New images from the world’s oldest photographic studio have been released with the launch of an online audio visual tour which allows people to explore more than 150 images showing life in Lewes, East Sussex, during the First World War with a commentary from period newspaper reports, letters and memories. Brigitte Lardinois, Senior Research Fellow […]
Verity Standen’s Refrain was an immersive, choral experience performed at Newhaven Fort. Refrain was inspired by the story of conscientious objectors at Richmond Castle and was developed for sites of specific historic importance for conscientious objectors during the First World War. As part of its tour Refrain was performed at Newhaven Fort from 9-11 June […]
Fabrica, in partnership with Strike A Light and Brighton & Hove Library Services, ran a two-year Heritage Lottery Funded project, The Boys on the Plaque, in Brighton & Hove. The project highlighted a recently uncovered WWI memorial plaque situated in the former Holy Trinity Church which houses Fabrica gallery. Supported by a team of archivists, […]
On 4 August 2017, the East Sussex WW1 project celebrated its third anniversary. Here we look back upon the third year of the project. We launched our website on 4 August 2014 (to coincide with the centenary of the start of the First World War) and, in the first and second years of the East […]
Lee Banner, Policy Officer at East Sussex County Council and the Project Manager for East Sussex WW1 reflects on its evolution. In late 2013, we took a blank piece of paper and on it we wrote “project to commemorate the centenary of World War 1 in East Sussex”. From these simple beginnings, the project has […]
On 31st July 1917, the British army launched an attack against German positions near Ypres. This attack, though officially the Third Battle of Ypres, became known as the Battle of Passchendaele, after one of the villages in which the battle was fought. It has come to define many of the modern views of the First […]
On 15th July 1917, a fire devastated Hastings Pier. 100 years on, we’re commemorating the centenary with a selection of new Kieron Pelling ‘Then and Now’ images of Hastings Pier. First opened in 1872, Hastings Pier was an important focal point for the seaside town. It was designed by Eugenius Birch who, as a noted seaside architect, […]
Did you know that American soldiers first began arriving in France on 26th June 1917, to fight in the First World War? Although the plot orchestrated earlier in the year by German Foreign Secretary Arthur Zimmerman to pit Mexico against America had spectacularly failed to keep the United States out of the conflict, America’s declaration of war […]
When war was announced in 1914, significant efforts were made by the British Government, businesses and community organisations to recruit volunteers to the army. Sources from the University of Sussex’s Mass Observations archive, held at The Keep, provide an insight into attitudes towards compulsory conscription, which was introduced mid-way through WW1 to enlist the vast […]
The outbreak of the First World War brought about many changes to life on the home front, including a long-lasting impact on the serving of alcoholic beverages. Public houses and beer had been a staple of British social and socialising life in the years before the First World War. During the Victorian era many pubs […]
