Andy Garth: The West Brighton Estate

Some of you may know that when the Hove Avenues were built, the area, although in deepest darkest Hove was called The West Brighton Estate.

Now there are possibly several reasons for this. One is almost definitely snobbery, and another is the land used was owned by the Stanford Family who resided at Preston Manor Brighton.

Even Hove railway station was called after the Estate for a few years.

Anyway, I digress as last week I purchased what (in my head) is one of the best and most unusual items I have ever come across during my obsession with all things Brighton and Hove.

A wonderful piece of social history that I will be researching over the coming weeks

It’s a handwritten ledger of the properties held by the estate and includes sale prices of individual houses, plots of land and rents on houses, shops and areas of the beach (as shown in photo) to use for bathing machines, boats and even a third class railway carriage.

It names all the purchasers and lessees and is a wonderful piece of social history that I will be researching over the coming weeks.

The chap I bought this from found it in a charity shop somewhere in Kent, so please keep your eyes open whenever you peruse these shops as there are some hidden jems out there.

As I am regularly saying, if you have anything unusual or odd from the city please don’t hesitate to pop it into the shop at 28 Western Road Hove (close to Brunswick Square) or email me with pictures at Brightonandhovestuff@gmail.com