History of Brighton

I thought of looking in to the history of Brighton as we may be covering this in our documentary and I thought it was necessary for me to get some background information so we had a clearer idea of what we may want to ask our interviewees. Below is what I found from Wikipedia which I found insightful and I trust it will help me when filming and interviewing.

History

The history of Brighton is that of an ancient fishing village which emerged as a health resort in the 18^th century and grew into one of the largest towns in England by the 20^th century.

By the 1640s Brighthelmstone had a population of over 4,000 and was the largest settlement in Sussex. Its economy was dominated by the fishing industry. However this period of relative prosperity was followed by a slow decline into the 18^th century due to a fall in the demand for fish and sea erosion. The Great Storm of 1703 caused considerable damage to the town.

Health Resort

During the 1730s, Dr Richard Russel of Lewes began to prescribe the medicinal use of seawater at Brighthelmstone for his patients. He wrote a tract advocating the drinking of seawater and sea bathing in 1750. In 1753 he erected a large house on the southern side of the Steine for his own and patient’s accommodation. In 1758, Dr. John Awsiter, another prominent local doctor, also wrote a paper advocating drinking seawater and seabathing.

Above is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Brighton