Celebrating our collections dating from 780AD to the present day
Welcome back to a special festive edition of West Sussex Unwrapped! Watch Screen Archive South East's wonderful film footage featuring the Williams family of East Grinstead on Christmas Day, 1967-1970. Then discover more about West Sussex Christmases gone by through a multitude of festive records from the archives. Christmas on Film Family Christmas in East…
By Jo McConville, Transatlantic Ties project archivist. You can read more on the TT project here. For a long time, I didn’t really ‘get’ Thanksgiving. Perhaps not so surprising, given that it’s such a distinctively American holiday which doesn’t register on our British calendars. My main exposure to it came during my 1990s Friends obsession,…
Continue reading ➞ Thanksgiving: A Transatlantic Ties update
By Nichola Court, Archivst A few weeks ago, a series of remarkable photographs cropped up in some of my social media feeds. Dating from the 1840s, the photographs captured the inhabitants of Horsham and their surrounds and were taken by Captain Thomas Honywood, a local man with a keen interest in archaeology as well as…
Continue reading ➞ A Mystery Snapper’s Sojourns Through Sussex
By Tim Hudson (guest blogger) What types of historic documents do architectural historians use? Continuing with our guest written series, the once Editor of the Sussex Victoria County History and co author of the updated Pevsner guide to West Sussex, Tim Hudson, will be exploring the types of records used when researching built heritage. Each…
Continue reading ➞ Historic records and architectural histories: Estate Brochures
By Alan Readman and Martin Hayes The Battle of Britain, fought mainly in the skies above Sussex and Kent, took place between July and October 1940 and this month marks its 80th anniversary. September 15th has been designated Battle of Britain Day to commemorate RAF Fighter Command’s decisive victory over the German Luftwaffe. Key events…
Continue reading ➞ West Sussex Airfields and the Battle of Britain 1940
We have reached the final week (for now...) of Sussex Unwrapped! It is the turn of Chichester this week, and we thought it would be a great idea to run through the centuries to sum up the history of Chichester as a a market town and cathedral city. Let's see what has changed shall we?…
Continue reading ➞ West Sussex Unwrapped Week 10: Chichester
Britain's pioneering work on establishing the railway network has long been a source of national pride. Rail travel has impacted many different aspects of West Sussex life; from transporting post and essential goods across the South Downs, to popularising seaside holidays, the county has a deep and rich connection to the railways. Railways on film…
Continue reading ➞ West Sussex Unwrapped Week 9: The Railways
By Tim Hudson (guest blogger) What types of historic documents do architectural historians use? Continuing with our guest written series, the once Editor of the Sussex Victoria County History and co author of the updated Pevsner guide to West Sussex, Tim Hudson, will be exploring the types of records used when researching built heritage. Each…
Continue reading ➞ Historic records and architectural histories: Faculties
You may know Shippam's as the purveyors of meat and fish pastes which are sold in supermarkets to this day. They carry a strong nostalgic connection to those who grew up enjoying their products. The company has always had very close ties with Chichester, and had brilliant marketing to help them dominate the market. This…
John Smith PH 10/56 - View of South Harting from Petersfield Road It's difficult to look at old photos of the countryside and not get nostalgic. Even for city dwellers, images like blackberry picking are only associated with happy, warm days in the open air. Country life has certainly changed over the past century, so…
Continue reading ➞ West Sussex Unwrapped Week 7: Country Life
West Sussex Record Office 