Kearsley's Traveller's Entertaining Guide Through Great Britain (1803):
Brighthelmston was a poor town inhabited chiefly by fishermen; but having for some years past become a fashionable place of resort, on account of its convenience for bathing, it has been enlarged by many handsome new buildings. The Steine , a fine lawn between the town and the sea forms a beautiful and favourite resort for the company. Here Charles II embarked for France in 1651 after the battle of Worcester. Great flocks of sheep are fed on the neighbouring hills . This town is sometimes called Brighton. It is the station of the packet boats to and from Dieppe in time of peace . The prince of Wales has a bathing residence here.
Inns: Castle, Old Ship, New Ship, New Inn.
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