North from the Steine:George Street

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.

The attractive streets leading south from St James’s Street are detailed under “East Cliff”, but there are also some interesting streets leading northwards; a substantial amount of redevelopment has taken place, however. In topographical order from the Steine, they are:

e) GEORGE STREET: First developed in the 1790s for the workers servicing the high-class housing of the East Cliff , George Street retains a number of small cottages of which nos.2-10 and 17-35 are included on the borough council’s local list of buildings of interest; no.20 has a cobbled front, while nos.1-8, 21-26 and 32-35 are faced with mathematical tiles . The three-storey row known as Howells Court was erected in 1987 on the site of Howell’s Almshouses, ten small, stuccoed houses built in 1859 by Charles Howell ‘for the benefit of the reduced inhabitants of Brighton and Hove’, but they were derelict by 1965. The houses of Little George Street were erected in 1988 on the site of a group of eleven cottages of that name which were demolished in 1974. A passage between nos.1 and 2 George Street leads to St James’s Court, two brick houses from around the turn of the nineteenth century. {3,6,108,123,306}

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.

Comments about this page

  • I can remember George Street 1946-1954. Narrow road that went through to Edward Street. Favourite spot for the numerous barrow boys selling their cheap veges and fruit. The Policemen would try to catch them as it was illegal for them to sell from the barrows in those days. When the Policeman approached them they would lift the back of the barrow off the ground and stand there looking at the Law until the Policeman walked off. Then on with the well known shouting. What wonderful memories from those days. All the peaches etc., wrapped in tissue paper and you could buy just one, and weren’t they delicious?

    By Jennifer Goddard nee Norrell (20/04/2008)
  • I lived in George Street as a kid growing up, our house was number 37. There were only three houses in the street like ours. We had no hot water we had a boiler which we had to heat the water for a bath; no bathroom and toilet outside and no electric sockets. Everything was run off the lights. It was three stories high and we had a basement our house was next door to Jimmy’s the hairdressers which I believe is still there. I think it has been made into flats now I would like to see what it’s like inside now. When I was about seventeen my dad was asked if he wanted to buy it for £700 pounds that was a lot of money but he didn’t buy it the Thurlow Pub was opposite – how noisy on a Saturday night.

     

    By KATHLEEN CATT (30/03/2011)

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