Arts & Heritage
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A range of historic windmills can be found in TLC and Sussex more widely, including some with public access:
Jack & Jill, Clayton - Jill is looked after by a charitable society and is open to the public on Sunday afternoons in summertime.
Beacon Hill, Rottingdean (pic above)- located in a local nature reserve, it is also cared for by a charitable society and open on some Sunday afternoons in summer.
West Blatchington, Hove - an iconic mill painted by Constable, it includes a small museum and is also open to the public on summer Sunday afternoons.
Waterhall, Patcham - the last working windmill to be built in Sussex in 1885, this is a private site.
Ashcombe, Kingston nr Lewes - this mill has been recently reinstated on a historic site with sensitive design and renewable energy generation (private). -
There are a range of permanent environmental art installations to explore in our The Living Coast, including:
Fingermaze at Hove Park, based on a fingerprint
Heart of Reeds wetland, at Lewes Railway Land
Butterfly Banks, chalk wildflower banks around Brighton & HoveHawaiian po'ouli mural by Faunagraphic, a permanent piece in the courtyard of ONCA Gallery
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The remains of civilisations from past periods of The Living Coast can be appreciated at:
Paleolithic (pre-10,000 BC) - Black Rock raised beach (Ice Age)
Neolithic (4000-2300 BC) - Whitehawk Hill and Offham Hill
Iron Age (700 BC-43 AD) - Hollingbury Hill and Ditchling Beacon
Roman (43-450 AD) - Southwick villa (beneath the Methodist church!) -
The artist John Constable lived in Brighton in 1824-28, where he painted famous works which you can retrace in The Living Coast today at:
Madeira Drive, opp Margaret Street - The Chain Pier Brighton, 1826-7, TateSt Ann’s Wells Gardens – Shoreham Bay near Brighton, 1824, Fitzwilliam Museum
Dyke Road, near the Windmill pub – A Windmill near Brighton, 1824, V&A (Vine’s Mill)
Sillwood Road, opp Waitrose - The Gothic House, 1824, private collection
Blatchington Mill - Blatchington Mill near Brighton, 1825, private collection
St Andrews Church, Hove, 1828, V&A
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A number of famous natural scientists have been active in The Living Coast since the early days of science, including:
Richard Russell (1687-1759) - the founder of health benefits from the seaside, leading to Brighton's tourism
Gideon Mantell (1790-1852) - also from Lewes, an early geologist and the first dinosaur fossil hunter!
Edward Booth (1840-1890) - a classic Victorian collector of birds who exhibited them in replicas of their natural habitats
Magnus Volk (1851-1937) - a pioneering electrical engineer who created the world's longest-running electric railway and the famous 'daddy long legs' marine vehicle (see pic)
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Ancient dead people from Brighton & Hove’s deep archaeological past have been brought back to life through intimate facial reconstructions at the Elaine Evans Archaeology Gallery of Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, spanning five different time periods:
Neolithic woman - Whitehawk Hill – from 5650–5520 years ago, 1.45m height (small), 19-25 years old, dark skin, found in 1933 with the bones of a baby nestling in her pelvis, so probably died in childbirth
Bronze Age (early, Beaker Period) man - Ditchling Road, Hollingbury, Brighton – from 4,287- 4,125 years ago, 1.71m height, slight build, 25-35 years old, from continental Europe with light skin, blue eyes and blonde hair, malnourished as a baby and child, and suffering tooth decay, with likely low social status
Iron Age craftsman - Slonk Hill, by Shoreham – from 2,413-2,226 years ago, 1.71m tall, 24-31 years old, muscular and robust, active strong and healthy, light skin, lived/ worked in very smoky conditions, perhaps as a metalworker
Romano-British woman – nr Ladies Mile Road, Patcham – from 210–356 AD, 1.59m height (average), 25-35 years old, slender with light skin, blue eyes and blonde hair, she lived a hard physical life, subject to an unusual burial, with a nail in the back of her head and male skeleton lying feet to feet with her
Anglo-Saxon Warrior - Stafford Road near Seven Dials, Brighton – from 424-570 AD, 1.75m height (tall), 45+ years old, muscular and robust, lived a very active life, but probably died of complications from toothache, with a swollen face and terrible breath; one of our direct ancestors.
Image copyright: Royal Pavilion & Museums 2019