Introduction to West Blatchington

A quiet suburban area

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.

Once a small village to the north of Hove, with a population of less than a hundred for many years, West Blatchington was developed as a large housing estate just before and after the Second World War, and all that now remains of the original village is the mill and church. The impressive windmill and granary is a grade II*-listed building but its age is rather uncertain; probably dating from around 1820, it certainly existed by 1823, and in 1825 was sketched by Constable. Milling ceased in 1897 and it has been open to the public since 1979.

The parish church of St Peter was rebuilt in 1890 by George Somers Clarke, but includes the Norman nave of a church which was in ruins by the eighteenth century; the position of vicar of West Blatchington was in fact united with that of Brighton from 1744 until 1941 {83}. West Blatchington also formed the Hundred of Whalesbone together with Brighton.

On 1 April 1928 most of West Blatchington became an urban parish within the borough of Hove, but 131 acres to the east of the Dyke and Saddlescombe roads, including the upper parts of the Waterhall Valley and Mill Road, were transferred to Brighton; no population or buildings were involved.

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.