Seaford, Sussex

Historical Description

Seaford, a small town and a parish in Sussex. The town stands on the coast, with a station on the L.B. & S.C.R., 59 miles from London. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office. Acreage of parish, 2347; population, 1991. The town had anciently a harbour at the original outlet of the Ouse, which afterwards was diverted to Newhaven; was possibly the Masr-cryd or Mercredesbum of dia's battle in 485; was the landing-place in 1058 of the monk Balger, who figured much in ecclesiastical history; suffered severe attacks by the French in the time of Edward III. and in 1545; was at one time so devastated by " the black death" as to be threatened with extinction; had anciently five churches and chapels, and a lepers' hospital; took rank at an early period as a member of the Cinque port of Hastings; went into decadence as a place of trade by the silting up and closing of its harbour; sent two members to Parliament in the times of Edward I., Edward II., Edward III., Richard II., and Edward IV., and always from the time of Charles I. till disfranchised by the Reform Act of 1832. It was governed till 1886, under a charter of Henry VIII., by a bailiff, twelve jurats, and other officers, but now has a district council of nine members. It gives the title of Baron to the family of Ellis. It is now a quiet sea-bathing resort, and has some large and excellent hotels and boarding establishments, a town-hall, a police station, almshouses, and other charities. A convalescent home for Surrey was opened in 1892. It was erected at a cost of £15,000 by an anonymous donor, who also gave £10,000 towards the endowment fund. There is also the seaside home, one of the first of its kind in England. A sea encurvature or bay has very deep water, a roadstead gives shelter to ships in easterly gales, and lofty cliffs flank the shore. Some fishing is carried on, mackerel are sometimes taken in large quantities, and fine prawns are caught among the rocks. The living is a vicarage, united with Sutton, in the diocese of Chichester; net value, £232 with residence. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. The church is an ancient structure of flint and stone in the Early English style, and contains some stained memorial windows and a good peal of bells. It was well restored in 1887. There is a Congregational chapel, and a Wesleyan chapel was erected in 1894. A sea-wall extending for a distance of 3600 feet, with a carriage way 70 feet wide, was built in 1881-82. The air of Seaford is remarkably bracing. Remains of a large Roman camp are on the heights, and a fort in ruins and martello tower are on the beach.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Seaford from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Seaford (St. Leonard))

Maps

Online maps of Seaford are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Sussex newspapers online:

• Mid Sussex Times
• Chichester Express and West Sussex Journal
• Sussex Agricultural Express
• Hastings and St Leonards Observer
• Sussex Advertiser
• Brighton Gazette
• Bexhill-on-Sea Observer