Marlipins Museum

We are willing to bet very few people who set foot in the West Sussex seaside town of Shoreham-by-Sea have any idea that they are standing in the birthplace of the silent movie. Where most people would assume the cradle of movie-making was Hollywood, it is actually this unassuming little spot on the south coast that saw American film camera inventor William Kennedy Laurie Dickson create one of the first ever films – footage of a lifeboat crew heaving a boat into the water. This amazing story is told in the Marlipins Museum in Shoreham-by-Sea by way of old photographs and makes for a fascinating hour or so. Another unlikely local industry detailed in the museum is that of Shoreham airport, set up after Harold Piffard decided on the area to set up business back in 1910 - and still a thriving departure point to this day. The first recorded cargo flight left from the airport in 1911 when Horatio Barber departed on his Valkyrie monoplane for nearby Hove. Do take time out to visit this striking museum (a former customs house) – you can't miss its lovely chequerboard flint and Caen limestone façade which fronts one of the oldest Norman buildings in Sussex.