SUSSEX INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY STUDY GROUP

Issue 1 April 1968

Since the formation of this Group last October, the response, in offers of assistance and reports of matters for investigation, has been far greater than originally expected. This does at last provide confirmation that there is a real need to bring together the scattered activities of a growing body of people whose interests up to now have been largely un-represented within the county.

From the very beginning there has been no definite. and fixed idea as to how such an organisation would develop; discussion and correspondence have now started to show some results in terms of the emergence of a working body, although it is in its early days at present. This being the case, it now seems the appropriate time to issue the first Newsletter. This is primarily an attempt to provide a little background information about the place of Sussex in industrial archaeology, and a few ideas concerning future plans and possibilities. 

The last page of the Newsletter (un-numbered) includes some information already circulated in the minutes of the first meeting. This is because it is intended as a brief guide to our activities and methods of recording, so that it can be sent to future enquirers as a single, self-contained item.

INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY AND SUSSEX
The term 'industrial archaeology' was first used by Michael Rix in 'The Amateur Historian' in 1955, although it is fair to say that long before the present popularity in the subject, writers such as John Betjeman were stressing the need for a greater awareness in the buildings and architecture of, and since, the Industrial Revolution. Similarly„the development of engineering has been studied by the Newcomen Society since 1919. Nevertheless, it has only been in the last ten years or so that substantial advances have been made by way' of investigation and publication.

A most important position was reached in 1963 when the Ministry of Public Buildings and Works, in conjunction with the Council for British Archaeology, began the National Survey of Industrial Monuments. Its job has been to record and to evaluate the visual evidence of technological and economic activities, particularly of the period since the 18th. century. In doing this it has gradually encouraged local fieldwork throughout the country. This is mainly because the Survey depends almost entirely on the voluntary co-operation of local people and organisations.

Stress should be made that industrial archaeology concerns itself primarily with the study of physical remains. This is as distinct from 'industrial history' which is based on literary evidence - on manuscripts and books. In the past records have been examined, and conclusions drawn, quite often in-accurately, and with significant omissions of fact, because there has been little regard for surviving evidence on the ground. Up until a few years ago the Industrial Revolution was being treated very much from the literary point of view. In the case of machinery this has meant that the machines described and publicised by so many economic history writers have been the products of inventors who took out patent rights, the relevant documents serving as the basis for study. With this approach there has been small account of the countless craftsmen and engineers manufacturing for a localised market, often on highly individualistic lines. The only evidence of their work, and about which we treed to know more than we do, can only be located by field work.

The work of recording these physical remains is in many cases of great urgency in view of re-development and road-widening schemes, and the technical changes that are making early equipment and machinery obsolete. These changes are so rapid that it is quite possible a whole period of history, in some places intact and complete at present, is in danger of being destroyed without a trace.

In Sussex attention has already been paid to the iron and glass industries by Messrs. Straker, Winbolt and Kenyon, and a study of the windmills of the county has been made by the Rev. Peter Hemming. Extensive reports on the watermills of the county have been made by Mr. Frank Gregory. It is therefore incorrect to claim that no work has taken place in industrial archaeology in the county; it is correct, however, to claim that, firstly, the scope of recording has been limited, and secondly, that no overall plan on a co-ordinated basis throughout the county has existed for industrial archaeology.

Although Sussex is not an 'lndustrial' county in the usually accepted sense, the county does possess many examples of the type of monument the National Survey is trying. to record. This is for two reasons; firstly, the scope of the Survey is wide (see the list of items at the end of the Newsletter). Secondly, the agricultural counties, being more slow to change than urban industrial areas, still. possess buildings and equipment - still operating in some cases - of an early industrial nature. To mention one example; at Ashbumham there is a small brickyard where rapidly vanishing hand-methods can still be seen. Up until a few years ago the pug-machine was horse-operated, and the kiln, said to date from 1836, is wood-fired, a fuel rarely used today. Soon this too will be closed.

Recognising the need to investigate industrial archaeology, the Sussex Archaeological Society and Worthing Museum appointed a representative and correspondent for these mattes in 1967. It was soon quite apparent that it was necessary to have a county-wide organisation in order to co-ordinate the growing interest, and thus this Study Group was formed on the 14th. October 1967 at a meeting held at the Royal Pavilion , Brighton. Mention should be made of the helpful advice given to the Secretary in the setting up of the Group by Mr. E.W. Holden, F.S.A.
As the Group has been in existence only a few months one hesitates to write of results. It does seem fair comment, nevertheless, that as a result of some exceptionally good publicity, both locally and nationally (the latter through the help of the Federation of Sussex Industries) that much valued information has already been acquired. Some emergency recording has been made which would have been impossible without the sort of contact an organised body such as this can provide.

Concerning the immediate future, it has become clear that of the items on our list requiring a record, a few do qualify for priority. It is therefore hoped that the surveys mentioned below will be started this Spring and Summer. if you feel able to participate you are asked to return the enclosed coupon, indicating the survey(s) with which you will be able to assist. Then a series of informal meetings for each survey will be arranged at mutually convenient points. Each survey will have its own co-ordinator who will take charge of the individual survey. Members have already offered to do this in some cases, and their names and addresses are added below.

The organising of these specific surveys does not mean that we are excluding an interest in all other items. Where possible, it is hoped that members will bear the other items in mind when engaged in field work, although these items will not form part of a systematic survey at the moment, unless desired. For by their experience and interest some members might feel they would rather help by initiating another survey, not listed below. Please do make suggestions. The main thing is to utilise people's generous offers of help to the full.

THE SURVEYS
Below is given some introductory information. More detail will be given at the individual survey meetings - to be announced when the coupons have been returned.
Power
A. Natural Power. that is machines operated by muscle, wind and water power. Within this section come some of the machines we know least about, the horse and donkey engines. In a chalk county the depth of the wells has meant that raising water by hand - windlass, or pump, has been a slow and arduous task. Hence the development of the donkey wheel. Three are known to survive in Sussex, at Saddlescombe, Stanmer and Friston. The horse gin, in which the horse turned the machinery by walking round a circular path, seems to have been the most common form of raising water before the coming of steam power and piped water. Recorded examples in Sussex date from the 18th. century at Stanmer, to one dated post 1877 preserved by Worthing Museum. Downland farms and mansions required water in very large quantities, which suggests that there are probably many more specimens than the five horse gins recorded. These are at Stanmer, Patcham, Patching, Danehilland Worthing Museum. 6" O.S. maps might give clues with the word 'pump'. Otherwise the only other method of locating this type of machinery is by personal conversation, as they are usually on private -property, and often locked away. Sometimes the horses were accommodated in purpose-built gin-houses; at Storrington is an eight-sided split-timber house once connected with the tanning industry, and at Arundel is a twelve-sided brick horse-house, formerly for linseed crushing. F.W. Gregory Esq.. 292 Dyke Road, Brighton, BNl 5BA, is the co-ordinator for this survey.
B. Fuel Power, that is steam engines and turbines, oil and petrol engines. Two compound beam engines by Easton and Anderson dated 1866 and 1876 have been recorded at the Goldstone Pumping Station, Hove, and are possibly the last surviving examples in the county. There appears to have been quite a number of horizontal steam engines in the area; one which is in daily use will be visited for recording purposes. At the Eastbourne Waste Disposal Works there are two semi-vertical steam engines built by Hughes and Lancaster in 1892, shortly to be removed.

The survey will generally attempt to trace the use of the stationary steam engine in the county, and find out when the first specimen was installed. Other aspects of engineering, such as gas works and electrical power generating stations, and their associated machinery, will also require attention. 6" O.S. maps are useful generally; the 1913 edition for Sussex indicates a number of private gas works on the larger estates, and other power plant that made them independent of the general supply.

The survey co-ordinators are F.G. Parker Esq. A.M. Inst. F„ A.M. Inst. Plant .E. Brighton College of Technology, Lewes Road, Brighton 7., and R. White Esq. 4 Argyll Court, Hampden Park, Eastbourne.

'A History of Technology' (Ed. Singer), 5 vols, (Oxford, 1954).

Tollhouses and Milestones
In 1820 there were 521 miles of turnpike roads in Sussex according to the Turnpike Trust Returns Register (East Sussex Record Office, QDT/EWl). The Parliamentary acts authorising the stopping up of roads with gates in the county range from 1710 to 1841. The former was the Sevenoaks-Tunbridge Wells section (its terminus then in Sussex), the latter the Cripps Corner - Hawkhurst section. Most of the turnpike trusts were wound up by the 1870's, the gates burnt, the tollhouses sometimes demolished as at Crabtree near Cowfold in 1878. Those remaining (and nearly all are in perilous positions in view of road widening) re-present the most substantial record of an extremely important stage in the history of highway administration. Most were very humble, with two principal rooms, a bedroom and a living room - such as the weather-boarded examples in the Worthing - Shoreham - Horsham triangle. The last surviving specimen of this type, dated 1807, has been removed from Upper Beeding, for re-erection at the Open Air Museum for the Weald and Downland. For this survey it is necessary to not only compile a photographic record, but wherever -owners give their consent, to make a simple plan to indicate the layout.

Milestones were at first erected voluntarily by the trusts, and compulsorily by an act of 1766. The finest series are the 'Bow Bells' milestones on the London - Eastbourne/Lewes roads. These are being recorded at the time of writing.

The co-ordinator is B. Austen Esq., B.A., 1 Mercedes Cottages, St. John's Road, Haywards Heath,
C. Cox and N. Surry, 'The Archaeology of Turnpike Roads, Journal of Industrial Archaeology, vol. 2, No. 1(1965)
Walter M. Stephen, 'Tollhouses of the greater Fife area', journal of Industrial Archaeology, vol.4, No. 3 (1967).This gives an idea of how to make a classification, and shows the use of simple plans.
Sidney and Beatrice Webb, 'The Story of the King's Highway'. 1913, reprinted by Frank Cass, 1963. Provides a detailed analysis of turnpike administration
lvan D. Margary, F.S.A., 'Development of Turnpike Roads in Sussex', Sussex Notes and Queries, vol. XIII, pp. 49 - 53 (1950).
L.G. Lane, 'Tollgates in Sussex', Sussex County Magazine, vol. X (1936).
E. Straker. 'Turnpike Trusts in East Sussex', Sussex County Magazine, vol.XI (1937) 
G. Pennethorne, 'Tollgates of Sussex', Sussex County Magazine, vol XIV (1940).

Railway Architecture
Much has already been photographed, but not necessarily in a systematic method, and certainly not on C.B.A. report cards. It is hoped that the architecture, and stationary machinery, e.g. cranes, can be recorded for each main and branch line from end to end.

In West Sussex are probably unusual survivals of original main line station architecture. Most main line stations have been so extended and modified that there is very little trace of the original nucleus. Lyminster and Woodgate for Bognor Stations (1846) were closed before modifications could take place, and remain virtually as they were when opened. They therefore represent some of the earliest railway architect-ure in the country. The early L. B.S.C.R. signal boxes stood on stilts with pasts for the semaphores passing through them. The last survivor was at Hardham junction, near Pulborough, which was removed last year. 

R.H. Clark. 'A Southern Region Chronology and Record', (Oakwood Press, 1964).
C.F. Dendy Marshall and R.W. Kidner, 'History of the Southern Railway', 2 vols. (Ian Allen, 1963). 
C. Hamilton Ellis, 'The London Brighton and South Coast Railway', (Ian Allen, 1960).

Warehouses
Some of the most forthright and vigorous architecture since the Industrial Revolution has been shown in the building of warehouses, with their powerful outlines, and emphasis on strength and utility. They are generally brick, with iron in window frames, window bars, support columns, cranes and hoists, and the characteristic tie-irons.

Whereas those of the north are grim and severe, it has been said that those in the south and east are much softer and less dogmatic, with more of an affinity to the traditions of Georgian architecture. Can this be maintained for those in Sussex?

J.M. Richards, 'The Functional Tradition'. (Architectural Press, 1958). There is a section 'Warehouses'. Richard Storey, 'Tie Plates', Journal of Industrial Archaeology, vol. 3, No. 4 (1966).

Breweries.
P.R. White Esq. , B.A., who has been studying some East Sussex breweries writes: The need to locate and record all the possible artefacts of the brewing industry- breweries, maltings, oasthouses - is an urgent one. Before the availability of a piped water supply - within living memory in many rural areas - its consumption was rather more than a social function. The upshot, as any Directory of a century ago will show, was that most centres of population of consequence would have a brewery, or brewhouse, prob-ably both.

The growth of communications, obvious economies of scale, and more lately mergers, have made the small brewery all but extinct. Thankfully, however, the buildings often have (or have had) a re-use value, and have survived. Some will disappear quite soon, and fieldwork, mainly in the western half of the county, is urgently necessary. Equipment is being collected and preserved for the Open Air Museum. There have been some very generous donations, which will be listed in the next Newsletter.

Mr. White is the co-ordinator for the survey, Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London, S.W.1,
P. Mathias. 'The Brewing Industry in England, 1700 - 1830' (Cambridge, 1959). J.M. Richards, op.cit. 

Kilns
This will be mainly concerned with brick, pottery and lime kilns. Most Wealden and coastal parishes had at least one brick kiln. Most were probably 'Scotch kilns' - the cheapest and simplest - as at Ashbumham. Their design will mean that there is a fair chance of survival. The up-draught cupola, with a conical chimney, will probably not have survived intact. Some are known to have been in the Poling - Rustington - East Preston area. The only recorded survival is at Piddinghoe. Perhaps the biggest brickworks in the later 19th. century was at Keymer Junction, Burgess Hill, with its own branch railway, steam powered machinery, 'model' cottages and school. Terra-cotta was developed here on an elaborate scale. Early brick-making equipment is being collected for the Open Air Museum.

Edward Dobson, 'A Rudimentary Treatise on the Manufacture of Bricks and Tiles', (Crossley Lockwood &Sons, 1921)
J. Geraint Jenkins, 'Traditional Country Craftsmen' (Rutledge & Kegan Paul, 1965). 
'Sussex Industries' (The Sussex Advertiser, n.d., pp. 75 - 83).

There are numerous limekilns, especially on the Downs. Many farms had their own. Some farmers developed this into a profitable side line, such as Thomas and Herbert Floate who sold lime from four kilns on Washington Bostal. The kilns survive intact, with their own wagon-loading bay. In 1808 Arthur Young commented that the Earl of Ashburnham was "the greatest lime-burner in the kingdom". In a valley near the centre of orchard Wood, Dallington Forest, there was a lime mine at the foot of an 80 foot shaft. There was an underground wagon-way, and a horse-gin for raising the barrels. The Earl shipped the lime from Hastings. Since the second half of the 19th century the two most important centres have been Amberley and Glynde. Two types of kiln will chiefly be distinguished: i, flare kilns in which there is a barrel-arched tunnel, and a chimney at one end. These were intermittent. ii, running kilns, for perpetual use. They are round, and filled through the open top, whilst the lime is taken out from the bottom. 

The co-ordinator is A.W. Rule Esq., Mill House, Westbourne, Emsworth, Hants.
Sussex Industries' op. cit., pp. 105 - 115. 
Arthur Young 'Agriculture of Sussex' (1808). pp. 202 -212.

Brighton and Hove
The history of Brighton and Hove has largely been seen in terms of its fashionable Regency development, and later growth as a seaside resort, to the extent that its trades and industries have been neglected. Although much visual evidence still remains today, it is increasingly threatened by re-development. The field work will be organised by dividing the map of the area into squares, from which systematic thoroughness should be ensured. There is much scope for investigation, and very little idea as to what will emerge. Recently a series of weather-boarded workshops of a carriage maker were located off Waterloo Street, Hove, complete with the hand-winch for raising carriages between floors. Directory references indicate that the site has been used for this work since at least 1839. They are soon to be demolished, and through the courtesy of the owners a record has been made.

Shoreham Harbour.
Through its natural position and Parliamentary legislation, the Port has been able to offer one of the finest sheltered harbour; between Kent and Cornwall. With its warehouses, wharfes, and machinery there still remains much evidence of its early days. The little Customs House (1880) and the lighthouse (1846) at Kingston, the store for the Norwegian ice-trade at the Baltic Wharf (c. 1880), and the steam crane (1929) with its own railway network on the western arm: such items will ultimately disappear. It is necessary to conduct a survey to determine exactly what does exist, and this will cover the area between Aldrington Basin and Shoreham Tollbridge. This will be on three lines: i, between the sea and the Canal/ River, ii, between the Canal/River and A. 259, iii, between A. 259 and the railway line.

The co-ordinator is J.A. Mudge Esq. , 50 Lustrells Vale, Saltdean, Brighton.

THE OPEN AIR MUSEUM FOR THE WEALD AND DOWNLAND.
A representative collection of buildings is being gathered for re-erection on the West Dean Estate, near Chichester. Buildings will range in date from the medieval to the 19th century, and there will be a section devoted to traditional crafts and industries. To this end we are wishing to co-operate by locating and preserving suitable equipment. The Study Group is working closely with this project. Its initiator, J.R. Armstrong Esq., M,A„ is a member of the Group, and the Group is represented on the Museum's Executive Committee. Further details may be had from Mr. Armstrong, Highover, Bracken Lane, Storrington.

INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERS, HISTORY OF TECHNOLOGY GROUP.
From its inception in 1965 the Group has paid regard to the documentation and preservation of historically interesting equipment within the electrical industry. Items are being preserved at the Science Museum. Reports of all items located in Sussex will be forwarded to this Group through:-

F.L. Veale Esq., C.Eng., F.I,E,E„ Cornerways, 54, Friston Avenue, Eastbourne.

WEALDEN IRON RESEARCH GROUP
This has been set up to re-assess Ernest Straker's 'Wealden Iron' (Bell, 1931). The joint convenors of the Group are Mr. H.F. Cleere, F.S.A. (of the Iron and Steel Institute) and Mr. D.W. Crossley (Sheffield University). The first objective will be to review the known iron workings, and then to excavate selected sites. It is hoped to publish the results of this work. Further information may be obtained from Mr. Cleere at 4, Grosvenor Gardens, London, S,W,1., or at little Bardown, Stonegate, Wadhurst.

WORTHING HISTORIC VEHICLES GROUP.
The Chairman has published details of our Group in their Newsletter in the likelihood that some of their members might help in making a survey of roadside-furniture, e.g. road-signs, water troughs, pumps and garages of the early motoring era. Whilst much attention has been given to the early vehicles them-selves, the associated static equipment necessary to keep them on the roads has not been studied. (The first hotel garage in the country was at Warnes Hotel, Worthing, established in 1899. It was demolished in 1947. Henfrey Smail, 'Coaching Times and After' (Aldridge Bros., 1948).

Their Group has been founded since 1962, concentrating on early commercial vehicles at first. Lately it has branched out to include all types of early road transport. With 160 members throughout the south-east, the Group owns nearly 100 vehicles. The Secretary is A.C. Regan Esq., 101, Sompting Road, Broadwater, Worthing.

West Sussex County Council
We are endeavouring to help the Council's recently formed Coast and Countryside Committee by passing on information of historic relics for a list of countryside treasures. The Council has kindly sent us information about property within their care which needs recording.

Eastbourne Corporation.
The Waste Disposal Works has two Hughes and Lancaster semi-vertical steam engines dated 1892. Although they must be removed sometime this year, the Corporation is most anxious to see them preserved. The Group is trying to put them in contact with a museum or body where this will be possible.

Bognor Urban District Council
The Council is probably one of the few authorities engaged in the restoration and maintenance of an ice house. The Hotham Estate specimen, c.1797, is now in very safe and enlightened keeping, and owes much to the vigilance of Gerard Young Esq., of Flansham. The Secretary has put information on Sussex ice houses at the disposal of the Council who are wishing the restoration to be as exact as possible. When the work is complete a full report will be given in a later Newsletter.

PERMANENCY OF PHOTOGRAPHIC RECORDS By Hilary Cripps, B.Sc.
When a photographic record is made of buildings, machinery or other objects of interest to industrial archaeologists, it may be assumed that the primary intention is that such records shall remain permanently available for future generations. Kodak Ltd. conveniently divide keeping quality into three degrees of permanence:

1. Short-term, where records are to last but a few years.
2. Moderate-term, up to a maximum of 25 years.
3. Archival permanence - possibly hundreds of years.

It is the third degree of permanence that is of greatest interest, but the fairly elaborate requirements are not readily available to the private individual. Such photographic records will normally consist of black and white negative and print materials (film and paper), photostat copies of drawings, and colour positives (transparencies) , together with colour negatives and prints. Many of the requirements for permanency are common to all these materials and among the more important precautions are the following:-

(a) Prints and negatives should be thoroughly fixed, and washed to the maker's instructions. Use of a hypo eliminator is worth consideration. A spot test for residual sulphur compounds should give a negative reaction. Black and white prints have greater permanence if toned
with selenium, sulphide or preferably gold.

(b) Storage should give protection from noxious gases, such as formaldehyde, hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide, ammonia, coal gas, car exhausts, mercury vapour, and turpentine and similar vapours. X-rays are also damaging.

(c) The relative humidity is important - possibly more so than temperature - and if possible should be in the range 40 - 60%, with temperatures not above 500 F.

(d) Mounted prints should be on best quality boards, dry mounted, and envelopes should be non-hygroscopic, with suitable adhesive.

Colour Materials.
It must be borne in mind that the colours are fugitive to some slight extent, and additionally to the above precautions, colour materials should be kept in the dark, and as clean and dust proof as possible. Transparences bound in glass are better protected. But damp must be avoided, and the edges sealed against its ingress. Glass also provides efficient physical protection. Colour materials should on no account be stored in the presence of insect repellent chemicals, such as paradichloro-benzene, or anti-mildew sub-stances such as paraformaldehyde, nor should they be exposed to solvents used, for example, in insecticidal or fungicidal sprays. Book lice and silverfish sometimes attack emulsions.

For most of the above information the writer is indebted to Messrs. Kodak Ltd., Kingsway, London, W.C.2. The subject is dealt with in far greater detail in their data sheets CL-4, (The Storage of Colour Materials): RF-6 (The Storage of Photographic Materials and Photographic Records): and FY-6 (Toning Formulae), all of which are obtainable without charge from the above address.

In the case of existing photographic records - particularly black and white - which have been processed by the ordinary commercial developing and printing houses, it is a little more difficult to decide on what,, if any, precautionary steps should be taken. Probably a close examination of the negatives from time to time is advisable, and if obvious staining or fading deterioration is apparent, a further period of fixing and a very thorough washing is indicated. Provided the original negatives are intact, faded prints can, of course, be reprinted, every care being taken.

How best to store and catalogue prints is probably best left to each individual's own ideas on filing and classification: in the case of negatives a suitable album with semi-transparent sleeves is not only essential for easy classification, but necessary for the physical protection of the irreplaceable and delicate negatives.

BLACK LION STREET BREWERY, BRIGHTON 
The site has been continuously occupied by a brewery since the mid-16th. century, 
and is being vacated, April 1968.
Photo: Brighton Herald

HAMMONDS CARRIAGE WORKS, 
Waterloo Street, Hove,
Early 19th. c.

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