History of Moulsecoomb housing estates

Development in the 1920s

Reproduced with permission from the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder, 1990

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.

b) HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MOULSECOOMB HOUSING ESTATE: Now the borough's largest housing estate, Moulsecoomb was also the corporation's first large-scale estate, the initial development at South Moulsecoomb commencing in the early 1920s. This original estate, which included The Avenue , Colbourne Avenue, The Crescent, The Highway, Hillside, Southall Avenue and some houses in Natal Road, was erected on ninety-four acres of land to the east of the Lewes Road acquired in November 1920 which were annexed by the county borough from the parish of Patcham on 1 October 1923. A fierce debate raged over the spelling of the name for many years, but ' Moulsecoomb ' was generally agreed upon in the 1960s. It probably derives from the personal name 'Mul', and dates from at least the twelfth century. {123,289}.
South Moulsecoomb was considered something of a model garden estate with its large open spaces and two-storey, semi-detached houses with large gardens, described as 'homes fit for heroes' by one alderman in the post-Great War era; there were even tennis-courts provided in The Avenue . The 478 houses were meant to provide new homes for people in the proposed slum clearance areas on Albion Hill, but the rents charged by the council were prohibitive for most of the intended residents, and tenants were brought in from other towns, especially London, following an advertising campaign. Little was therefore done to relieve the appalling conditions in central Brighton. {2,110a,123}
The North Moulsecoomb estate of 390 houses followed in 1926-30, on forty-six acres acquired in October 1925, but was developed to a higher density than South Moulsecoomb, a factor which has perhaps contributed to the social problems experienced there. Originally part of Falmer parish, the area was annexed by Brighton on 1 April 1928. Redevelopment of the estate, which has also suffered from a lack of facilities and maintenance, commenced in 1979 but has been restricted by financial restraints.
In the early 1930s the corporation extended its housing up the Bevendean valley with 85-123 and 110-120 The Avenue , Manton Road, and Upper and Lower Bevendean Avenues. As this was on land previously belonging to Lower Bevendean Farm, these new houses were known as the Bevendean estate; Moulsecoomb therefore ends at the western end of Manton Road, the limit of the original estate. There was also some private development at this time in the Bevendean Crescent/Widdicombe Way area similarly on Bevendean land, but this area is now generally regarded as part of Moulsecoomb .
The East Moulsecoomb housing estate from Hodshrove Road and Birdham Road to Moulsecoomb Way was built by the corporation on part of a 300-acre estate which was purchased in December 1935. Moulsecoomb was completed in the 1940s and '50s with the Halland Road area and the flats of the West Moulsecoomb or Bates Estate, on the site of the Bates Nursery. In 1981 the population of the Moulsecoomb district was around 8,500. A light industrial area was developed on the slopes north-east of the railway line in 1989-91, the Home Farm Business Centre. {83,110a,277}

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.