From 1545 to 1586 Brighthelmstone lived in peace; but when rumours of the Spanish Armada, which was in preparation, began to be bruited about, the town's folk had a scare, for a fleet of fifty vessels were descried off the town, apparently waiting for a favourable opportunity of landing. The terrified inhabitants lit the beacons, and sent off, post haste, to Lord Buckhurst, the Lord Lieutenant of the county, for assistance and protection. His lordship immediately attended with as many armed men as he could hurriedly muster, and posted them on the brow of the cliff between Brighthelmstone and Rottingdean, so that he might oppose the enemy should they try to land at either place. During the ensuing night, his force increased to the number of 1,600 men, and a considerable number of Kentish men were on their march to join him. However, when morning dawned, the ships were still there, but no one on board seemed to show any disposition to land; so a few boats belonging to the town plucked up heart of grace, and ventured out a little way to reconnoitre this fleet, when they discovered, to their very great joy, that it only consisted of Dutch merchantmen, laden with Spanish wines, detained in the Channel by contrary winds! But at the end of July, 1558, when the Armada was an accomplished fact, Brighthelmstone went to work in earnest to defend itself; and they then had in the town belonging to the Government, six pieces of great iron ordnance and ten 'qualivers.'[14] Luckily, they were not needed, and after the memorable storms of 1703 and 1705 the sea so encroached, that the _Blockhouse_ and Gun Garden, together with the walls and gates, were sapped, and finally disappeared through stress of weather. [Illustration: Decorative motif] FOOTNOTES: [1] Census, 1891. [2] Earl of Surrey, son-in-law of William the Conqueror. [3] A hide is an indeterminate quantity of land, varying from 20 to 4,000 acres. Eyton says it was a fiscal value, and not a superficial quantity. [4] As much land as eight oxen could plough in a season--80 to 144 acres. [5] Peasants, not serfs. [6] Lord Coke says they were 'Boors holding a little house, with some land of husbandry, bigger than a cottage.' [7] Manor. [8] A perch of 16½ feet, or 5½ square yards. [9] Haga was a house in a city or borough--some think a shop. [10] Eight oxen. [11] 'Ancient and Modern History of Lewes and Brighthelmstone,' etc., printed for W. Lee, the editor and proprietor, Lewes, 1795, p. 458. [12] A foist was a light galley, a vessel propelled both by oars and sails. [13] Heavy ordnance, which, in the fifteenth century, could carry stone balls of 200 lb. weight. [14] Or caliver, a kind of harquebuse or musket--the lightest firearm, except the pistol, and it was used without a rest. [Illustration: Decorative panel] CHAPTER II.