James Gray: Numbers 77/81, ancient shops with living accommodation above, showing Leicester Street intact, year probably 1955. jgc 24_037
2018: All the old shops along this stretch of Edward Street disappeared when the street was widened in the early 1960s. The entrance to Leicester Street is now only a narrow lane, the main course of the street (where the distant car is parked) having been diverted east into Tillstone Street. (Photographer: Ruthie Martin)
James Gray: Few Brightonians can have visited these nine cottages, hidden away as they were behind a high wall and gate, at the top of narrow Leicester Street. Built in 1854, they were presented by the Soames family for needy people over 60 years old. Even in the 1950s the rent of each flat, two to a house, was only 3/- a week. Date of photograph – June 20, 1954. jgc_24_044
James Gray: Contrasting views [see also jgc_24_047] of this humble little street, tucked away behind the high wall which flanked the gardens of middle-class Egremont Place. This fine photograph of about 1912 shows a varied array of domestic washing. and, in the distance, the gate giving access to Pilgrims Cottages. The sign on the wall above the women’s heads advertises the chimney sweep, whose barrow stands in the kerb. jgc_24_046
James Gray: Looking North from Edward Street showing a distant view of Pilgrims Cottages. Their rough-cast exteriors gave them quite a modern look but they were probably of the same age as the cottages, dating from the 1850s. They are to be demolished under a slum clearance scheme. Date of photograph – June 20, 1954. jgc_24_045
2018: Just over a century later and this part of Leicester Street is just a narrow lane, not wide enough for houses or a pavement. Only the old high wall behind the Egremont Place gardens remains. (Photographer: Ruthie Martin)
James Gray: Contrasting views [see also jgc_24_046] of this humble little street, tucked away behind the high wall which flanked the gardens of middle-class Egremont Place. The desolate scene in 1968 when the removal of the houses was all but completed. The considerable widening of the lateral road, Edward Street, makes Leicester Street seem shorter, but the telegraph pole and the buttresses are in the same position in each photograph. jgc_24_047
2019: The direction of Leicester Street has been changed so that it runs into Tillstone Street. The narrow lane which comes out onto Edward Street is all that is left of the street in the original photograph. The wall behind the Egremont Place gardens remains on one side of the lane and the car parking area to the right in the original photograph is now occupied by Outboards Direct. (Photographer: Ruthie Martin)