The Lanes are an ancient part of Brighton (the original town of Brighthelmstone). The buildings in these narrow streets and "twittens" date back to the 16th and 17th centuries. After the village was burnt to the ground by French invaders in the 16th century it was rebuilt along the same streets. The town was bordered by three roads - West Street, East Street and North Street covering an area approximately one square mile. At one time roads including a South Street were discovered under the shingle beach. This lower part of the town had been destroyed during storms in the 15th century.

Market Street


This area, now known as the The Lanes is mainly jewellery and gift shops and cafes and bars. Although some of the buildings have been modernised or replaced, the narrow streets give us a good idea of what medieval Brighton was like.

A visit to the henge on a cold, blustery Spring day

A narrow street in Ilfracombe

One of the old public taverns dating back to the thirteenth century

A walk through a narrow street - and yes, cars are allowed!

The harbour sands

Discovered on the sand dunes
The old oratory of St Piran, an important early Celtic monastery which became one of the foremost places of pilgrimage in mediaeval Cornwall (the shrine contained the relics of St Piran along with the teeth of St Brendan and St Martin), became overwhelmed by sand sometime before 1500.

Following its excavation in the last century, it had to be reburied in 1981 to protect the structure and the site is now marked by a memorial stone. Nearby are the ruined walls of the Norman parish church (built c. 1150) which in turn had to be abandoned to the sand in 1804. Beside it is a fine cross which may be the one recorded as a boundary point in a tenth-century charter.

Ruined walls of the Norman Parish Church

A view of Perranporth along the coastline

The castle that is not a castle!