£40, all day

Led by Dr Sue Berry. A day in Lewes, exploring a changing provincial centre and market town which still has many facades of the period, but nothing showy or elaborate. This was a town which, in the Georgian period was updated mainly by refacing houses and investing more in the churches, chapels and business. And finally the town hall, which is now the Law Courts.

The day will start with a talk about how the town evolved during the eighteenth century which concentrates on where development took place and why, and on the revamping and building of churches and chapels.

We will then explore the western end of the town, on the ridge where our lecture room is and look and how it changed and why and go down to the prosperous suburb of Southover.  Thus, she will see where most of the bigger houses were erected.  After lunch (taken independently) we will explore the lower lying part of the town, known as Cliffe which became a network of small homes, businesses and beer shops and subject to arrangement access a very fine and little known ‘preaching box’ chapel of our period.

The day will run from 10am until 4pm.

Members to make their own arrangements for lunch and transport. This visit is for Georgian Group members only.

Dr Sue Berry FSA, FRHistS has been studying the history of Georgian seaside resorts for some time. Her articles about Brighton are mainly in the Journal of the Georgian Group, and the Collections of the Sussex Archeological Society. Many can down be downloaded free via the sites of both organisations. She is currently looking at how the economies functioned and just how different they were from other Georgian towns.  She lectures, mainly nowadays on Zoom – a wonderful means of access audiences who might otherwise not easily hear talks about research into our past.

If tickets have sold out for this event, please email members@georgiangroup.org.uk to be added to the waiting list.