Wellesbourne, Brighton

Brighton's old town lies on the Sussex coastal plain, but immediately behind this is the southern face of the South Downs, of thick and permeable chalk, overlaid on clay.

The slopes of the Downs have several steep-sided valleys (combes);[3] the two longest and most important run, respectively, southwestwards for about 4 miles (6.4 km) from Falmer and due south for the same distance from Patcham.

[2] The earliest part of the village of Brighton (originally named Bristelmestune) developed in the Saxon era on a small area of high ground, The Knab, on the west bank of the Wellesbourne close to its mouth.

Only when Brighton became a fashionable seaside resort in the late 18th century did this change: the southern part of Valley Gardens (present-day Old Steine) became the most popular area for promenading and socialising, and to improve the conditions the Prince of Wales and George Spencer, 4th Duke of Marlborough paid for the Wellesbourne to be culverted.

[2][1] After prolonged heavy rain the water table can rise to the surface in places along the London Road valley, though, "giving the appearance of an invisible stream".

The culvert constructed for the Wellesbourne in 1827–28 was underneath it, and only when the site was cleared was it realised that the ground could not support the weight of 30 trams and a new building.

Historian Antony Dale noted that unnamed antiquaries had suggested an Old English word "brist" or "briz", meaning "divided", could have contributed the first part of the historic name Bristelmestune.