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Hangleton

Welcome to Hangleton!
By Ian Farrell and Geoff Mead

Your editor for Hangleton is Ian Farrell. If you've got any queries about this area, or can add any information, photos or memories, please send My Brighton and Hove a message via the Comments form at the bottom of this page.

I've lived here for over 20 years, and my interest in the history of the area has only increased the more I have learnt about its rich past. Courtesy of Geoff Mead, here's a brief overview of Hangleton, present and past.

The Hangleton stretch
Hangleton is a downland parish lying north of Hove. It stretches from the edge of the coastal plain near the present Old Shoreham Road, up onto the high downland south of the Devil's Dyke.

The area today
The housing area is the usual suburban mix. There are an historic set of buildings - St Helen's Church and Hangleton Manor - as the core, with distinct groups of classic interwar semis spreading out from the Thirties roadhouse pub, The Grenadier.

In the Sunninghill area on the eastern side of Hangleton, there is an extensive estate built from 1946 onwards, partly constructed by German ex-POW's stranded in the UK after World War II. Much of the western area around Hangleton valley is in the form of 1950's and 1960's bungalow developments.

There was a big surge of building in the late 1960's, taking the housing spread high onto the Downs, particularly along the line of the old Dyke railway line, where Hangleton ends abruptly in the gaunt flats of Buckley Close.

Encircled by the Brighton by-pass, there is little scope for an extension of the built area other than in the Toads Hall valley. Currently the land is derelict and is used unofficially as a dirt-bike track.

The area yesterday
Hangleton Manor is the oldest secular building in the city. However, along with the church, the Manor was all there was to see in the parish until development started in the inter-war period. Hangleton was a classic 'deserted medieval village', abandoned sometime in the 14th century. For much of the past 500 years, it consisted of little more than downland sheep walks, with extensive arable land in the valleys.

This page was added on 22/03/2006.

Comments:

I lived in this area for five years, before emigrating to Australia in 1970.
By Danny Mallett (27/06/2004)
Hi Ian, I've just found your page about Hangleton at the My Brighton and Hove site. There's very little information about Hangleton on the net so I appreciate all your info on the webpage. I had a penpal from Hangleton 10 or 12 years ago. She told me Hangleton is a peaceful and wonderful place to live. I'd really love to visit it as soon as I could.
By Maggy Castex (13/07/2004)
I grew up in Hangleton and I remember there being a story about a tunnel connecting the church to the manor. Anyone know if it was true??
By Justin Short (29/10/2004)
In answer to Justin Short: I too remember the story about the tunnel. I was born in 1956 in Hangleton and lived there until I married. My friends and I all believed the story and spent many a Saturday and Sunday looking for it! History books suggested to us that during Domesday times it was common for the manor house to be connected to the church - for some secret underhanded reason I'm sure! Would love to discuss this subject further with anyone who has info or who can relate. My mother and father said they used to go to great New Year dances at the Manor in the fifties and said it had very beautiful gardens. It wasn't so much a pub but a place used for functions then I believe. As a child I remember it being a farmhouse of sorts and then it was virtually derelict (and of course haunted by the woman who threw her baby out of the window!) for many years until I guess the seventies when someone decided to bring it alive again as a pub. I know I was always fascinated with the place. Would love to know more.
By Barb Rose (South Australia) (30/05/2005)
For those interested in the history of Hangleton, it's worth visiting the Weald and Downland Museum near Chichester where there's a reconstructed flint cottage from 13th century Hangleton!
By Auri Millar (04/06/2005)
My husband's family lived at 4 Hangleton Close between c1937 - c1960. His sister, June, had just been born in '37 when their parents purchased the newly built bungalow and Ray was born mid-1943. He attended Junior Knowles and his Mum worked in the school cafeteria, but am not certain if she was at the one mentioned or not. He's away at present, so I cannot ask! I recall Ray mentioning the stories about a tunnel between the Manor and the church. As a lad, Ray dug potatoes somewhere in the vicinity, but not sure if it was at the manor or a farm beside it. Currently his cousin lives on the other side, across on the opposite side of the golf course. Our children grew up hearing about their Dad's childhood days in Hangleton, plus seeing his photos - which always have people in the foreground. Fortunately we were able to return (1989) with at least our daughter, so she could see her Dad's childhood haunts. She loved it. We've been back a few times since, as well. We always make a point to visit The Grenadier which, for a time during the 1960s, Ray used as one of his locals. Lovely to see a few pages dedicated just to Hangleton. Would love to hear from anyone who remembers Ray.
By Toni Heater (Ontario, Canada) (16/09/2005)
I lived at 34 West Way, Hangleton from shortly after my birth (1948) until we moved to Chichester in 1955. I attended Hangleton County Primary Infants School at the top of Dale View (1953-55), and (occasionally) went to St Helens Church. Palm Sunday was especially good there because the palms were so good! I had a friend whose parents ran the Grenadier at this time - an impressive place with a ceratin grandueur that seems to be missing now. My father tells me that West Way was intended as a by-pass through to Worthing but WWII interrupted things - hence its terrific width.
By Keith Gompertz (29/01/2006)
I lived in Poinings Drive and used to visit the manor quite a lot. I remember the pigeon loft in the garden and the old rope ladder; me and a couple of mates that used to climb it. As far as I remember there is a tunnel there because it was covered up and I remember getting my foot stuck under the metal cover that covered the entrance. I also remember the old house and the burn just accros the road. I went there with my dad and there were some old cars in the burn behind the house. I would like to hear of any more stories.
By Paul (01/05/2006)
I lived as a kid in Hangleton in the early 60s and remember the manor very well. We used to sneak in and walk round the place. The manor was deserted, derelict in the kitchen area but still fully furnished everywhere else. Over time the place was vandalised I guess (not by me), but when I first snuck in, I think aged about about 7 (1964) it was clean and tidy - as though it had only just closed. The kitchen was derelict however, and papers and ledgers were strewn all over the floor. They dated back to 1920 as I recall. In the kitchen area was a well and as kids we threw stones in. It was uncovered and we could have fallen in - and it was deep! There was a pig farm out the back, where houses are now. It obviously fell into disuse for a period in the early 60s and then revived as a pub. I can't remember exactly when. It must be possible to date.
By Pete Allan (16/05/2006)
This is a great site. I live in West Way, Hangleton. My son was digging in our back garden and found some Roman finds! I read in a book that there was a Roman villa in Hangleton by the church. Does anybody have any information about it?
By Wendie (06/07/2006)
Hi Wendie - The Roman Villa was just off Amberley Drive, actually under the north side of the Amberley Close playing green. It can be seen on the large size HM Land Registry Maps.
By Peter Groves (18/07/2006)
Hi again Wendie - As I mentioned earlier, the Roman Villa was in Amberley Drive/Close, you may be confused with the Medieval village that was just below the Downsman Public House, where the parade of shops now stand.
By Peter Groves (18/07/2006)
I have come across a horse race meeting that was held between 11th and 14th December 1683 on the Hangleton Course near Bright-Hamston in Sussex. The information and the results come from the Jockeys Intelligencer, a weekly newspaper advertising horses and coaches. It was published in London but only 11 issues were published. Is there any more information about this race meeting?
By Tim Cox (24/08/2006)

Does anyone remember the pig farm in the valley near the West Hove golf course? The pathway which went along on the east side of the farm eventually led to a row of cottages. It was in one of these cottages that my auntie and uncle lived together with my gran. My gran was Annie Elliott and I remember taking walks with my mother to visit her. The cottages did not have inside bathrooms and the w.c. was down the garden. Does anyone remember John and Florrie Elliott, or my mother, Evelyn Elliott (Pelham)? The Elliotts lived in the cottage sometime in the mid 1950s. Or does anyone have photographs of the farm or cottages?

By Jean Gould (05/11/2006)

My grandparents lived in Sherbourne Road, in the mid 40s. I recall as a very young person playing in their front garden and at the age of four my cousin's birthday party on November 5th. It was a great celebration with a huge bonfire outside the back fence on wasteland. My grandparents moved when I was five to Silvan Hall, Brighton.  When still in my pram days, Mum walked with me and my young brother in the pram to the shops at the top of the hill, opposite Granadier Hotel. She parked the pram and popped into the store and, we don't quite know how, but the pram started rolling down the steep hill.  A baker or milkman (cannot quite remember and Mum's passed away now), but whoever, noticed the runaway pram and gently ran their vehicle into the pram's path to stop a possible tragic accident.

By Bonny Cother - Veronica Bentley (18/12/2006)

Can anyone give me any information about Rookery Cottages that are built along side Hangleton Manor. We have just discovered that my husband's mother was born there in 1916, after always believing she was born in Pycombe!! we would be interested in knowing when they were built.

By Connie Reed (05/02/2007)

I remember the pig farm very well. I used to live in Hangleton way until I married and moved out in 1979. The farmer was Mr Broomfield, his pigs were fenced in by electric fencing which we used to dare each other to touch. I can still feel the sensation now. All around the field there were crab apple trees which we would feed to the pigs and when we got bored we would throw them at them and make them squeal until Mr Broomfield chased us away. How embarassed was I years later when I was involved in the livestock/meat industry and came across Mr Broomfield and he recognised me straight away.

By Neil Underhill (25/03/2007)

My grandparents used to live in Hangleton Gardens in the 1940s and up to the end of the 1960s. I believe it was at No. 4. I used to stay with them for 2 weeks every year as a child. I would love to see a picture of this house now...?

By J. Chettle (24/06/2007)

I grew up in Hangleton as a child, and left when i was 22. I used to play in the Manor and remember the pig farm and Mr Broomfield the farmer. My friend Pat Lloyd used to live in the cottages, I remember the tiolet was accross the road with a bucket under the seat. I remember there was also a farm by St Helens church with a big bull behind some very strong bars. I have been to the manor today for a drink and decided to look it up, that is how I came accross this site. I also remember a family called Cleves, there were lots of boys I remember, Raymond was one, they also lived in the cottages on the approach road to the farm. There also used to be an air-raid shelter next to St Helens church which you could just get into.

By Carol Smith (nee Boxall) (22/07/2007)

I was born in 1937 and lived with my parents at 16 Applesham Avenue that my father bought when it was new. My memories of living there through the war are of the guns on the old dyke railway bank trying to shoot down the doodlebugs as they tried to reach London. My father was in the Hove fire brigade and we didn't see a lot of him. My first memory of going to school was to a nursery called Overbury in Hangleton Road just past Miss Peck's chemists shop. Later on I went on to the Knoll School. I also remember the army using the garage at the corner of Nevill Road and us playing on the lorries that were parked on what was waste ground in Hangleton Road. Does anyone remember what I think was an estate agents opposite the Grenadier Pub that had a small clock tower? I remember playing round there and climbing up the stairs at the back and turning the hands round on the clock. I can't find any trace of this now in any books or pictures.

By Ron Jones (01/10/2007)

Further to my last comment about my life in Hangleton I also remember watching the lorries bringing these huge concrete blocks up from the seafront and tipping them into the cutting of the old Dyke Railway.They were used as defences against the landing of the enemy during the war. When the lorries tipped them they sometimes got caught up and the weight of them used to lift their front wheels off the ground. Us kids used to wonder if the lorry would go down with them. I expect there are houses built on top of them now. Another thing I remember during the war were the guns mounted on the embankment of the old Dyke railway. When the doodlebugs came over, heading for London, they tried to shoot them down.

By Ron Jones (26/11/2007)

Can anyone tell me were there house where the flats in Harmsworth Crescent are? In Hangleton Park it looks as if there was a road at one time.

By Mark Phillips (18/12/2007)

I lived in Hardwick Road from about 1963 to 1970 (aged 3 - 10), and Hardwick Road was a new development then. We were at 14 Hardwick Road, which was on the ground floor. The back garden for the upstairs flat (14A?) was beyond ours, but when we first moved in, the park came right up to the garden edge. I remember Harmsworth Crescent being built, and I don't think there was anything on that site except the park.

By Paul Robinson (03/01/2008)

Thanks Paul, it is just that in the prk there is a flat section with manhole covers so it looks like an old pavement area. Also the lamps in the park are from the 30s and some of the garden wall also look to pre-date the flats.

By Mark Phillips (15/01/2008)

Yes the park came right up to Hardwick Road, actually in the very early 1960s (could be late 50s) houses existed only on the north side of Hardwick Road. Us kids were really disappointed when building started both on the south side of the road and then Harmsworth Crescent itself as the park size was halved. However disappointment soon turned to glee as we were able to play in the builders sand etc. at that time no sand pit existed in the park.

By Peter Groves (06/02/2008)

I grew up in Hardwick Road too. When Harmsworth Crescent was being built, we used to build walls and seats and tables with the bricks after the builders had gone home. Goodness knows what they thought when they came back to a neat archaeological site every morning! The Park used to come right up to the door before the crescent was built. Before then I could watch the ships sail from Shoreham Harbour all the way across to Newhaven from our kitchen window.

By Val (08/02/2008)

I also went to Knoll Infants from 1956-1960. I then went to Portland Road, and then Knoll Girls School in Old Shoreham Road. I left there in 1966.
I had a friend, Elizabeth Stone who lived at 264 Hangleton Way in an upstairs flat. We used to go to the Grenadier pub, luckily mother didn't know about that. We would then walk to the old forge across the golf course, back home where I lived in Hangleton Road. I now live in Cornwall but have happy memories of my school days.

By Jan Dove, nee Cattermull (09/02/2008)

I used to live in Poynings Drive and we used to go over to the park before there were flats in Harmsworth Crescent.  I remember there being old wooden road blocks on this area and we used to build camps out of these.  Also I remember the policeman who came round to check on the area - if he caught us we got a clip round the ear.

By Graham Morgan (22/02/2008)

I really enjoy this great website and it's wonderful to read of people contacting one another after many years. I have been trying to locate an old friend of mine from the early 1960s for a while now, his name was  Ian Turner and he lived at No.83 Hangleton Way. He used to ride a Triumph motorcycle as I did also. I would be grateful for any help in locating him. He is about 60 years old now.

By Alan Frost (05/05/2008)

I was born in Brighton in 1947; I was in a nursery in Old Shoreham road.  I lived with my dear parents in 16 Meadway Cresent, Hove, until I was about 3, then we moved to 202 Neville Avenue, they backed onto the allotments, up at the top next to the Church, where my mum used to clean the hall. I remember the large Hall and standing on the broom while she swept the floor. I went to the school in Old Shoreham road, I can remember the day everyone sat in a line in the hall and we were given our coronation mugs, and playing the Arch Angel Gabriel in the nativity play. Then the new school was built at the top of Hangleton, and mum used to take me to school, I would ride on a seat on the back of her bike. My aunts and uncles all live in and around hove. I have still got one aunt there in a road just off of Old Shoreham road. My mum and dad are both passed now, mum for forty years next year, dad was a Japanese prisoner: when he came home, they chose to adopt me, I was so lucky. My Brother was Peter, he was 18 when I was adopted, he used to skate in Brighton when the Ice rink was in West street. He joined Tom Arnold's Ice Shows, travelled all over the world, and also played for The Brighton Tigers. We moved to Hurstpierpoint, then and I went to the junior school there, when it was time to go to the "New secondary modern". My parents worked hard and chose to send me to Clark's College, first at 43 Dyke Road, then when old enough to 52 Dyke Road. My parent's ashes are at the little church where they were married, and we were baptised at the top of St. Aubins in Hove. I would love to hear from any one who may have known them. Mind they would be rather old now, but you never know. Phyllis and Ernest Lewry. He was a Landscape Gardener when he got over the prison camp years.

By Helen Aldridge (nee Lewry) (06/06/2008)

In answer to Alan Frost asking about Ian Turner: Alan, Ian Turner was my dear friend. He had a brother Paul who was killed in a motorcycle accident on September 17 1963. On that day, (to please his parents), Ian sold his Triumph motor bike. He worked at Miles Engineering in Shoreham. We all went to the Hangleton Youth Club.  Aloha!

By Jackie Collins (from Hawaii) (25/06/2008)

Hi Alan. Did you ever locate your friend, Ian Turner who lived at 83 Hangleton Way?
I would be interested in hearing, since he was a dear friend of mine, too. We all attended the Hangleton Youth Club in 62-64. Aloha

By Jackie Collins (25/06/2008)

Hi Jackie (Aloha), I attended Hangleton Youth Club 67 - 69. Smashing fellow Fred ran the club, he really had plenty of time for all us kids. I believe he passed away recently.

By Peter Groves (07/07/2008)

A fantastic site. So many happy memories. My family moved to Hangleton from London in 1968, buying a 30s bungalow in Gleton Avenue for £2,000. Memories wise here goes: Hangleton Infants/Junior School - Mrs Cambell - Mr Aitken - Mr Vine
The Dairy opposite the Grenadier pub ( I think on the site of the Dough Boy Bakery), Greenleas Park, the original Doctor's Surgery on West Way, Dr Annis, Dr Sharman,
walks to the Dyke from the Downsman Pub, views of the Shoreham Power station, Braithewaites, Trevors, Powells, Sally's Stores, The Bon Bon, the climb aboard bread van and 70s bread shortages,the Hangleton Brass Band, Mr Osgood.So many memories. A wonderful childhood in a beautiful place

By Mike Smith-Clare (24/08/2008)

You bring back memories for me,  don't recognise any name here, but yes i know bon-bon shop, Sally's stores, Dr Annis was my doc, Hangleton Way, West Way clinic, for those awful injections, I had a boyfriend Mervyn Brooks, he lived in Hangleton Road, many happy times were spent there.

By Janet Dove (14/09/2008)

Can anyone remember what St Helens Green looked like before St Helens Drive (where I live) was built?  I was told there was an old dew pond there.

By Daren Elliott (12/11/2008)

Hi Darren, I grew up in Hangleton Road. My parents had the house handed down to them and they moved there in 1940(?). Mum told me that St Helens Green WAS a dew pond, long before the houses were built. Apparently in the winter the pond froze and people would skate around. I have a photo of my Mum and Dad going to the fete that was held on the Green every summer, long after the dew pond had gone.  I live in Cornwall now but have happy memories. Hope this helps.

By Janet Dove (nee Cattermull) (13/11/2008)

To Alan enquiring of the Turners of 83 Hangleton Way was interesting as I lived at 83 Hangleton Way from about 1968 to approx 77. The Triggs lived opposite and we used to play cricket in Greenleas. I was married in 81 in St Helen's to Christine Gurry who lived at the top of Hangleton Way- I worked at the Manor some evenings (for Ken Crossby) and had my 18th and 21st in there . I was a cub leader at the 17th Hove as well and had been a cub, scout and venture scout and the 17th was a well supported, brilliantly run group with lots of great people who gave their time freely. Great memories. I live in Bournemouth now but had to come to St Helen's recently for a funeral and struck up a conversation with a number of locals reminiscing about the past and talked about Dr Anniss, Dr Franks, the Knights, Knells, Smees, Warburtons, Ayles, Coopers etc etc.

By michael bridger (17/12/2008)

What a wonderful site! I lived firstly in Harwick Road and then in Buckley Close in the 1970's and attended West Blachington Infant (and then Junior) Schools. In those days the school had its own swimming pool. The number 5 bus stopped outside our house in Hardwick Road and the bus conductors would often give us a full roll of paper tickets to play with - utter joy - who needs Nintendo! I remember Dr Annis too. My dentist was Mr Cuddis. I often went to the Off Licence at the Downsman pub for Savoury-Vinegar flavoured crisps and Corona cherryade.

By M McEwan (23/12/2008)

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