James Gray: This large house, lately known as The Priory, stood at the foot of Medina Villas. Although part of the Cliftonville Estate it was built a few years later than most of the neighbouring houses. It dated from the year 1864 and it was the subject of a restrictive covenant which limited the use of the land to a private residence. The original intention was to build an eleven-storey block of flats here, but this aroused opposition from neighbouring residents and a limit of eight storeys was imposed. Photograph taken 20 July 1958. The house was demolished in 1959, and the flats built 1960-1961. jgc_12_027
James Gray: A photograph of unknown date, but most probably taken during the 1890s. It shows the Sussex in its original form, as it must have appeared when first opened on 19 October 1855. Additional Information: Premises of Roberts & Stuart, MCRVS, Vetenarians just visible at RHS. jgc_12_076.
2018: The impressive south- and east-facing façades of The Sussex Hotel at No 17 St Catherine’s Terrace have barely changed in 163 years.
James Gray: Photograph of part of the district originally called Cliftonville. This view is of the Sussex Hotel in 1897. This was how it looked when it opened on 19 October 1855. The hotel was reconstructed in its present form in the early 1930s. jgc_12_078
2018: The exterior of The Sussex, as it is now called, has actually changed very little since it was first built in 1855 but the James Gray image of 1897 here may have been taken to mark the alterations and improvements of the interior by the new landlord, Mr S J Green who arrived in 1896. In 1897 Mr H C Porter’s book The History Of Hove described The Sussex as having ‘one of the most impressive saloon bars south of London’. In 2018 The Sussex has a bar and restaurant on the ground floor, all three upper floors are flats and the building no longer functions as a hotel. (Photographer: David Sears)
James Gray: View of the cleared site in January 1957. For many years the empty site was used as a coach park. Later, advertisement hoardings were erected here, with room for a few cars to be parked behind. Now a block of flats is about to be built here, more than 20 years after the cottages were cleared. jgc_12_105
James Gray: In this photograph, taken from St Aubyns Gardens, can be seen the old road in front of Beach Cottages which ran past the boat builders’ yard down to the Esplanade. The lane in the right foreground led to three cottages, known as Ivy Cottages, which faced west, backing on to Namrick Mews. They were removed in 1927. The wasteland beyond is now the site of Vallance Gardens. jgc_12_111
James Gray: Two photographs copied from postcards of about 1908 vintage. Wrongly described as of Kings Road, which never existed in Hove, they are of Hove Terrace. This consisted of the line of Coastguard Cottages, with just a few houses beyond. One of these was Dial House, one of a pair of very old houses. It had an elegant doorway and was faced with black mathematical tiles. The house in this photograph can be clearly picked out in the aerial view on the previous page. It was removed in the late 1930s and the site was derelict for many years before the small block of flats, called Essex House, was built there. At the side of Dial House was the lane that led to Ivy Cottages, alas now gone! jgc_12_119
2018: The ‘two photographs copied from postcards’ are images jgc_12_119 and 120. The aerial view James Gray mentions is jgc_12_118. Images jgc_12_120 and 110 both show Kingsway in 1908 looking east. This one shows Dial House (in St Aubyns Gardens and not in Hove Terrace), eventually to be replaced, as noted by James Gray, by the small block of flats called Essex House shown in the modern image.
James Gray: See caption jgc_12_119 above. jgc_12_120
2018: The 1908 picture shows Coastguard Cottages and other buildings which used to stand on the north side of Kingsway between Hove Street and St Aubyns. In 2018 the Coastguard Cottages site is occupied by Lancaster Court flats and the Enterprise Car Hire business but neither are visible in this picture which focuses on The Mirage, a corner block of flats on the junction of Kingsway and Vallance Gardens. Behind it is Essex House, built on the site of Dial House. Vallance Gardens is part of a 1920s development and was adopted as a public highway in 1927. (Photographer: David Sears)
James Gray: To be more correct, it was St. Catherine’s Terrace which was altered from St Aubyns to Albany Villas. The private roadway, forecourts and gardens had to be sacrificed so as to widen this busy dangerous stretch of road. The proposal aroused much controversy in view of the possible elimination of the inner service road beyond Albany Villas. This photograph, taken 1st August 1965, shows where the widening would start – from St Aubyns, across Seafield Road to Osborne Villas. jgc_12_126
James Gray: See caption for jgc_12_126. Here one looks at the private roadway and the garden in front of Nos 3-16 between Osborne Villas and St Catherine’s Lodge Hotel. St Catherine’s Terrace, part of Cliftonville, was built during the 1850s, six houses being mentioned in Taylor’s Directory of 1854. Doubtless these four houses, the pavement and roadway looked the same in 1968 as they did when laid out 110 years previously. jgc_12_127
James Gray: Photographic copies of drawings by William A. Delamotte made in the 1850s, of the whole of the marine frontage from Hove Street to Kemp Town. These two, Nos. 4 & 5, show the newly built district of Cliftonville. At the top (far left) George Prodger was a Butcher in nearby Hove Place. jgc_12_130
James Gray: At this period Vallance Gardens had yet to be built and Kingsway to be widened on the south side opposite the Coastguard Cottages. A glimpse can be seen of Dial House, one of the oldest houses in Hove, which was removed in 1934. jgc_12_058