Ladies Mile estate

Estate agent advertising board mid 1930s: click on the image to open a large version in a new window

Image reproduced with kind permission of The Regency Society and The James Gray Collection

1930s house prices

By Jennifer Drury

Built around the old village

The nucleus of modern Patcham is the village of yesteryear; centred around Church Hill and Old London Road, the now designated conservation area, contains many listed properties. Prior to the Sir Herbert Carden's inspired Brighton/Patcham incorporation in 1920's, development south of the village was mainly piecemeal.

Developed by George Ferguson

With new building land available a series of suburban satellite estates were to quickly evolve. In the 1930s, to the east of the village, the Ladies Mile Estate was developed by George Ferguson. Built to advertise the estate, the Patcham Clock Tower was erected at the junction of Mackie and Vale Avenues.

Three bedroomed house

This photograph shows a large advertisement for the Ladies Mile Estate which was erected in Beaconsfield Road. As you can see, three bedroomed houses were on sale for £550. In today's market those very same houses are mostly in the region of £350,000.

Share your memories

Do you have memories of Patcham in the early days of the new housing estates? If you have, why not share them with us by posting a comment below?