James Gray: Whitehawk Road, built in the 1880s, consisted of a terrace of 44 small houses each with a religious text inscribed on the lintel over the front door. So it remained until well into the 1930s. In order to re-house the inhabitants of the slums of Hereford Street, Paradise Street, Essex Place etc, Brighton Corporation in 1927 bought compulsorily 10½ acres of land from the Marquess of Bristol. In the following year a start was made on the now large Whitehawk Council Estate.
James Gray: This photograph and jgc_23_114 were taken on the same day as those on 11 January 1976. They provide good views of the original 1930s council estate, and in the distance, the much later post-war high rise flats. In course of time most, if not all, of the old houses will disappear, but how long all this will take is anybody’s guess. jgc_23_113
2019: The central and most prominent building in 1976 was Whitehawk Junior School. It was closed and has been demolished although its name lingers on in School Rise, the name of the short residential street that was built on the site.
James Gray: [See caption above.] jgc_23_114
2019: The large building to the left in 1976 was Whitehawk Secondary School. That has closed but much of the building survives and has been extended to create a primary school: City Academy Whitehawk. The area seen in Gray’s image is now largely obscured by trees and dense undergrowth. The modern view was taken from a different angle and shows that much of the original primary school has survived, including its distinctive cupola. (Photographer: David Jackson)
James Gray: Shops and houses in Whitehawk Road, about 1950. Until 1930 these were nearly all private houses, but the building of the Whitehawk Council Estate wrought an early change to shops, though some houses still remain. jgc_ 23_042
2020: These two adjacent buildings were ground floor shops in 1950 and 70 years on they are still shops although at the time of taking the modern photograph (February 2020) both appeared to be closed. (Photographer: David Jackson)
James Gray: This is one of the first three covered top buses that operated in Brighton. It was taken into use on 28 June 1930 and remained in service until 30 September 1953. The body is not, of course, the original, which was in use until 1935. A second body was then fitted and replaced in 1946 by that shown in the photograph. Both these photographs were taken at Whitehawk Garage on 2 October 1953. jgc_23_091 and jgc_37_056
2018: Whitehawk Garage today. (Photographer: Mark Stephenson)
James Gray: Three more photographs taken 24 August 1980, depicting the progress of the demolition and rebuilding of this large 1930s Council Estate. [See jgc_23_117 and 118 on the Findon Road and Whitehawk Way pages respectively.] This photograph shows demolition in Whitehawk Road. Additional Information: Letterbox with grafitti. jgc_23_116