Medieval

Edward II's charter in 1313 permitted a market to be held in the town each Thursday and a fair lasting three days at the feast of St Bartholomew (24 August).

The town was bounded by West Street, North Street, East Street and the sea and developed both as a farming and a fishing community. Near where Ship Street now stands was an area known as the Hempshares where hemp for ropes was grown.

Life was hard in medieval Brighton and in the fourteenth century the parish managed to avoid paying taxes on the grounds of poverty and crop failure.

• 1288 - Hove is first mentioned in historical records
• 1313 - Edward II awards a charter to the town of Bristelmestune (Brighton)