Bricks in west sussex

A larder cupboard made from bricks

Years ago before we had fridges and freezers, most homes had larder cupboards that kept their drinks and perishable foods fresh and cool.

These larder cupboards were nearly always situated on an outside wall with one or more air vents in the wall at the back of the cupboard. The wall next to an alleyway was also a favourite spot.

These brick built larder cupboards would keep their contents surprisingly cold for quite some time, even when the weather was relatively warm.

With the majority of homes having modern fridges and freezers now, these larders were often demolished, but more and more people are building them out of bricks as they simply can’t fit all of their cold food in the fridge.

Bricks are the natural choice

Bricks are made from natural products such as sand and clay and are great at keeping a constant temperature within the larder cupboard. A regular MDF, chipboard or wooden cupboard can become very hot, causing the food and drinks inside to heat up and possibly spoil.

Bricks are better thermal blockers and are strong enough to take the load of reinforced concrete shelves, that will also help to keep the contents cool.

From stone age to the Saxons in West Sussex

Although the name Sussex, derived from the Old English ‘Suþseaxe’, meaning South Saxons, dates from the Saxon period between AD 477 to 1066, the history of human habitation in Sussex goes back to the Old Stone Age. The oldest human like remains known in Britain were found at Eartham Pit, Boxgrove. Sussex has been occupied since those times and has succumbed to various invasions and migrations throughout its long history. Prehistoric monuments include the Devil’s Jumps, a group of Bronze Age burial mounds, and the Iron Age Cissbury Ring and Chanctonbury Ring hill forts on the South Downs.

Roman activity in West Sussex

The Roman period saw the building of Fishbourne Roman Palace and rural villas such as Bignor Roman Villa together with a network of roads including Stane Street, the Chichester to Silchester Way and the Sussex Greensand Way. The Romans used the Weald for iron production on a large, industrial scale.

The foundation of West Sussex is recorded by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year AD 477; it states that Ælle arrived at a place called Cymenshore in three ships with his three sons and killed the local inhabitants of West Sussex. The foundation story is regarded as a bit of a myth by most historians, although the archaeology suggests that Saxons did start to settle in the area in the late 5th century. The Kingdom of Sussex was absorbed into Wessex as an earldom and became the county of Sussex, then being separated into east and West Sussex.

West Sussex: From Kingdom to County

With its origins in the kingdom of Sussex, the later county of Sussex was traditionally divided into six units known as rapes. By the 16th century, the three western rapes were grouped together informally, having their own separate Quarter Sessions. These were administered by a separate county council from 1888, the county of Sussex being divided for administrative purposes into the administrative counties of East and West Sussex. In 1974, West Sussex was made a single ceremonial county with the coming into force of the Local Government Act 1972. At the same time a large part of the eastern rape of Lewes, the Mid Sussex district which includes the towns of Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and East Grinstead, was transferred into West Sussex.