James Gray: Andrew’s Cottage, Little East Street – 1939. Showing also the side wall of the Star & Garter Hotel. jgc_08_114
2019: The Star and Garter dates back partly to the mid-18th century (the date 1750 can be seen on the side door in Little East Street) when it was a hotel, although it had already acquired the nickname Dr Brighton’s during the 19th century. By the 1980s it had officially become Doctor Brighton’s. At the time of taking this photo, the pub had closed.
James Gray: 17 & 18 Little East Street, from Kings Road. This photograph was taken in 1934 and the premises were demolished a few years later. The cleared space is now used as a car park. jgc_08_115
2019: The spaces where the soon to be demolished buildings are in the original photograph are now occupied by the Jury’s Inn Brighton Waterfront hotel just visible in the left foreground & Priory House in the background. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)
James Gray: William Alderton originally occupied this old cottage in Little East Street and it passed into occupation by the Andrew family in the 1840s. In 1845 it was in the name of Samuel Andrew, dealer in nets, who was succeeded by his son Henry, described as a rope and twine dealer. The third generation was his son, H S Andrew, who lived here until his death. jgc_08_116
2019: See caption for jgc_08_114 above. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)
James Gray: Harlequin tea-rooms, numbered 16a Kings Road, but was really part of Little East Street, in 1928. jgc_08_117
2019: Harlequin Tea Rooms was owned by a Mrs Rebecca Quantrill who ran them until 1934 when it became an antique shop (see jgc_08_115 above) and remained as such until the start of the Second World War. Directories after the war no longer show a 16A and the site is now occupied by the Jury’s Inn Brighton Waterfront hotel. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)
James Gray: The two houses in the centre of this block, 9 & 10, were built in the 1850s on ground at the rear of Kings Road. No 9 was for many years the Star & Garter Tap and the doors leading to the cellar are seen in this photograph of February 1959. A year later, in March 1960, all these buildings were demolished. jgc_08_118
2019: After demolition the site was used as a car park for a number of years before the development of Priory House and Jury’s Inn Brighton Waterfront which was built in 1984-87 as the Ramada Renaissance Hotel. It later became the Thistle Hotel before assuming its current name. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)
James Gray: After the 1930s demolitions (Nos. 16 & 17 stood here) this site, photographed in 1958, remained empty for more than twenty years and was used as a public car park as can be seen. Indeed it stayed like this until the coming of Bartholomew Square in the late 1980s. jgc_08_120
2019: When the 1958 image was taken, the taller building in the photograph (no 2) was Albert Allen’s dining rooms before becoming a Chinese restaurant for a while. Until recently it was an Indian restaurant but is currently empty. No 4 in 1958 was an engraver’s but is now a tattoo parlour. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)
James Gray: This photograph, probably of the 1880s, gives an all-round view of this small, but popular hotel, in the heart of the old town. It stood at the corner of Market Street (left) and Little East Street (right). I do not know when the building was erected, but by the 1850s it was the Marine Tavern. It remained as an hotel until the First World War, and then used for other business purposes. Demolished in 1934, its site has since been used as a car park. Note the elegant black mathematical tiled façade of the Little East Street frontage. jgc_09_058
James Gray: For a short time in the 1950s it [Andrew’s Cottages] reverted to private occupation, as seen above, before being opened as a tailors shop by C J Carter & Son. jgc_09_059
2019: Andrew’s Cottages were formerly two shops (an ironmonger’s and a stationer’s) dating from the late 18th or early 19th century. The two merged as Samuel Andrew’s fishing tackle shop in 1845. The building remained in hands of the Andrew family until the Second World War.
James Gray: Three photographs [jgc_09_061, 062 and 063] taken in June 1930. These, and several others of the same size in my collection, were exhibited in the window of Savage & Co’s Chemist shop at 109 St. James’ Street and shoppers were invited to say where the scenes were to be found in Brighton, three cameras being offered as prizes. The well known Andrew’s Cottage in Little East Street. jgc_09_063
2019: See captions for jgc_08_114, 116 and 059 above. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)
James Gray: In the late 1970s it was rumoured that seafront buildings in the area of Black Lion Street, Market Street and Little East Street were soon to be demolished to make way for a new hotel with an annexe for municipal purposes. Accordingly, I had these photographs taken on 25 June 1978, but I need not have worried, for it was six years later, in late 1984, that removal commenced. The three buildings on the island site are to go, but the famous hotel, the Star and Garter, is safe.
James Gray: These [jgc_09_090 and 091] were copied from two very old stereoscopic photographs of uncertain age. The focal point is the large rounded corner building, numbered 20 and 21, shown as in the occupation of Daniel H. Greenin, who conducted his fancy repository here. Unfortunately this fact does not help to date the photographs, because he was in business here from the 1840s for about forty years. The low building in front of the Town Hall steps does not help either. My guess, and it can be nothing else, is that they date from the 1860s. jgc_09_090
2019: Greenin’s had gone by 1883 as the business was then owned by a W D Stewart whilst W Churton [see jgc_09_089] was shown as occupying No 20a. East Street today is not normally this empty. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)
James Gray: [See caption for jgc_09_090 above.] jgc_09_091
James Gray: From East Street, 1895, showing the wholesale vegetable market by the Town Hall steps. jgc_09_073
2019: A tree now obscures much of the view of the Town Hall. The vegetable market has long since been replaced by parked cars. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)
James Gray: Cars parked on the cleared site, in Little East Street, on 30 January 1958. This was before Nos 2 and 3 had been reconstructed for Choy’s Chinese Restaurant. Additional Information: Allen’s Restaurant, J C Herbert. jgc _09_094
2020: The taller building in the photograph (No 2 Little East Street) was originally Albert Allen’s Dining Rooms before becoming the Chinese restaurant mentioned in the original text. Until recently it was an Indian restaurant but is currently empty whilst No 4, at the time an engraver’s shop, is now in 2019 a tattoo parlour. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)