The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains the first mention of a settlement in the area at Beorthelm's-tun (the town of Beorthelm). In the Domesday Book, Brighton was called Bristemestune and a rent of 4000 herring was established.

From the manorial system, Preston manor lingers on today as a museum. Although the present day manor house is relatively recent in construction, the church — St Peters, currently under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust — is fourteenth century. A medieval fresco depicting the murder of Thomas a Beckett was discovered under paint following a fire in the early part of the twentieth century. As such, it is among the oldest art in Brighton. In June 1514, the fishing village then known as Brighthelmstone was burnt to the ground by the French as part of a war between the two which began as a result of the Treaty of Westminster (1511). Later on in Henry's reign, the residents of the town petitioned the monarch for defensive cannon. Part of their 'pitch' was an illustrated map (1545) showing the French raid of 1511. A display copy of the map can be seen in Hove Museum.

Brighton remained a small fishing village up until the 18th century. Brighthelmstone began to change in 1753 when Dr Richard Russell of Lewes published his thesis on sea bathing, which proclaimed the benefit to health of the salt water of Brighton. He set up house there and before long, the rich and the sick had started to make their way to the seaside. Currently approaching the conclusion of its ambitious restoration, Marlborough House on the Steine was built by Robert Adam in 1765 and purchased shortly afterwards by the eponymous Duke. By 1780, development of the Regency terraces had started and the town quickly became the fashionable resort of Brighton. The growth of the town was further encouraged when, in 1786, the young Prince Regent later King George IV, rented a farmhouse in order to escape from public life. Eventually he spent much of his leisure time in the town and constructed the exotic-looking Royal Pavilion, which is the town's best-known landmark. The Kemp Town estate (at the heart of the Kemptown district) was constructed between 1823 and 1855, and is a good example of Regency architecture.

This page was last updated: 23 August 2005

Town history extracts are taken from Wikipedia and are licensed under GFDL