Seven Dials to Old Shoreham Road

Security Pacific House
Photo by Tony Mould
Magnus Volk's house (on the right)
Photo by Tony Mould
Russell Crescent, attractive villas c1845.
Photo by Tony Mould
Belmont, six large knapped flint fronted houses c1850.
Photo by Tony Mould
Prestonville Court, built 1985 on the site of the former Hove Villa.
Photo by Tony Mould

Please note that this text is an extract from a reference work written in 1990.  As a result, some of the content may not reflect recent research, changes and events.

c) SEVEN DIALS to OLD SHOREHAM ROAD: This area was developed initially in the late 1840s and ’50s, and a number of interesting buildings remain from that period. Security Pacific House, an office block completed in 1985 in classical style, blends nicely with the adjacent nos.128-130, attractive, mid-nineteenth-century listed houses with iron balconies and verandahs, part of what was once Peel Terrace; no.128 was the home of Magnus Volk from 1914 until his death in 1937. Just off Dyke Road in Russell Crescent are some more attractive listed villas, nos.3-7, of around 1845; no.7 has a single-storey, five-sided coachman’s cottage, no.9. {44}
The six large houses of Belmont, faced in knapped flint, were erected in the 1850s on the site of Lashmar’s Windmill, also known as Hove Mill. There was certainly a mill on the site by 1780, and it was replaced once or possibly twice by 1821, but in 1852 or 1853 the mill was removed by sledge to the Downs above Clayton where it still stands, the white, square, post-mill known as ‘Jill’ with the tower mill known as ‘Jack’ nearby; the pair are now grade I-listed buildings. Prestonville Court, two eight-storey blocks of flats, were built in 1972 on the site of the former Hove Villa, a large house of about 1840 which was used as a private mental hospital from 1899, and as Prestonville School from 1954. Both Belmont and Hove Villa stood within the borough of Hove until 1928. {44,123,249-253}

Any numerical cross-references in the text above refer to resources in the Sources and Bibliography section of the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder.

Comments about this page

  • Prestonville School was at 4 Belmont before moving into the Hove Villa property, which it backed on to, in 1954. A private boys’ preparatory school, it also had a few boarding pupils. It was founded by Major Phillips. Soon after the war, A.N.Bardolph took over from him and remained as Head until the school closed down and the land was sold and cleared for the Prestonville Court development.

    By Pat Benham (02/03/2007)
  • My father taught at the school from 1937 – 1940. I wondered if I could contact Pat Bentham for any further information she might have?

    By Stephen Mitchell (24/01/2017)

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.