Historic and Contemporary Images of Brighton and Hove
Based on the Regency Society James Gray Collection
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SEVEN DIALS

Prestonville Road

Neighbourhood:
Seven Dials, Tivoli and Prestonville
1955
2019

James Gray: This picture taken in 1955 needs no comment. It is very similar to the larger photograph on another page [jgc_26_152].  jgc_26_156

2019: At the time of the 1955 photograph, the corner building on the left was still a bank; it now houses a Small Batch Coffee Roasters café. The shop premises built in front of Selbourne House (central in both pictures, between Prestonville Road and Chatham Place) is a launderette. The beautiful clock crowning the building has been lost. Gone too are the overhead electric wires. (Photographer: Mathia Davies)

1900s
2018

James Gray: This photograph is an extension of one overleaf [jgc_26_165] and shows the range of buildings known as Peel Terrace. This included all the buildings up to Russell Crescent. jgc_26_162

2018: On the extreme left of both the old and the new image is the garden wall of the former 1 Goldsmid Road – now 123-125 Dyke Road and currently an estate agent’s office.

The rest of the view shows the façades of the section of Dyke Road originally known as Peel Terrace. To the right of Dyke Road is the entrance into Prestonville Road and finally on the far right is Chatham Place. All of this is basically unchanged. The one stand-out difference is that in the 1900 photograph, Selbourne House, between Prestonville Road and Chatham Place, has not yet lost its front garden to ground floor shop premises. In the 2018 photograph this is occupied by the Seven Dials Launderette. (Photographer: Mathia Davies)
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1907
2019

James Gray: Three photographs of this junction [jgc_26_152 and 156 and, on the Seven Dials Roundabout page, jgc_26_153], though not so busy in those days. In this view in 1907, when the traffic was hardly enough to keep the policeman occupied. jgc_26_152

2019: Selbourne House, in the centre of both images, at the corner of Prestonville Road and Chatham Place, still had a garden in 1907. The property gives the impression of being a private house, but it had been for many years a private school. Today the ground floor extension houses a launderette. (Photographer: Mathia Davies)

1960
2018

James Gray: Let into the old wall at the junction of Old Shoreham Road with Prestonville Road, was this old Brighton – Hove boundary stone. As mentioned on another page, a triangular area of land now in Brighton, was until 1928, part of Hove. The house and garden of 12 Prestonville Road were in Brighton but the extensive grounds of Hove Villa were in Hove. As this area developed in the 1860s it is probable that the stone had been there for about 100 years. Both photographs [jgc_26_120 and 121] were taken on 16 October 1960. jgc_26_120

2018: This house stands on the corner of Prestonville Road and Old Shoreham Road. When Old Shoreham Road was widened in 1964 the flint back wall behind Hove Villa (then in use as Prestonville Preparatory School) seen in the 1960 image was replaced with a brick wall containing a gate through which pupils could enter the grounds. Behind the wall is one of the two eight storey blocks of flats, called Prestonville Court, which replaced the school. This block contains Nos 1-62. The first residents moved in during 1972. (Photographer: Jane Southern)

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Historic and Contemporary Images of Brighton and Hove
This website has been prepared by the Regency Society of Brighton and Hove. All historic maps are provided with kind permission of the National Library of Scotland (https://www.nls.uk/) regencysociety.org

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