Originally a small twitten

Originally a small twitten, Meeting House Lane ran from the former Presbyterian Meeting House in Union Street after which it is named. Until about 1790 it was confined to what is now Union Street. The southern area was part of Black Lion Street, the northern part was Poplar Place and the eastern arm was Market Lane.

The Presbyterian chapel, erected in 1688, was Brighton’s first purpose built non-conformist chapel. Rebuilt in 1825 in a Greek Doric style by Charles Busby, it was taken over in 1875 by the Union Congregation. Later it was sold to the Glyn Vivian Miners Mission and from 1927 to 1988 became the Elim Tabernacle of the Church of the Four Square Gospel.

Comments about this page

  • If you walk in to the current Meeting House Lane from North Street, there is still a Poplar Place street sign on the wall above the first bay-fronted shop on your right. You can also turn right here into what was (and may still technically be) Clarence Yard, and find the remnants of a proper street with kerbstones, even though neither end is a street any more. It will bring you back out on North Street. 

    By Lex Angel (12/03/2015)
  • That’s really useful Lex. I have just found a census address for a family in 1851 for Poplar Place.

    By Jane Church (18/02/2017)
  • In JG Bishops’ book ‘Brighton in the Olden Times’ he mentions that there was a stile across Poplar Place to stop the animals from the North St farms on the north side wandering into the town. Poplar Place will link through to the proposed new ‘Hannington Lane’ when that is completed to take pedestrians down into East St via Brighton Place.

    By Geoffrey Mead (19/02/2017)

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