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Books > Sussex A Century Ago Photographic Memories
Alfriston, the Street 1891 (ref. 28393) | The tour moves south-west to Alfriston, situated in the River Cuckmere valley where the river cuts through the South
Downs chalk. The village is well-known for the National Trust-owned Clergy House, which was in fact the very first
building the Trust acquired: it bought the house in 1896 for the princely sum of £10. The jettied building on the left
is the Star Inn, whose 15th-century timbers were exposed after this view was taken during a careful restoration of the
building. By Victorian times the village's smuggling days were over.
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Battle, Church 1890 (ref. 25388) | Battle is, of course, best known for the remains of its medieval abbey founded by William the Conqueror on the site
of his victory over King Harold in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings. The town itself is a fine one, with many good timber-
framed, stone and brick houses. The church of St Mary on the north side of the road opposite the Abbey has traces
of its Norman origins; it is mostly Early English and Decorated Gothic, but was heavily restored by the Victorians.
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Beachy Head, 1903 (ref. 50413) | Between Seaford and Eastbourne the South Downs reach the sea in spectacular style with chalk cliffs rising sheer over
500 feet from the sea. Far below is the lighthouse, 153 feet high but dwarfed by the majesty of these cliffs. The
lighthouse with its red and white bands was opened in 1902, the year before this view was taken, and was a major
engineering feat that took three years to complete. It ceased to be manned in 1983.
Francis Frith's Sussex A Century Ago
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Bexhill-On-Sea, West Parade 1904 (ref. 52893) | Like Eastbourne, there was an old town up the hill, and like Eastbourne, Bexhill as a seaside resort is Victorian, but
even later in starting. The local landowner, Lord De La Warr, started developing the land between the old town and
the sea only in 1885, and the long seafront terraces shade from ornate High Victorian to Dutch gabled brick styles.
It never acquired a pier. Here is the clocktower, now jauntily painted, but the Moorish shelter, so characteristic of
Victorian seaside architecture, has now been rebuilt.
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Brighton, the Royal Pavilion 1889 (ref. 22244) | The centrepiece of Brighton was and remains the extraordinary Pavilion or seaside palace. Built as a farmhouse, then
a classical villa, it was finally transformed by John Nash into this romantic Hindoo, Mahometan fantasy bedecked with
domes and minarets between 1813 and 1822 for the Prince Regent who became George IV in 1820. Brighton boomed
during the Prince's long association with the town, but in 1846 Parliament voted to sell the Pavilion. Fortunately the
town bought it and it survives.
Seaside and Coastal Sussex: From Bosham to Rye
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Brighton, the Beach 1902 (ref. 48503) | The centrepiece of Brighton was and remains the extraordinary Pavilion or seaside palace. Built as a farmhouse, then
a classical villa, it was finally transformed by John Nash into this romantic Hindoo, Mahometan fantasy bedecked with
domes and minarets between 1813 and 1822 for the Prince Regent who became George IV in 1820. Brighton boomed
during the Prince's long association with the town, but in 1846 Parliament voted to sell the Pavilion. Fortunately the
town bought it and it survives.
Seaside and Coastal Sussex: From Bosham to Rye
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Brighton, West Pier 1894 (ref. 33718) | Brighton is the biggest and most lively and cosmopolitan of the Sussex resorts. The sea bathing and taking of salt
water cures laid the foundations for the town's growth after 1750. After the Prince of Wales, later the Prince Regent,
arrived, the town was established as a fashionable and lively resort. It eventually had two piers. This view shows the
West Pier, now sadly derelict, in its heyday. It opened in 1866 and later was extended in 1890. The entrance pavilion
on the left survives as the Old Brighton Rock and Candy Shoppe.
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Brighton, the Parade 1894 (ref. 33719) | As we look toward West Pier from the west, we see the landward pavilion at the right, then the tower of the Metropole
to its left. Nearer the camera are a range of somewhat disparate stucco fronts. The 1860s ones on the left survive, but
the next block with its elegant Ionic columns has been replaced by the modern Hilton West Pier Hotel. The lower
buildings in front of the Metropole flank Regency Square which was laid out in 1818 and is now host to an
underground car park.
Francis Frith's Sussex A Century Ago
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Brighton, a Tram in Queen's Road c1902 (ref. B2085007) | As we look toward West Pier from the west, we see the landward pavilion at the right, then the tower of the Metropole
to its left. Nearer the camera are a range of somewhat disparate stucco fronts. The 1860s ones on the left survive, but
the next block with its elegant Ionic columns has been replaced by the modern Hilton West Pier Hotel. The lower
buildings in front of the Metropole flank Regency Square which was laid out in 1818 and is now host to an
underground car park.
Francis Frith's Sussex A Century Ago
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Brighton, the Fountain 1889 (ref. 22351) | The Steine, originally marshy ground, became the focus of early Brighton development as houses were built for the
fashionable visitors. The Pavilion fronted the Steine, and on the east side opposite are some excellent late 18th-century
houses amid taller Victorian ones, but mostly single houses rather than terraces; the bow fronts are earlier than the
canted bay windows. The centrepiece of Old Steine, the southern end, is the Victoria Fountain, an elaborate cast iron
fountain supported on three intertwined dolphins, placed here by Henry Wilds in 1846 and restored in 1994.
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Brighton, Tramway Construction c1900 (ref. B208004) | These workmen are seen here excavating for the tramway track in York Place, the northern extension of the Steine
beyond Grand Parade. Behind them are typical bow-fronted houses with their first-floor Waterloo balconies, now
removed and the brickwork painted. The wall advertisement for R Fry and Co is on the corner of Trafalgar Street,
which gives some idea of when the road was laid out.
Francis Frith's Sussex A Century Ago
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Brighton, Ditching Road Training College 1891 (ref. 29359) | Built as a teacher training college, this austere and hard-edged flint building was designed by George Gilbert Scott
in 1848 when in his thirties: it is an academic and unlovable building, now a little mellowed by time. It later became
part of Brighton College; Scott also designed its headmaster's house and chapel in the 1850s.
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Brighton, Devil's Dyke 1894 (ref. 33765) | The Devil's Dyke was immensely popular with visitors to Brighton, who relished the fresh air and the long views across
the Weald. The legend is that the Dyke was dug by the Devil in the hope, for unspecified reasons, that the sea would
rush through to flood the Weald. Here the photographer looks north-west from near the hillfort that occupies the crest
of the ridge, towards Poynings village and the scarp of the South Downs beyond at North Hill and Newtimber Hill.
Seaside and Coastal Sussex: From Bosham to Rye
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Buxted, Park Church 1902 (ref. 48213) | Buxted Park is north-east of Uckfield; the medieval parish church, dedicated to St Margaret of Scotland, a rare
dedication, sits in isolation in the park near the mansion, Buxted Place. The Georgian house was mostly destroyed
by fire in 1940, and was largely rebuilt with two instead of three storeys. The church has no accompanying village, for
Lord Liverpool, who owned the estate in the 1830s, eventually succeeded in removing the village in the interests of
his privacy, rebuilding it near the railway station.
A Tour of Central and East Sussex
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Crowborough, All Saints Church and Vicarage 1900 (ref. 44930) | Further north-east we reach Crowborough, a village that became a health resort in the 1870s when Lord Abergavenny
followed the advice of a Dr Prince. Situated on the eastern edge of the beautiful Ashdown Forest, the town is now a
commuter settlement. Here the photographer looks across the village green; the Vicarage, on the right, was built by
Sir Henry Fermor in 1744, and the church, on the left, was mostly enlarged in Venetian and Italianate styles for Lord
Abergavenny in the 1880s.
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East Blatchington, Church 1891 (ref. 28389) | East Blatchington village has changed radically since this view was taken. St Peter's Church is still there. The field in
the foreground, with its flint wall, lies to the south of East Blatchington Farm; the view looks south down Blatchington
Hill, the village main street, with Belgrave Road passing in front of the church. The church was substantially restored
in the 19th century, and the boiler flue climbing over the roof is testimony to one of the improvements made for the
comfort of Victorian parishioners.
Francis Frith's Sussex A Century Ago
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East Blatchington, the Village 1906 (ref. 55668) | East Blatchington village has changed radically since this view was taken. St Peter's Church is still there. The field in
the foreground, with its flint wall, lies to the south of East Blatchington Farm; the view looks south down Blatchington
Hill, the village main street, with Belgrave Road passing in front of the church. The church was substantially restored
in the 19th century, and the boiler flue climbing over the roof is testimony to one of the improvements made for the
comfort of Victorian parishioners.
Francis Frith's Sussex A Century Ago
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Eastbourne, Parade and Bandstand 1899 (ref. 43942) | Here we see another busy beach view in 'The Empress of Watering Places' with many umbrellas protecting ladies
from the summer sun. The photographer is here looking east past the recently-built bandstand, nicknamed 'The Bird
Cage', towards the pier. This was by Eugenius Birch, who also designed Brighton's West Pier, and was completed in
1872. Note the higher deck of the landward section: this replaced the original section which was washed away in
storms in 1877.
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Eastbourne, from the Wish Tower 1899 (ref. 43935) | Further west the shore bulges out round the promontory of the Wish Tower, in fact a Martello tower or fortlet built
in large numbers to defend the coast from Napoleon. This view looks across the beach with numerous four-wheeled
bathing machines that allowed modest entry into the sea for the serious business of sea-bathing. The Cavendish
Hotel's Frenchified roofline is in the middle distance, and the pier and multi-layered verandahs of Queens Hotel,
opened in 1880, are on the far right.
Seaside and Coastal Sussex: From Bosham to Rye
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Eastbourne, from the Pier 1906 (ref. 56684) | Further west the shore bulges out round the promontory of the Wish Tower, in fact a Martello tower or fortlet built
in large numbers to defend the coast from Napoleon. This view looks across the beach with numerous four-wheeled
bathing machines that allowed modest entry into the sea for the serious business of sea-bathing. The Cavendish
Hotel's Frenchified roofline is in the middle distance, and the pier and multi-layered verandahs of Queens Hotel,
opened in 1880, are on the far right.
Seaside and Coastal Sussex: From Bosham to Rye
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