Beachy Head

Although there have been several references to a light that was exhibited from Beachy Head in around 1670, the records state that this was not for maritime purposes but as a fire beacon which would warn of any threatened invasion. The first official record of a petition for a navigation light appears in the Parliamentary Papers of the Lords of the Privy Council for Trade, written during the reign of William III and Queen Mary in 1691. The proposer of a light near Beachy Head was a Thomas Offley. However, even though the Privy Council requested that the Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strand should investigate the need for a light, nothing was formally activated until the latter part of the 18th century. During the early part of the 18th century, a local parson named Jonathan Darby from the parish of East Dean unofficially displayed a candle-burning lantern hung in a hollow carved out of the chalk headland. This cave became known as Darby’s Hole. It is recorded in the Sussex archives that Parson Darby carved out a deep shaft through the headland, which ended at a gallery-shaped hollow about 20ft above the highest spring tides. According to the records of the Eastbourne Natural History Society, Darby’s Hole was in fact part of a cave system which had formerly been used by the local smugglers. Parson Darby died in 1729 at the age of 59, and was buried in the East Dean churchyard. His headstone salutes this exceptional parson by calling him ‘the sailor’s friend’.
An extract from from"Lighthouses".

The railway originally ended at Terminus Place (which is hardly surprising), and housing was laid out along the old lane onto the common: this became Western Road, with Summer Heath Road a turning off in the distance of this view. All the houses on the right, apart from the one in the middle distance with two hipped- roofed bay windows, have since been demolished. The 1960s library, together with modern housing estates, have replaced them. The survivor is now a Citizens Advice Bureau and a working men’s club. The recreation ground is on the left.
An extract from from"Hailsham Photographic Memories".

Half a mile south of the hamlet with the parish church and Chiddingly Place is another small hamlet, Muddles Green, where cottages fringe a small green. All four buildings in this view are Victorian: the one on the left, Birch Cottage, is of the 1860s, and the one behind the telephone pole, Jubilee Cottage, is dated 1887, while the others are of about 1900. Behind the photographer is the 1906 village school, and on the right the green has been enlarged with new houses built in the 1990s, Willetts Field.
An extract from from"Hailsham Photographic Memories".

This interior view of the church shows the 15th- century nave arcades and chancel arch; the ghost of the original roof line can be seen high above the chancel arch. The medieval roof survives, but it was lifted in 1889 when the Victorian clerestory was added. The Victorian improving biblical text over the chancel arch has been replaced by the more familiar ‘Jesus said: I am the way, the truth and the life’.
An extract from from"Hailsham Photographic Memories".

This view is taken from the brick four-centred arch into Market Square. The brick footpath heads towards the porch which, with the south aisle, was added in 1870 to designs by H E Rumble. Above are the round quatrefoil windows of the clerestory added in 1889, which must have made the interior much lighter. On the left are the backs of buildings that front the High Street, while the yews and hollies in this view survive today.
An extract from from"Hailsham Photographic Memories".