James Gray: Woodingdean, as we now know it, dates from 1911 when the Brighton Downs Estate Co. Ltd. bought 350 acres of land east of the Falmer Road from Mr. Steyning Beard of Rottingdean. The Company then sold off the land in plots. Those adjoining the roads, such as they were, measuring 40’ x 200’ were sold for £30 and those in the back lands, consisting of an acre apiece, fetched £50! By 1920 some 50 or 60 bungalows and shacks had been erected though water could only be obtained from one stand pipe at the crossroads and had to be carried from there in pails. At this time the area was part of Newhaven Rural District Council and was administered by Rottingdean Parish Council.
James Gray: This and the next photograph (jgc_33_065) show bleak scenes of the severe snowstorm at Christmas, 1927. Both are of Warren Road, and, of course, the Richmond Stores are still there, No. 114. jgc_33_064
James Gray: A very much later photograph than those previously, looking west along Warren Way. By now the roadways have been paved and channelled, street lighting installed and telephones introduced. Year unknown – my guess, the late 1950s. jgc_33_057
2018: The fields on the right (northern) side of the original image were developed in the 1960s and are now covered by the parade of shops/flats along Warren Way and houses adjacent to Sandhurst Avenue. The 1950s developments on the left of the picture are still there but obscured by the growth in foliage. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)
James Gray: Examples of the primitive shacks inhabited by the early settlers. Land was cheap and there were no planning restrictions. Wood and corrugated iron sheds, old army huts, caravans, even old motor vans, anything did as long as it kept out the rain and wind. All this was stopped when Brighton incorporated Woodingdean in 1928, although many of these shacks remained for several years. jgc_33_082