Where can I find information on the history of my property or area?
The below list of resources is not exhaustive, but may provide a useful start point for undertaking research to inform changes to your property ahead of a planning application. It will be added to when the council becomes aware of other relevant sources.
Brighton & Hove City Council is not responsible for the content of the external websites listed below.
Asset-specific documents
Conservation area character statements provide a summary of the special architectural and historic interest of the area. These documents should be the first point of reference for any proposal within a conservation area. They are also useful for listed buildings within a conservation area.
The designation documents for listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered parks and gardens are available on the Historic England website. These documents provide some information about the age, history and potentially the significance of the asset. However, please note that listed building descriptions are primarily for identification purposes only, and usually do not identify the extent of listing, the building’s significance nor which parts of the building are significant.
An assessment for each locally listed heritage asset is available online. This document provides a brief history of the site and indicates the reasons it is considered to be significant.
Where a site is within an archaeological notification area and involves any level of excavation, it would be useful to contact the County Archaeology Team and consult the HER.
Historic England’s Designation Selection Guides help explain what is considered important about different types of heritage asset, including different building types.
The Keep
The Keep is the archive centre for East Sussex, including Brighton & Hove. It contains many historic documents, maps and resources that can reveal much about the history and significance of an area or building. Resources at The Keep include:
- Maps
- Historic Planning and Building Control plans
- Deeds
- Street Directories
- Historic Photographs
- Local history books and multimedia.
Local history books are available for reference at The Keep and many local libraries, and to buy:
- Collis (2010) The New Encyclopaedia of Brighton. Brighton: Brighton & Hove Libraries. Based on a Carder (1990) The Encyclopaedia of Brighton. East Sussex: East Sussex County Libraries. Much of Carder’s original text is available on the My Brighton & Hove website (see below).
- Middleton (2001) Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
- Antram and Morrice (2008) Brighton and Hove Pevsner Architectural Guide covers the centre of the city
- Antram and Pevsner (2013) Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove covers the wider city as well as the central area
- A wide number of books on specific themes or neighbourhoods
Browse The Keep website for more information and for how to visit.
Online resources
There are also many online resources which can be useful. These include:
- The James Gray Collection – searchable collection of historic photographs of Brighton & Hove
- Brighton & Hove Royal Pavilion & Museums - photographic collection and topographic prints
- My House My Street – collaborative, community-based project providing information on Brighton & Hove’s historic homes and streets. Includes search facility for historic Street Directories, occupancy data and local street histories.
- My Brighton and Hove – community-based website providing information on a range of topics, including reproduction of the text from Carder’s Encyclopaedia of Brighton, and some historic photographs
- Hove in the Past – Blog by local historian Judy Middleton
- Portslade in the Past - Blog by local historian Judy Middleton
National and Local amenity society and group websites may also include information relevant to the local area:
Return to Heritage Statements: What is known about the affected heritage assets?
Return to Heritage Statements