My Brighton and Hove | Areas | Ovingdean/Woodingdean | Introduction to Ovingdean and Woodingdean

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Introduction to Ovingdean and Woodingdean

Welcome

By Jennifer Drury

Photo:The Lych gate to St Wulfran's church, Ovingdean

Photo:The Ridgway, Woodingdean, in the 1920s

If you've got any queries about this area, or can add any information, photos or memories, please contact me at jennifer@mybrightonandhove.org.uk

Oral history book
I have always had a great interest in community histories - as a little girl I spent hours going through the family photo album and asking who people were and what they used to do. I moved to Brighton over twenty years ago and I fell in love with the place. I lived in Ovingdean for eighteen years and in 1999 I applied for a millennium grant to produce an oral history of the 'village'. With a group of volunteers from the community we interviewed over sixty people and I produced a 140 page book of extracts from the interviews - this was sold for the benefit of the village.

Ovingdean today
Thirty years or so ago Ovingdean was seen as essentially a 'retirement village'. The community today which numbers approximately 1200 people, is a mix of both old and young. Activities and events are centred around the Village Hall, home to a wide variety of local clubs and associations which generate a lively social calendar. As it did at the beginning of the last millennium, St. Wulfran's Church still provides an important focus point for the village community. The successor to the ancient manor farm which has existed in varying acreages since time immemorial, is managed by the Baker family who took it over in 1945 and so the farming tradition of the area continues.

Woodingdean today
The development of the present residential area very much mirrors that of neighbouring Ovingdean. From the 1920s building plots were sold off and first generation shacks and houses began to appear. In 1928, Woodingdean and Ovingdean became part of Brighton County Borough, a move which heralded a substantial increase in residential development. The area has a population in excess of 10,000 but despite its size still manages to maintain its village atmosphere. Woodingdean today has dynamic social and religious communities of clubs, associations and organisations which also include sports and leisure facilities.

This page was added on 22/03/2006.

Comments about this page

Does anyone have any photos or details of the old prefab houses at Woodingdean built after the war for servicemen? They have now been demolished. A friend of mine lived in one known as 19 Warren Road and I would love to find a pictire or history of the houses.

By Jill Sinclair (29/09/2005)

Wonderful trip down memory lane for me this site. I was a altar boy for the church in Ovingdean and attended the local deaf school. Seeing the pictures of the area of the church brought it all back. Many thanks. Will look on the site more with great interest.

By Alan (08/03/2006)

Can you please tell me what the word 'dean' means. Response: Hello Stephen - dean means 'small valley'. (Editorial Team)

By Julie Beckett (30/06/2006)

My understanding of the word 'dean' is 'a wooded area'. Hence Saltdean, Rottingdean, Woodingdean , Withdean, Westdean and many others in the area. [Editorial note: 'dean' is also the Anglo Saxon word for valley.]

By Robert Coe (27/07/2006)

My parents and I moved to Woodingdean as part of the Ashton/Richmond Street slum clearance in about 1956. The new council houses at that time were a breath of fresh air after the middle of post-war Brighton. You could go mushrooming in the adjoining fields and it was a good place to grow up. Going back recently I was saddened to see that the area had itself become another slum clearance nightmare.

By Bob Munro (07/08/2006)

I was born at 50 The Ridgeway in 1954. I doubt that the house still stands as it was made from asbestos. There was a road opposite - I think it was Crescent Drive. I used to walk down past Mrs. Moyle's house to Sunday School and the sweet shop. There was a post box across the road and prefab homes where I used to visit a lady called Maisie. Mrs. Weller lived next door, she used to make gas mantles. Looking at the third photo down on this page, I feel the second house up was hers. The Drs McGees' surgery was at the bottom of the hill. l wonder if any one has recollections of these people or knows if No.50 is still there?

By Amber Wills (05/11/2007)

I lived in Woodingdean from 1969 to 1984 and I wondered of anyone has any photos of Woodingdean from the 1970's just for nostalgia value?
I also wondered if the Julie Beckett who posted a comment above is the same Julie that lived across the road from me in Crescent Drive North?

By Suzie Box (27/01/2008)