James Gray: On this and the next page are three copies of very old, faded photographs taken between 1864 and 1868. On the backs of the originals was very misleading information to the effect that these piggeries were near to the sea front between Holland Road and St John’s Road. The depth of this pit and the gentle slope of Holland Road belied this and, in addition, this area was built up in the 1850s, before the taking of the photographs. Another theory advanced was that they were on the Stanford Estate, above Eaton Road, between the Drive and Wilbury Road, where certainly a pit existed in the 1860s but contemporary maps do not mention the Piggeries. For years after I obtained these copies I tried on and off, to locate the site of these elusive piggeries which have now long since disappeared. No-one now living could remember them though some old inhabitants suggested very improbable sites. Finally an old map of 1870 owned by Hove Corporation provided the solution , which is explained with the next photograph. jgc_16_115
This map (mentioned previously) quite clearly showed these piggeries as north of the Railway line and just south of Old Shoreham Road. They were sited between what is now Leighton Road and St. Joseph’s Home. The map also showed a cottage named Piggery Cottage quite close to the Old Shoreham Road. There is no record of when the pit was filled up but as it was near to the present Hove Council Refuse Disposal Unit, it may gradually have been filled up by refuse over a period of some years. Plans for the houses and shops in Old Shoreham Road, west of Leighton Road, show that particular attention had to be paid to their foundations doubtless due to their proximity to the old pit. jgc_16_116
These are reproductions from original photographs taken by Mr W S Godard, of 6 Oxford Terrace, Cliftonville, between 1864 and 1868. Oxford Terrace was the name given to that portion of the present Church Road, between Ventnor and Hove Villas, no 6 being the present 129. jgc_16_117
Some years after I obtained these photographs seen on the previous pages, I had opportunity to take a copy of the fourth and last, of the Piggery photographs taken by W S Godard, between 1864 and 1868. This one bore his signature. The slope of the ground suggests that the horses were on rising fields leading up from the Railway to the Old Shoreham Road. jgc_16_118
2018: The area was levelled many years ago and now St Joseph’s Trading Estate is tucked behind a small retail park. (Photographer: Mark Stephenson)
James Gray: Hove Electricity works chimney soon after its erection in 1903 (for details of this, see following pages). A branch line from the Brighton-Worthing Railway ran in for the delivery of coal. In the distance, the rear façade of St Joseph’s Home (Little Sisters of the Poor), 1884/1990, then standing lone in the quiet rural Old Shoreham Road. jgc_16_119
2018: The 2018 photo is taken looking north-east rather than north-north-west. The site encompasses units of St Joseph’s Trading Estate (Photographer: Mark Stephenson)