip or find the wacky small bloody-nosed beetle and there are still adonis , chalkhill and common blues and brown argus and glowworms in midsummer. There are also orchids, harebells , sheets of rockrose , Sussex rampion , devil's-bit , and carline thistle . In autumn there are fungi too, including penny-bun bolete , collared earthstar , stinkhorn , and shaggy inkcap in
3416-422: Is the ploughed land further east down the combe) has flowery chalk grassland, scrub, rank grassland, and lots of rabbits. The rabbits encourage rabbit-resistant plants like tall woolly mullein (complete with mullein moth caterpillars, hound's-tongue , ground ivy , and eyebright. Until 25 years ago, the combe remained substantially open and the ancient lynchet system was plain to see, but cessation of grazing and
3538-415: Is the second-oldest church in the city, dating from approximately 1150. Portslade-by-Sea, to the south, has both the small but busy seaport harbour basin of Shoreham harbour and the industrial centre of Brighton and Hove . The east arm of Shoreham Canal Port, which includes the north and south basin quays, separates the pebble beach from the town centre. Terraced housing dating back to the 19th century
3660-571: Is thought to form part of the Chichester ( Noviomagus Reginorum ) to Portslade Roman road. Roman remains and a Roman burial site were found in Roman Road. The name of the town had been thought to stem from the Roman placename Portus Adurni , but this is based on a misidentification of Shoreham-by-Sea as Portus Adurni by Michael Drayton in the 17th century. Indeed, the River Adur , whose mouth has moved many times due to longshore drift and erosion,
3782-507: Is to the east of the London Road, and is home to the national collection of lilacs with over 250 varieties. Collections of berberis , cotoneaster and viburnum can also be found here. Withdean Woods is next to Withdean stadium and is a wooded hillside nature reserve approximately 2.47 acres (1 ha) in size. It is the home of several woodland birds including the great spotted woodpecker , tawny owl , goldcrest , firecrest, and in winter
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3904-535: Is today much of central Brighton. The parish border ran from Little Western Street and Boundary Passage in the west, to Whitehawk Road in the east, and roughly followed the Old Shoreham Road and Bear Road to the north. The Great Reform Act of 1832 created the parliamentary constituency of Brighton . Brighton obtained a royal charter for incorporation in 1854 and was organised into six wards: Park, Pavilion, Pier, St Nicholas, St Peter, and West. The ward of Preston
4026-675: The 1987 gale . It is a popular walk, with Fittleworth Stone walks, glades, and benches. It has received the loving care of a local "Friends" group for many years now. To the west of Moulsecoombe is Wild Park ( TQ 327 080 ). The park is a valley/coombe which runs down from Hollingbury Castle and was opened in 1925. In the 1850s the valley, then known as Hollingbury Coombe, was one of the most famous of Sussex sites for lepidopterists (butterfly and moth experts), but dark green and silver-washed fritillary and silver-spotted skipper , once present in numbers, are rarely seen there now. Despite this, there are parts which are still rich in diversity and it
4148-598: The Adur District . Support within Brighton for its own unitary authority was high, however respondents in Hove expressed reservations towards a merger with Worthing and Adur. A report following consultation noted that more than 25% of respondents in both Brighton and Hove had "unprompted, indicated support for a merger of those two areas." Although this option had not been included in the draft proposals, subsequent polling indicated that
4270-484: The Battle of Worcester . Mill Hill ( TQ 212 071 ) is also known as Shoreham bank, as the hillside falls sharply to the River Adur . It is a Local Nature Reserve and has been famous for its butterflies since the 1820s. In May, the hillside is dusted yellow with horseshoe vetch : the butterflies' food plant. In August, the hillside is colourful with knapweeds, pink centaury , the tiny white pinpoints of eyebright , and
4392-478: The Brighton Pavilion "passed through the fire", for this was their "ghat", or place of cremation. Its white Sicilian marble dome is in good condition, but the surrounding memorial garden is often unkept. What is now considered to be Hollingbury is the slope facing west, east of Patcham and north of Fiveways . However, old Hollingbury was the crest of the hill by the hillfort , Hollingbury Park and even
4514-473: The Greater Brighton City Region local enterprise partnership area. In 1992, a government commission was set up to conduct a structural review of local government arrangements across England. In its draft proposals for East Sussex, the commission suggested two separate unitary authorities be created for the towns of Brighton and Hove, with the latter authority to include Hove, Worthing and
4636-543: The Queen's Silver Jubilee celebrations, Brighton had been shortlisted as a candidate for city status , though eventually lost out to larger Derby . Following unification of the towns, Brighton and Hove applied for city status again as part of the Millennium City Status Competition, and was subsequently granted city status on 31 January 2001. As a result, the borough council became a city council . Although
4758-609: The Second World War and most of what remained after the war is now long gone, having been replaced by modern houses. The Church of the Good Shepherd, built in 1913, still stands. Along the Adur mud flats adjacent to Shoreham Beach sits (and at high tides floats) a large collection of houseboats made from converted barges, tugs, mine sweepers, and motor torpedo boats . The seaside shingle bank of Shoreham beach extends further east past
4880-599: The Southlands Hospital in Shoreham. Local newspapers are the Shoreham Herald, West Sussex Gazette and The Argus . INSIDE Shoreham & Southwick started in 2005 and is a free A5 magazine that goes to houses in Shoreham and neighbouring Southwick each month and carries articles about local people, local history as well as upcoming events and topics of local interest. It is supported by local businesses who advertise in
5002-423: The stinking hellebore . To the west of the A23 and north of Westdene and the A27 is Waterhall ( TQ 284 087 ), and its lost 18th century farm is now the site of football and rugby pitches. The Waterhall Golf Course has just been given over to a version of rewilding which involves the restoration of species-rich chalk grassland There is still a significant population of adders. By the bridlepath just downhill of
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5124-465: The 'Right to Roam' network, organised a mass trespass in protest against the lack of public access to this valley and its management for game bird shooting, which has badly affected its chalk grassland wildlife. Over 300 people walked from Waterhall, Brighton, to Pangdean Bottom in protest. The public are actively discouraged from walking in the area and scrub has been allowed to grow on the pristine downland, whilst other parts have been ploughed out. To
5246-764: The 1873 OS map , and may be centuries older than that. This is the only site in the South Downs that contains the plant saw-wort , which looks like a slimmer version of knapweed , and still blooms profusely in a little glade amongst the gorse. It is a survivor from the days of the Downland heaths. It survives here because the soil must have a strong clay-with-flints influence. The glade where it blooms also contains flowers of betony , red clover , hawkbit , and St John's wort . Old Erringham Farmstead ( TQ 205 076 ) has an old flint farmhouse with great chimneys and part-Horsham slab roofing , and ramshackle old flint barns. It has one of only two remaining medieval manorial chapels on
5368-402: The 1920s and 1930s, with a mix of detached, semi-detached and mid-rise flats. The Withdean manor was originally the property of the great Cluniac Priory of St. Pancras at Lewes, until 1537. This was then given to Anne of Cleves in 1541 by Henry VIII . The manor was demolished in 1936. Westdene sits to the north of Brighton , east of West Blatchington and north of Withdean . Withdean Park
5490-642: The A27 are two golf courses, the West Hove and Brighton and Hove Golf courses. The two are divided by the Old Dyke Railway Trail which follows part of the route taken by the old Dyke Railway Branch Line. The line opened in September 1887 and took people from Hove to the popular downland beauty spot of Devil's Dyke . When the railway closed in December 1938, the line lay unused until the Dyke Railway Trail
5612-462: The A27 roundabout and the eastern track takes you up Ewebottom Hiil leaving Scare Hill to its west, passing the Chattri to the east and on to Holt Hill and the Pyecombe parish. The western track takes you to Waterhall across the A23. Those walking from Patcham towards Standean farm descend the hill into Ewe Bottom and have the pleasure of the intact, old Tegdown pastures to their right, where
5734-401: The A27, is Toads Hole Valley . Its west slope, below Downland Drive, was once an unspoilt place for wildlife and still home to threatened species such as dormice , hedgehogs , and adders . The valley has been unmanaged for many years and the area has turned to scrub. It has now been designated for development and up to three hundred homes are planned to be built on the site. To the north of
5856-402: The Brighton Downs (the other at Swanborough Manor ), which now functions as a front garden shed for one of the modern farm workers cottages just to the south of the old farmhouse. It has a tiny ecclesiastical window on its south face. The farm is designated as an ancient monument , incorporating the remains of a medieval settlement and an eleventh century ringwork . It was presumably built as
5978-667: The Church of England's Catholic tradition, his promotion of ritualism in worship, and his writings on Catholic worship and church-state relationships led him into conflict with the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 . While serving as Vicar of Holy Trinity, Bordesley , Birmingham in 1880, he paid the maximum price under the Act of prosecution and imprisonment in Warwick Prison. Fr. Enraght became nationally and internationally known as
6100-475: The Hill has been split by fencing into a southern half which is seriously under-grazed, with simplified tussocky grassland, and a northern half which remains better grazed. The southern half has now lost its close-bitten down pasture, with its flowerings of tiny herbs and fruitings of old pasture fungi. Nevertheless, as a whole the Hill still has a mixture of archaic pasture and scrub thickets, sometimes mature enough to harbour small maiden oaks, and it retains much of
6222-465: The Portslade station actually occurs at the boundary. A notable building in the village is Portslade Manor , one of the few surviving ruins of a Norman manor. It was built in the 12th century and is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument . Foredown Tower houses a camera obscura , one of only two in the south of England. It is open to the public. To the north is Mile Oak and the A27 road which separates
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#17328477000396344-694: The South Downs and Stanmer Estate that ten years ago had been proposed to be a Local Nature Reserve . Bevendean is in a valley nestled between Bevendean Down and Heath Hill. Moulsecoomb is on the other side of the Lewes Road and backs on to Falmer Hill, and is home to the University of Brighton's Moulsecoomb campus and Moulsecoomb Place . North of Moulsecoomb is the Falmer train station , University of Brighton's Falmer campus, and Falmer Stadium . In this area to
6466-421: The area include common blue , clouded yellow , small heath , comma , red admiral , painted lady , and day-flying moths like treble-bar and dusky sallow . There are glowworms too. In autumn, parts of the short turf may be colourful from the many waxcap and other old meadow fungi. Additional mushrooms include puffballs , blue legs , and velvet shank ; fairy rings also form. However, Southwick Hill
6588-626: The area. There is an old flint barn ( TQ 269 090 ) called the Skeleton Hovel which is thought to commemorate a prehistoric burial site. Round Hill's eastern slope ( TQ 269 085 ) is the richest chalk grassland site in Hangleton, though it desperately needs grazing management for its many downland flowers such as field fleawort , chalk milkwort , orchids, cowslips, hairy violet , rockrose, crested hair-grass , and devil's bit scabious . There are two rare Forester moth species, fox moth and heath moth, purse-web spider , moss, and pygmy snails. To
6710-510: The best of this type in the county". It consists of a circular bank with a ditch and a flattish interior. It lies just south of a big dried up dew pond. From Tegdown you can see the three Iron Age camps of Hollingbury Castle , Ditchling Beacon , and the Devil's Dyke . To the north of the city boundary is the long Ditchling parish. The Mid Sussex track of the Sussex Border Path starts at
6832-482: The birds are bigger than the noise of the road. This point marks the beginning of Downland tranquility. The ramparts of Thundersbarrow's late Bronze Age and Iron Age camp are still tall enough to walk around, although they get a bit vague on the eastern side because of plough damage, and because the Romano-British villagers built their houses just outside the rampart and right up against the barrow on that side. When
6954-434: The built-up area from a number of special downland areas, which include Cockroost Hill to the northwest, Mount Zion to the northeast and Cockroost Bottom separating the two. The name, Cockroost, may have come from the population of great bustard that used to inhabit the area. Although there are no longer bustards here, there is remarkable wildlife, including the rare moth Sitochroa palealis , orchids and butterflies. There
7076-499: The circling woods. Coldean , Moulsecoomb , and Bevendean are suburbs developed by Brighton Corporation in the 1950s necessitated by the acute housing shortage in the area after World War II . The districts are all in beautiful downland areas. Coldean occupies a deep valley on the historic boundary of Falmer and Stanmer parishes and is only separated from Hollingbury Hillfort by Wild Park. It has recently been approved to build over two hundred new homes in green land adjoining
7198-447: The city now operates as a single entity, locals generally still consider Brighton and Hove to be separate settlements with different identities. Hove is largely residential and has its own distinct seafront and established town centre located around George Street, while Brighton has a higher profile as the country's most popular seaside resort , a significant digital economy, and hosts several festivals of national prominence. Recognition of
7320-459: The city of Brighton and Hove to the east and the town of Worthing to the west. Shoreham covers an area of 2,430 acres (980 ha) and has a population of 20,547 (2011 census). Old Shoreham dates back to pre-Roman times. St Nicolas' Church , inland by the River Adur, is partly Anglo-Saxon in its construction. The name of the town has an Old English origin. The town and port of New Shoreham
7442-500: The city's twin identities is evident from the continued popularity of the local saying "Hove, actually" , a phrase which long predates unification. Some organisations such as the local football club, Brighton and Hove Albion , and the bus company Brighton & Hove , predate the unification of the towns by several decades. In 2014, Brighton and Hove formed the Greater Brighton City Region with neighbouring local authorities. The City of Brighton and Hove consists of many districts,
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#17328477000397564-518: The corner of the Saddlescombe Road and the turn-off to the golf clubhouse, there is a sarsen stone ( TQ 278 090 ) marking this point in the medieval boundary between Patcham and West Blatchington parishes. To the north is Varncombe Hill , which borders the Newtimber parish. Its south-west facing slope( TQ 280 099 ) is heavily scrubbed-up, though lovely old pasture glades survive. Rockrose
7686-577: The damage of decades of agribusiness on the hill: an island of old Down pasture on the eastern slope, an old bostal track, which winds down the slope at its southern end, and a patch of hillside a few hundred yards north, surrounded by Iron Age field lynchets . More recently, the use of agrochemicals has stopped, and the hillside is again colourful with herbs. The intact areas have pyramidal orchid , spotted orchid , meadow oat-grass , crested hair-grass , and round-headed rampion . Mossy Bottom ( TQ 226 082 ) derives its name from 'Muster' Bottom, where
7808-460: The district of Mile Oak to the north was added. Today, Portslade is bisected from east to west by the old A27 road (now the A270) between Brighton and Worthing , each part having a distinct character. Portslade Village, to the north, nestles in a valley of the South Downs and still retains its rural character with flint buildings, a village green and the small parish church of St Nicolas , which
7930-474: The drying grassland. The rare Carthusian snail ( Monacha cartusiana) still exists in this combe, possibly due to centuries of cattle grazing. Old Erringham Shaw is a tangled wood of sycamore , ash , elm , and thorn. It's more open at the northern end facing the combe, where the remains of four big old broken beeches and lots of may blossom make it a good place for insects. Slonk Hill ( TQ 222 070 ): there were at least two Bronze Age barrows and
8052-451: The east and low-rise flats in the central part, with late 19th- and early 20th-century terraced houses towards Fiveways . There is an oasis of undeveloped green space at the peak of the Down between Hollingbury , Hollingdean , and Coldean . At its centre is Hollingbury Castle or Hillfort ( TQ 322 078 ).This Iron Age hillfort is a scheduled ancient monument , of Iron Age date, whilst
8174-423: The east-facing slope. Until the 1930s the area was open downland with farms, small-holdings and piggeries. After World War Two, Hollingbury was used for a factory estate with the housing for the workforce. Hollingdean is in the combe east of Ditchling Road and rising up to the north-facing slope to Roedale allotments, the golf course and hillfort . It is now mainly a residential area, with many council houses to
8296-500: The estuary. To the south is the Norman church of Old Shoreham, almost on the banks of the Adur, and next to it are the wooden piers of the 1781 toll bridge, which collected traffic tolls up to the 1960s. Mill Hill now suffers from traffic and aircraft noise . The special mosses and lichens have gone, and the Heath and Carthusian snails are now gone. Despite efforts by volunteers and rangers,
8418-556: The film Woman in Gold . The town is served by Shoreham-by-Sea railway station , located on the West Coastway Line . Local bus services are provided by the Brighton & Hove bus company , Stagecoach South , and a local town route is operated by Compass Travel. Shoreham Tollbridge crosses the River Adur in the west of the town. This bridge is a Grade II* listed building and was
8540-561: The former nave was already in ruins by the time of the English Civil War , although evidence of the original west façade survive in the churchyard to this day. Muslim geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi , writing c. 1153 , described Shoreham as "a fine and cultivated city containing buildings and flourishing activity". Shoreham had status as a Royal Port . An 18th-century naval chartist and artist, Captain Henry Roberts , who
8662-404: The four mounded round barrows within its ramparts are made by Bronze Age people, who held this place sacred. There are thickets of gorse which shine yellow in spring and are home to linnets and goldfinch. European stonechat is a familiar bird, too, and the rarer whinchat and redstart are seen regularly on passage to and from their breeding grounds. The soil within and around the camp has
8784-452: The harbour mouth, forming the southern boundary of the commercial harbour in Southwick , Portslade , and Hove . The Monarch's Way long-distance footpath, commemorating the escape route of Charles II to France after the Battle of Worcester , follows the beach westwards from Hove past Portslade and Southwick, ending by the harbour mouth's east breakwater. The River Adur , the downs, and
8906-535: The head of the combe, there are more old grassland and great blackberry thickets. Since 1945, scrub has taken over much of this former open slope. The remaining grassland is only lightly grazed, allowing growth of bramble and thorn and a loss of its ancient down pasture character. Freshcombe ( TQ 230 092 ) is owned by the National Trust, but was leased away from their management . It is threatened by scrub expansion and insufficient grazing. Its slopes have very old gorse thickets; they are shown as well-established on
9028-562: The hill still carries far too great an area of dense and simplified scrub, which has flourished at the expense of the biodiverse turf. Southwick Hill ( TQ 237 077 ) is owned by the National Trust and has some special wildlife areas. In 1985, local residents were presented with the plan for the A27 road bypass cutting through the Hill. Through the vigorous campaigning of activists from ABBA (the Anti-Brighton Bypass Association)
9150-431: The last Sussex toll bridge in use. The bridge was part of the A27 road until it was closed to traffic in 1968. The structure is now too weak to carry vehicles and underwent extensive restoration, then was ceremonially re-opened for pedestrians on 23 October 2008, by Prince Andrew, Duke of York . Adur Ferry Bridge in the south of the town (replacing the old Shoreham footbridge) crosses the River Adur to Shoreham Beach. It
9272-403: The line of the A27 bypass, beyond which one or two more fragments also survive. At the eastern end of the Down, is a Bronze Age burial mound recognisable as a low, grassy tump. The area is rich with summer flowers. Harebell , Sussex rampion flower, rockrose, and yellow rattle are enjoyed by locals here and at midsummer there are still good numbers of glowworms . Later in the summer months,
9394-413: The merger was the most popular option among residents. Nevertheless, the proposal of a merger proved controversial, particularly in Hove. Hove Borough Council opposed the move on the grounds that Brighton would dominate affairs in the city, and the commission acknowledged that residents of Hove "have significant negative feelings towards Brighton" and greater identification towards Sussex . Ultimately,
9516-493: The month, respectively, together with the annual 'Light up Shoreham' Christmas market and event. Most years, in late summer, Shoreham Airport hosts the Royal Air Forces Association (RAFA) Shoreham Airshow . On 22 August 2015, a Hawker Hunter jet fighter taking part in the airshow crashed onto the busy A27 road just outside the airport, killing eleven people and injuring several others. Shoreham (along with
9638-541: The more built-up southern part near the coast became an urban district and parish called "Portslade-by-Sea", leaving a smaller northern parish covering the more rural areas and the old village, which kept the name Portslade. In 1921 the (northern) parish of Portslade had a population of 523. That Portslade parish was abolished in 1928 and added to the parish and urban district of Portslade-by-Sea. Portslade-by-Sea Urban District Council built itself Portslade Town Hall on Victoria Road in 1928 to serve as its headquarters and as
9760-418: The mouth of the river shifted eastwards which restricted trade to the port; by 1810, it was almost opposite Aldrington church. In 1816, work had been completed to fix the position of the river in its present position, flowing into the sea between two piers. Once the harbour mouth was stabilised, it was defended by Shoreham Fort , which was built in 1857. Converted railway carriages became summer homes around
9882-528: The name comes from the Anglo-Norman owners' hometown of Bouce in Normandy . Shoreham Beach, to the south of the town, is a shingle spit deposited over millennia by longshore drift . This blocks the southerly flow of the River Adur which turns east at this point to discharge into the English Channel further along the coast at a point that has varied considerably over time. During the 17th and 18th centuries,
10004-561: The new A27 road , Mile Oak's access to the Downs was largely blocked, stopping the spread of development. To the north of Mile Oak, on the other side of the A27, are a number of downland areas that are still in the Brighton and Hove area. These include the ancient chalk grassland slopes of Cockroost Hill , Cockroost Bottom and Mount Zion . They are all special areas because of the remarkable wildlife still surviving there, including rare downland flowers, orchids, butterflies and rare insects. There
10126-429: The north east of Coldean are two further valleys. The first is occupied by Stanmer village ( TQ 33 09 ), a village with much historical value. The upper village street has eighteen flint cottages, with colourful gardens. The church was reconstructed in 1838, but the date of the original church can be guessed from the two huge and knotty yews in the churchyard. Next to the church is a pond, which although often unkempt,
10248-420: The north of Round Hill is the Newtimber parish. Patcham , Westdene , and Withdean are divided by the London Road. Of the three, Patcham ( TQ 301 090 ), has much the longest history of human settlement and retains much from its agricultural past. It was one of the bigger settlements in Sussex at the time of Domesday book, with 10 shepherds and six slaves and a medieval Archbishop of Canterbury came from
10370-548: The north of the city boundary in this area is the Pycombe parish. The Downland to the north of Patcham leads up to Ditchling Beacon and the western end of the Clayton to Offham Escarpment . Tegdown Hill is the next hill to the west of the downland Ditchling Road. A remarkable "ring barrow" survives ( TQ 313 101 ) on its brow, together with the slight mounds of two other bowl barrows. Tegdown ring barrow has been described as "probably
10492-460: The old clubhouse there are the damaged remains of a Bronze Age round barrow ( TQ 283 087 ) which has long acted as a marker on the old parish boundaries. Since the cessation of golf play harebell , scabious , cowslip , rockrose , betony , Sussex rampion and horseshoe vetch have flowered ebulliently. There are large old anthills and chalkhill , small and adonis blue and brown argus butterflies, and all three species of Forester moth. At
10614-427: The people came off the hill to form Findon ) and at Mount Caburn (where people re-located down at Beddingham ), this stranded settlement is three quarters of a mile from the Downs. The church here was extensively re-modelled in the thirteenth century when the shifting river estuary temporarily made Kingston a port town. The 'king' of the name 'Kingston' may have referred to a Saxon king of Sussex. The 'Buci' part of
10736-441: The people of Kingston Buci may have lived at Thundersbarrow. This may have been the centre of a large estate in the post-Roman Dark Ages. However, in early or mid-Saxon times, the people may have re-located down off the hill to Kingston Buci ( TQ 235 052 ), which sits to the east of Shoreham-by-Sea. It has a medieval church, rectory, manor house, and huge old barn which still make it a remarkable cluster – and, like Cissbury (where
10858-543: The population of the town substantially. As a result, the number of wards had by now increased to 19. The rest of Falmer, Coldean and the parish of Stanmer were added to Brighton by the Brighton Extension Act 1951, completing the northward extension of the town. A final expansion of the town's boundaries was approved in 1968, incorporating reclaimed land from the sea for the Brighton Marina project. Brighton
10980-460: The publication. Shoreham-by-Sea has a non-League football club, Shoreham FC , who play at Middle Road stadium with a 2,000-seat capacity, and a rugby union club, Shoreham RFC, who play at Buckingham Park. Southdown Golf Club was founded in 1902, but ceased to operate in the 1940s. The town centre hosts monthly farmers' and artisans' markets in East Street on the second and fourth Saturday of
11102-633: The rare bee orchid . The most northerly coombe has the little copse with hazel and dogwood . Goldfinches , linnets and migrant birds on passage enjoy its peace. There are two notable pathways on this downland. One is the Mid Sussex Path of the Sussex Border Path which separates East and West Sussex and runs north into the Fulking parish. There is also the final stretch of the Monarch's Way which passes through Mile Oak and Porstlade and follows
11224-643: The road was re-routed through a tunnel under the Hill rather than a cutting through it. In high summer, on the hill ('bostal') path, there is round-headed rampion , blue scabious , and autumn gentian . On the south side of the bridlepath, there is an un-grazed triangle with a taller sward. Here, there are still rabbits playing on the lawns amongst the purging flax , eggs and bacon , squinancywort , eyebright , and wild thyme , which themselves mingle with tall herb patches of parsnip , greater knapweed , ragwort , hogweed , and St John's wort . There are bushes of raspberry and rose-bay willowherb . Butterflies in
11346-400: The sea support a diverse wildlife flora and fauna in the area. The mudflats support wading birds and gulls, including the ringed plover which attempts to breed on the coastal shingle. The pied wagtail is common in the town in the winter months. Insects include dragonflies over the flood plains of the river. The south- and west-facing downs attract at least 33 species of butterfly, including
11468-399: The sea, of which he wrote: "Oh, how I am delighted with this sea-scenery and with my little marine hut ! The musical waves, the ethereal atmosphere, all make me feel as in the olden golden days when I was a boy and dreamed of Heaven". While living in Portslade he wrote the greater portion of his theological works. Portslade was an ancient parish . In 1898 the parish was split into two;
11590-667: The seafront west towards Shoreham . The Way is a 625-mile (1,006 km) long-distance footpath that runs from Worcester to Shoreham . Portslade has been suggested as being the Roman port Novus Portus mentioned in Ptolemy 's Geography of the 2nd century AD. Drove Road, in the original Portslade Village, has been linked with the Roman road (sometimes known as the " London to Portslade Way ") that passes through Patcham valley to Haywards Heath and on to Streatham in London. The Old Shoreham Road
11712-583: The shepherd mustered his sheep. Mossy Bottom slope is statutory access land under the right to roam 'CROW' Act (2000), but public usage is heavily challenged by prohibitive notices and poor access provision. It has boney Iron Age lynchets across it made by the peasant farmers who lived in Thundersbarrow village. They used to be called "Thunder's Steps." There are big old anthills, and plants such as large thyme , dropwort, cowslip, basil, harebell , and round-headed rampion . Brighton City Airport lies to
11834-403: The smaller sites connected to it are the second biggest surviving complex of ancient Down pasture on the entire plateau of the Brighton Downs (the biggest is around Castle Hill, near Woodingdean ). The town is the end-point of the Monarch's Way , a 615-mile (990 km) long-distance footpath , based on the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated by Cromwell in
11956-490: The start of the 20th century, and 'Bungalow Town', as it was then known, became home to the early British film industry. Francis L. Lyndhurst founded the Sunny South Film Company, which made its first commercial movie on Shoreham Beach in 1912 and built a film studio there. Shoreham Beach officially became part of Shoreham-by-Sea in 1910. Much of the housing in the area was cleared for defence reasons during
12078-411: The steepest slope and the lynchets have fine chalk downland flowers. Opposite the slope is the mouth of Deep Bottom ( TQ 303 105 ), the southerly slope of which is a colourful old pasture site with abundant rockrose and which rises up to the Chattri . In autumn there are boletes and several old meadow waxcaps and a fairy club fungus. To the south of the A27 and on the western edge of Patcham
12200-546: The strata of Sussex greensand stone that emerges at this point in the coast. A part-finished assembly hall in Portslade became an Odeon Cinema about 1930 when George Coles, one of the Odeon chain's principal architects, adapted the original design. Revd Richard William Enraght (1837–1898) was the Priest in Charge of St Andrew Church, Portslade, from 1871 to 1874. Fr. Enraght's belief in
12322-455: The unparished non-metropolitan district of Hove. It also incorporated the nearby town of Portslade-by-Sea into the new district. The new boundaries established by the Act remained largely the same until unification with Brighton a quarter of a century later. To the west of Brighton and Hove is Portslade . The area has three distinct centres with different histories, and includes Portslade-by-Sea , Portslade Village and Mile Oak . Each
12444-496: The valley's north side has one of the largest populations of autumn ladies-tresses orchid has been recorded, together with a large population of the white variety of the self heal violet . The scrub at the head of the valley is old and diverse, with wayfaring tree , old man's beard , honeysuckle , hazel , and gorse . In July 2021 the Sussex-based 'Landscapes of Freedom' group, together with Nick Hayes and Guy Shrubsole of
12566-461: The view was taken that support for a single tier of government in both towns outweighed opposition to unification, and as a result the commission recommended that the borough councils of Brighton and Hove be made a single unitary authority independent of East Sussex County Council . In 1997, Brighton and Hove Borough Council was formed, and assumed responsibility for all matters of local government across both towns. Twenty years earlier, as part of
12688-452: The village was excavated in 1932, two corn-drying ovens were found, still with soot in the flues and bits of charred grain. Erringham Hole ( TQ 231 082 ) is the bushy combe to the east of Thundersbarrow, whose Celtic villagers built the huge field lynchets , parts of which are up to 12 feet in height. It was called 'Erringham Hole' because it was part of Old Erringham Farm. Old Erringham Hole (not to be confused with Whitelot Bottom, which
12810-439: The village. The area still has many old flint cottages, big allotment sites and winding twittens. There is Patcham Place and Park. The best cluster of buildings comprise its Norman church (which has kept part of its medieval wall paintings) and the old buildings of Patcham Court Farm, with a 17th-century flint farmhouse and dovecot. The areas of Withdean and Westdene were historically farmland but have been developed, mainly in
12932-420: The violet-blue of devil's-bit scabious and the powder-blue lesser scabious radiate. The Chattri ( TQ 304 110 ) is a place of memorial and a destination for walks. It can be accessed from the Sussex Border Path to its west or by scrambling through the thickets of Deep Bottom. It is a solemn place where the bodies of First World War Indian Sikh and Hindu soldiers who died from wounds whilst being nursed at
13054-476: The west of the main town and has been in private ownership since 2006. It is the UK's oldest licensed airport still in operation and has a 1936 Grade II*-listed Art Deco terminal building . The terminal has been a filming location for an episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot (" Lord Edgware Dies "), a Crimewatch-type reconstruction (2000, ITV Meridian ), BBC Tenko series episode, scenes of The Da Vinci Code , and
13176-415: The west, and one of the parish open fields to the east. The hedge contains a lot of maple and ash and may have been bird-sown. As per Hooper's rule , the hedge is three to four centuries old. There is a large flat block of lichen-covered stone ( TQ 238 069 ) by the path to Southwick Hill from Southwickhill Barn, which marks a corner on the old parish boundary between Kingston Buci and Southwick. It
13298-450: The westward development of Brighton, and in 1832 became incorporated into the parliamentary constituency of Brighton . In 1873 commissioners from Hove, West Hove and Brunswick were amalgamated as means to guard against the dominance of Brighton. The first public buildings were completed in the late 19th century, including the original town hall in 1882. The parish of Aldrington was annexed by Hove in 1893. A municipal borough of Hove
13420-538: The white umbels of wild carrot , wild parsnip , St John's wort , and wild thyme . The Hill is known for its dingy skippers and grizzled skippers in the spring, and in summer the chalkhill blue and Adonis blue are 'flagship' species of this Hill. From Mill Hill it is possible to see Applesham Farm, which was a village at the time of the Domesday Book in 1086. To the north end is another Saxon farm, Old Erringham, which King Alfred's successors fortified to defend
13542-501: The wildlife lost elsewhere on the Brighton Downs. Hedges are very rare on these Downs (except around farmsteads). The Crooked Moon Hedge ( TQ 233 070 ) lies on the top of a prehistoric field lynchet ; these southern slopes of Southwick Hill were covered with an Iron Age field system whose banks lay regularly on east–west and south–north axes. At its northern end, it is the boundary between Kingston Buci and Southwick parishes, and at its southern end it bounded Kingston Buci sheep Down to
13664-520: Was added in 1873, expanding Brighton to the north. In 1889 Brighton attained county borough status. The Brighton Corporation Act of 1927 added the settlements of Ovingdean and Rottingdean , as well as western parts of Falmer , Patcham and West Blatchington . These reforms expanded the Brighton the north and west dramatically. Between 1920 and 1950 housing estates were developed in Woodingdean , Moulsecoomb , Bevendean , and Whitehawk increasing
13786-561: Was also named from this misidentification. The actual etymology of Portslade may be portus- + -ladda , way to the port, where ladda is from the Old English for way, but this is conjectural at best. The old name, Copperas Gap, for Portslade-by-Sea suggests that the coast was used for the production of copperas or green vitriol, a form of ferrous sulfate used extensively in the textile industry. The process took over six years and made use of iron pyrite -rich nodules that could be found in
13908-489: Was awarded city status in 2000. Brighton and Hove City Council is therefore the only local authority which covers Portslade today. Portslade encompasses Portslade Aldridge Community Academy . Portslade railway station is located on the West Coastway Line west of Aldrington and east of Fishersgate , Southwick and Shoreham-by-Sea . Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove ( / ˈ b r aɪ t ən ... ˈ h oʊ v / BRY -tən … HOHV )
14030-408: Was created in 1988. There are a number of ways through Hangleton to a bridge over the A27 bypass where the trail begins, but the original route took you from Aldrington railway station and above the Hove cemetery. Much of the trail across the Downs is on a hard surface. There are many archaic Down pastures in the area. To the west is Benfield Hill ( TQ 261 078 ), a Local Nature Reserve which
14152-550: Was established by the Norman conquerors towards the end of the 11th century. St Mary de Haura Church (St Mary of the Haven) was built in the decade following 1103 (the Domesday Book was dated 1086), and around this time the town was laid out on a grid pattern that, in essence, still survives in the town centre. The present church is approximately half the size of the original structure –
14274-428: Was formed by royal charter in 1889, granting Hove administrative autonomy. Further expansion took place in 1927, with the addition of the parishes of Preston Rural and Hangleton and westerly sections of West Blatchington and Patcham . Hove gained its own parliamentary constituency in 1950. The Local Government Act 1972 abolished the remaining parishes of Hove, Aldrington and Hangleton and West Blatchington to form
14396-475: Was largely countryside, with very few people living there for most of the Middle Ages, but it is now a residential area. Like Aldrington, West Blatchington was once primarily down and sheep grazing area, but is now built up. West Blatchington manor had various lords over the centuries, but unlike Adrington and Hangleton, it was always associated with lords in the east such Lewes , Falmer , and Patcham . It
14518-468: Was notable enough to show on the Victorian Ordnance Survey maps. Thunders Barrow ( TQ 229 083 ) is a large barrow , although it was partially dug away on its south side in the nineteenth century to make way for a dew pond . It sits just north of Southwick Hill. The origins of its name are unknown. It is only at this distance from the bypass that the silence of the Downs and the sound of
14640-534: Was once a lieutenant under Captain Cook , was a native of Shoreham. The rapid growth of the neighbouring towns of Brighton, Hove and Worthing – and in particular the arrival of the railway in 1840 – prepared the way for Shoreham's rise as a Victorian sea port , with several shipyards and an active coasting trade. Shoreham Harbour remains in commercial operation today. The area became an urban district , with Shoreham Town Hall as its headquarters, in 1910. Originally
14762-528: Was opened to the public by the Duke of Gloucester on 13 November 2013. Local news and television programmes is provided by BBC South East and ITV Meridian . Television signals are received from the Whitehawk Hill TV transmitter. The town’s local radio stations are BBC Radio Sussex on 95.3 FM, Heart South on 103.5 FM, More Radio Worthing on 107.7 FM and Seaside Hospital Radio that broadcast from
14884-412: Was split into two parliamentary constituencies in 1950. The first, Brighton Pavilion , covers the centre and north of the town. The second, Brighton Kemptown , covers the east of the town. The latter has since expanded further east to include the neighbouring towns of East Saltdean, Telscombe Cliffs , and Peacehaven , all of which are administratively within the adjacent Lewes District . Brighton became
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