A 19th century painting by William Earp showing a
view along Brighton seafront
Fishing
'I'm going out tonight if it blows the stars out the sky!' Catching Stories, QueenSpark Books
Brighton was once the most important fishing town in Sussex. Four out of five men were fishermen. Brighton's fleet fished as far away as Yarmouth and Scarborough. Throughout the 1600s, its cargo boats carried coal from Newcastle to London.
Fishing families lived under the cliffs on Brighton's seafront in an area stretching over half a mile from the Steine to Hove. This land was gradually eroded. In 1705, a ferocious storm buried the houses in pebbles15 feet deep (4.5 metres).
As Brighton became fashionable, fishing suffered. Regency aristocrats banned the fishermen from drying nets on the Steine. Victorian day-trippers drove up prices on the seafront. The railway brought fish from the North Sea that was cheaper than the local catch. In the 1960s, Brighton Corporation banned the fish market on the beach, moving it inland.
Today, fishermen can again sell seafood on the beach, opposite the Fishing Museum by Brighton Pier.
Back to top