900 Years - A Journey Through Time: Brazen Souls

About

The "900 Years: A Journey Through Time" project was started by musician Mike Flood in 2019, to celebrate the 900th anniversary of St. Michael's Church, Newhaven, in 2020.

A key part of the project, Brazen Souls is a short film telling the story of the HMS Brazen, which was wrecked just off the coast of Newhaven on 26th January 1800. All the crew (over 100 of them) died, except one man. A non-swimmer, he clung to some floating wreckage and was picked-up by two men, who had been lowered in a cage from the clifftop. As a result of this tragedy, and funded partially by contributions from the people of Newhaven, one of the first lifeboats in England was established in the town, in 1803, some 20-or-so years before the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) was formed (in 1824).

This short film, 'Brazen Souls', is a re-telling of the event from the point of view of Louisa Hanson, the young wife of the ship's captain, James Hanson. The sea sounds, that open and close the film, were recorded on Newhaven’s West Beach, within sight of where the Brazen sank.

On the 4th December 2020, after the film premiered on Facebook and YouTube, the Cast & Crew did a live Q&A session, which you can watch on the link to the right.

You can watch the film via the link below