Editing Hove (section)

===18th century===
In 1723 a traveller, the antiquary [[John Warburton (officer of arms)|John Warburton]], wrote, 'I passed through a ruinous village called Hove which the sea is daily eating up and is in a fair way of being quite deserted; but the church being quite large and a good distance from the shore may perhaps escape'.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sussexhistory.co.uk/sussex-coast/sussex-coast%20-%200284.htm |title=THE SUSSEX COAST |access-date=8 December 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151210200159/http://www.sussexhistory.co.uk/sussex-coast/sussex-coast%20-%200284.htm |archive-date=10 December 2015  }}</ref> Nevertheless, in around 1702 The Ship Inn had been built at the seaward end of the main street, and was therefore vulnerable to erosion of the coast.

In 1724, [[Daniel Defoe]] wrote in reference to the south coast, 'I do not find they have any foreign commerce, except it be what we call smuggling and roguing; which I may say, is the reigning commerce of all this part of the English coast, from the mouth of the Thames to the [[Land's End]] in [[Cornwall]]."<ref>Defoe, Daniel (1724). ''A Tour Thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain: Letter III''. London.</ref>

The fertile coastal plain west of the Brighton boundary had significant deposits of [[brickearth]] and by c.1770 a brickfield had been established on the site of what would become Brunswick Square. Later, other brickfields were established further west, remaining until displaced by housing development.