Westdene

Coordinates: 50°51′33″N 0°09′41″W / 50.859305°N 0.161507°W / 50.859305; -0.161507
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Westdene
East Sussex
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UK
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East Sussex
50°51′33″N 0°09′41″W / 50.859305°N 0.161507°W / 50.859305; -0.161507

Westdene is an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. It is an affluent northern suburb of the city, west of Patcham, the A23 (London Road) and the London to Brighton railway line, north of Withdean and northeast of West Blatchington. It is on the Brighton side of the historic parish boundary between Brighton and Hove and is served by Preston Park railway station. It is known for its greenery and woodland and is very close to the South Downs, from which it is separated by the Brighton Bypass, and was built on the slopes of two hills.[1]

History

The first part of the suburb to be developed was part of Valley Drive, on which around 30 houses were built in the

Second World War intervened, and most of the building work took place in the 1950s.[1][3]

Small greens and open spaces were provided, as were some shopping facilities. The central green was the site of a short-lived bowling green, and an 18th-century barn that was part of a farm survived on the site until the mid-1960s.[1][4]

Sussex County Football League and the Combined Counties Football League, winning the latter in the 2002–03 season, before going out of existence in 2004.[5]

Notable buildings and areas

The area has a church, a public library and a primary school. The Church of the Ascension is part of the parish of All Saints Church, Patcham,[6] and was opened in February 1958; John Wells-Thorpe built the brick and glass structure.[1] The school dates from 1961 and the library was opened in March 1964.[1][4]

Waterhall Mill

Waterhall (Patcham) Mill, off Mill Road, Waterhall

Waterhall Mill, also known as Westdene Mill or Patcham Windmill, is a disused tower mill. It is on the slopes of Coney Hill just north of Westdene. It was built in 1885 by James Holloway of Shoreham, and is believed to be the last brick windmill built in Sussex. Two of the staircases are said to have originated in St Paul's Cathedral. In World War II it was used by the Home Guard as a lookout post. Waterhill Mill was awarded Grade II listed status by English Heritage on 13 October 1952. It was converted into a domestic house in 1964.[7][8]

Waterhall

Varncombe Hill

Waterhall (TQ 284 087), an area of football and rugby pitches. It is sandwiched between Saddlescombe Road and the A23 which runs north to London. The

Brighton rugby club
is situated at the west end.

The old Waterhall Golf Course

Waterhall from Devil's Dyke Road, Brighton (when still a Golf Course))

To the north of the club is the old Waterhall Golf Course, which was given over to rewilding in 2021.

sarsen stone (TQ 278 090) marking this point in the medieval boundary between Patcham and West Blatchington parishes.[10]

Varncombe Hill

Bridleway down Varncombe Hill

At the north end of the old Golf Course is Varncombe Hill which borders the

Access Land, though some have argued that they should have done.[10]

Sweet Hill

Sweet Hill, near Patcham, Brighton, The old farm house

The tracks rising to the east of Waterhall take you to Sweet Hill. The Hill has a flowery bank on its western slope (TQ 286 091), a bushy lynchet and an old dewpond site on its brow. The track joins a branch of the Mid Sussex Sussex Border Path and continues northwest to the Newtimber parish leaving Pangdean Bottom and the Pyecombe parish to the north east.

Pangdean Bottom

Rail and road bridges, Pangdean

Pangdean Bottom is the west of the A23 and is rented by a tenant farmer from

gorse.[10]

In July 2021 the Sussex-based 'Landscapes of Freedom' group, together with Nick Hayes and Guy Shrubsole of the 'Right to Roam' network, organised a mass trespass in protest against the lack of public access to this valley and its management for game bird shooting, which has badly affected its chalk grassland wildlife.[11] Over three hundred people walked from Waterhall, Brighton, to Pangdean Bottom in protest.[12] The public are actively discouraged from walking in the area and scrub has been allowed to grow on the pristine downland, whilst other parts have been ploughed out.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Carder 1990, §206.
  2. ^ Fisher, David (27 November 2006). "Withdean/Westdene: The Tudorbethan style". My Brighton and Hove website. My Brighton and Hove (c/o QueenSpark Books). Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  3. ^ a b Fisher, David (22 March 2006). "Withdean/Westdene: History of Westdene Estate". My Brighton and Hove website. My Brighton and Hove (c/o QueenSpark Books). Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  4. ^ a b Fisher, David (22 March 2006). "Withdean/Westdene: History of Westdene Estate: 2". My Brighton and Hove website. My Brighton and Hove (c/o QueenSpark Books). Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  5. ^ "Withdean 2000" (PDF). Nomad Online: the Directory of Sussex Non League Football. Centre Circle Publishing. 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
  6. ^ "Diocese of Chichester: Benefice of Patcham All Saints". Diocese of Chichester website. The Bishop’s Council of the Diocese of Chichester. 2001. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  7. ^ Historic England (2007). "Patcham Windmill, Mill Road (south side), Brighton, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex (1381798)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 5 May 2009.
  8. ^ "Patcham mill is £1m home". The Argus (Brighton). 23 February 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.
  9. ^ "'Wild cats to elephants, hippopotamus and wolves' - rewilding a golf course". The Argus. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  10. ^
    OCLC 701098669
    .
  11. .
  12. ^ "Hundreds attend mass trespass for the right to roam". The Argus. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  13. ^ "'Mass Trespass' tradition given new lease of life". Morning Star. 30 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2021.

Bibliography

  • Carder, Timothy (1990). The Encyclopaedia of Brighton. Lewes: East Sussex County Libraries. .