Lewes History Group

Eastbourne Borough and Lewes District Councils have compiled a 24-page booklet to celebrate the centenary of the Addison Act, which started large scale building of social housing in the UK.

Dr Christopher Addison recognised that good quality housing had a direct link to health and wellbeing. He guided the Housing and Town Planning Act through Parliament, paving the way for funding to councils to build 500,000 homes over three years.

The booklet includes material from Lewes History Group street stories on the Nevill, and also local residents’ personal memories of housing in Lewes district and Eastbourne from years past, their views on how it has changed, and stories of its significance in people’s lives.

Download the booklet from this page

For more on the history of the Nevill Estate, and photos, memories, and cuttings, click on Yes, the Nevill does have a history!

Aerial photo of the second part of the Nevill Downs Estate under construction in the mid-1930s. Image supplied by Robert Cheesman from www.britainfromabove.org.uk

While the National Archives at Kew is closed to visitors during the Covid-19 pandemic, it is making some digitised records available via its website free of charge during the period of closure. Normally the charge is £3.50 per record.

Registered users will be able to order and download up to ten items at a time, to a maximum of 50 items over 30 days.

You will be able to download records digitised by the National Archives via its online catalogue. These include:

• First and Second World War records, including medal index cards
• Military records, including unit war diaries
• Royal and Merchant Navy records, including Royal Marine service records
• Wills from the jurisdiction of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
• Migration records, including aliens’ registration cards and naturalisation case papers
• 20th century Cabinet Papers and Security Service files
• Domesday Book

See the full details on their website

Jane has been enjoying  an online FutureLearn course on the History of Royal Fashion, and thought our members and followers might also find some of their courses interesting, especially now when we are shut in at home.

FutureLearn is run by the Open University and partners, and offers short courses on many subjects including British History, taught by historians from leading UK universities.

The topics on offer span the history and heritage of our textile, mining, or railway industries, of public health in Britain, womens’ rights and suffrage, through to how to read and interpret manuscripts.

Have a look!