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Jaime
Kaminski
Sussex Archaeological Society
Barbican House
169 High Street
Lewes
BN8 1YE
In 1680, there were 12 medieval churches with parishes now wholly or partly within the boundaries of the City of Brighton and Hove. The parishes were Aldrington, Brighton, Falmer, Hangleton, Hove, Ovingdean, Patcham, Portslade, Preston, Rottingdean, Stanmer and West Blatchington (Fig. 1). The Georgians improved the condition of the ten churches that were in use in the early 18th century by undertaking modest repairs. They also added galleries and pews to some. From the mid 1830s the Victorians were far more radical. They re-ordered and extended four of these churches, heavily restored two without enlarging them, demolished and rebuilt four, and resurrected both the churches that had become ruins before 1680. The Victorians also removed much of the work undertaken by the Georgians. Further research will help us to understand the history of our medieval churches in Sussex during these periods, and clarify whether the range of approaches towards the care of churches found here is typical or not.