Brewing in West Sussex

Beer originated in the Middle East about 8000 BC and took another three-and-a-half millennia to arrive across the Channel in Britain. In sixth-century Sussex – the kingdom of the South Saxons – social life centred upon the alehouse. Throughout the Middle Ages, brewing remained a domestic occupation: beer was sweet, and flavoured with herbs and spices. By 1600, when Henry Stanton was brewing in Cra...