Arts & Heritage

•   Heritage Windmills

  

  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).

•   Environmental Art

  

  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 & Hove

  Hawaiian po'ouli mural by Faunagraphic, a permanent piece in the courtyard of ONCA Gallery
  
  
  

•   Ancient Sites

  

  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!)

•   Constable's Locations

  

  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, Tate

  St 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

•   ​Natural Scientists

  

  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)

•   Ancient People

  

  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