The history portal for Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England
You don’t often see photos as good as this of this side of the High Street that include Rayleigh House (the tall building that became Barclays Bank) and the pre Co-op building, extreme right. Rayleigh House was the earlier home of shipbuilder/Swiss Gardens creator J.W.Britten Balley before he moved to Longcroft.
Victims of the 1930’s High Street widening were these two characterful buildings. Behind them was the old ship building yard that later became Suter’s yacht yard.
Brook Harrison’s circa 1920’s paintings:-
To see some of Brook Harison’s Shoreham paintings visit here.
We’ve seen the black & white photos of the Kingston 18th century buildings and others at the time of their demolishing but here are a few coloured snaps that despite their dilapidated condition look almost attractive due to the colouring. Some will remember the café, a convenient rendezvous spot for local bikers due to the ample parking in the gap between it and the Kingston Inn.
Nelson writes:
East Street as it was with added close ups from our collections. Ellman Brown Estate Agents where the Tap House is now. George Hedgecock’s shoe shop now home to Teddy’s. Today’s Toast on the Coast replaces Arthur Eade’s bakery and in place of the East Street Arms is…. well nothing really, just a seat on the pavement on the side of La Patisserie.
Nelson writes:
In the Sussex Archaeological Society’s Bob Hill Collection there are these two photos. One is of a mock-tudor house fronting on to a field(?) of maize and Lancing College in the background but there is no description. The other is of a man cropping maize in a field that the accompanying notes say was on the north side of Upper Shoreham Road between what is now Downsway and Buckingham Avenue.
Were both photos taken in close proximity to each other? Where is that house now?
Before Connaught Avenue was extended in the 1930’s and joined to the southern end “elm trees up to four feet in diameter stood in the middle of the road above Colvill Avenue up to the bend. You could walk either side of them.” (Nora Snelling, nee Hatcher, Connaught Avenue resident b.1910)
Nelson writes:
For a few years what remained of the High Street market house, a canopy on ten columns, was rebuilt in East Street in the 1820’s before being removed again….. the 1828 map is the only map that shows it’s footprint.
