Judy Middleton 2001 (revised 2019)
 |
copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museum,
Brighton & Hove
c.1850 "View of Hove" by George Hilditch,
showing Hove's Old Parish Church of St Andrew's. The open land beyond Hove Street is Aldrington which was virtually
depopulated up to the boundary with Portslade.
|
Background
In 1086 Aldrington had a population of 73 and
astonishingly this remained the highest figure until 1881 when the
census revealed the population had risen to 144. From 1801 to 1831
nobody lived in the parish at all and the one person recorded in 1841
was most probably the toll-house keeper.
There is rather a lovely story about the toll-house keeper. Apparently, he had a peg leg and so it could be argued that Aldrington had three-quarters of an inhabitant.
There is rather a lovely story about the toll-house keeper. Apparently, he had a peg leg and so it could be argued that Aldrington had three-quarters of an inhabitant.
The population began to grow in the 1870s when new
houses were built, and this was accelerated by the sale of the
Aldrington Estate in 1876 for £155,000. By 1891 the population had
risen to 2,238.
 |
| copyright © D. Sharp This drawing based on a late 1850s map shows the Parish of Aldrington virtually depopulated and showing a detached area of the Parish of Portslade in the centre of Aldrington. This ‘landlocked island’ of Portslade including Wish Cottage was bordered by the modern day roads of New Church Road, Portland Villas, Portland Road and Woodhouse Road. In 1883 this detached area of Portslade was absorbed into the Parish of Aldrington. The London, Brighton & South Coast Railway was built in 1844. Copperas Gap was later renamed Portslade by Sea. |
Amalgamation
The growing population created the difficult
problem of how the area should be administered. Therefore on 25 June
1891 a poll was taken of the landowners and ratepayers of Aldrington
to decide whether or not ‘it is expedient that the said parish of
Aldrington shall be constituted a Local Government District’. The
resolution was passed with 235 people voting for it while 98 people
voted against it. The immediate reaction to this was that two
petitions were despatched to East Sussex County Council demanding
instead that Hove and Aldrington should be amalgamated.
One petition was from the executors and trustees
of the late Joseph Harris Stretton. It stated that the majority of
the inhabitants who voted for the resolution only owned
modestly-priced property whereas they had much more at stake, namely
ownership of land worth £90,000. They were also first mortgagees of
other lands to secure loans of £20,000, and they held 600 shares out
of 2,000 shares in the Aldrington Estate Waterworks.
The other petition was signed by the following:
William John Arthur Charles, Duke of Portland
Lieutenant-General James Frankfort Manners Browne
Colonel Charles Greville
Edward Horsman Bailey
The Duke, Browne, and Bailey owned land with an
estimated value of £40,000, and Greville and Bailey owned land of
equivalent value.
However, East Sussex County Council would not be
stampeded into a quick decision. The relevant committee could not
recommend that Aldrington should be converted into a Local Board
District until it could be ascertained if fair and reasonable terms
might be forthcoming in regard to an amalgamation with Hove.
A committee of Aldrington owners, occupiers and
ratepayers was set up to discuss the matter with Hove Commissioners.
The committee was composed of the following:
Colonel Hough
Councillor Blaker
Messrs Clarke
W. A. Hounsom
W. C. Hammond
J, E. Turner
Arthur Lewis
 |
| copyright © G. Osborne With thanks to Mr G. Osborne for granting permission for the reproduction of the above photograph. The construction of St Leonard’s Road and the house building programme was began in the early 1890s before the amalgamation with Hove. |
The terms of the proposed amalgamation as decided
in September 1892 were as follows:
Street Works
– The following street works would be carried out forthwith by the
Hove Commissioners,
New Church Road to be kerbed and channelled,
footpaths made, and 14 additional lamps provided
Shoreham Road (now Kingsway) 24 additional lamps
should be installed
The road to the National School (in Portland Road)
should be made passable
Westbourne Villas should be declared a public
highway
The following streets should be metalled -
Clarendon
Villas Road
Cowper
Street
Montgomery
Street
St
Leonard’s Road
Upper
Westbourne Street
Wordsworth
Street
Recreation
Ground
– Hove Commissioners should purchase within the parish not less
than ten acres of land to be used as a Recreation Ground, providing
that the land could be obtained at a cost not exceeding £400 an
acre.
Rates
– After five years, or as soon as the street works have been
completed, the general district rate should be the same in both
districts.
Representation
– Aldrington should be divided into three wards.
It is interesting to note in passing how generous
the Hove Commissioners were in their terms to Aldrington. What a
contrast to their sense of fair play with what happened in 1997 when
Hove and Portslade were forcibly amalgamated with Brighton and there
was absolutely no benefit to Hove and Portslade whatever, quite the
reverse in fact. Indeed, a town poll of Hove residents revealed that
77 per cent were against amalgamation. Public acceptability was
supposed to be one of the crucial criteria, but the powers-that-be
chose to ignore it in this case.
Public Inquiries
East Sussex County Council was thorough in its
approach to the issue, and directed that a Public Inquiry should be
held at Hove Town Hall on 18 November 1892.
This was followed by a second Public Inquiry held
at the same venue on 7 March 1893.
Amalgamation
The amalgamation of Hove and Aldrington took place
on 26 September 1893.
 |
| copyright © Brighton & Hove Libraries |
The coat of arms of Hove Council granted in 1899 included emblems
of Hove, the first quarter shield is dedicated to the original Parish Church of Hove – with the cross of St Andrew, the second quarter shows shackles on a red field denoting the Parish Church of Aldrington
- St Leonard the Patron Saint of all prisoners. The lower section of
‘arms’ represent the de Warrene family, the Rape of Lewes and six
martlets the emblems of Sussex. The ship, which is ashore on a shingle
beach, represents a 16th century French galley and commemorates French
attacks on the coast of Hove. The inclusion of a knight’s helmet is of
unknown origins.
Hove’s motto was 'FLOREAT HOVA' - ‘May Hove flourish’
The Three Wards
Rutland Ward
– It shared the same north boundary as the parish. On the west side
it was bounded by a line running from the south-west corner of the
parish of West Blatchington to the north-west corner of Hove Cemetery, and from there along the west boundary of Hove Cemetery to
the east boundary of land belonging to the Stretton trustees. On the
south it was bounded by the centre of New Church Road, and on the
east by the parish boundary.
St Leonard’s
– It shared the same north boundary as the parish; on the west side
it reached to Station Road; on the south side it stretched to the
beach, and on the east side it was bounded by the Wish and Rutland
wards.
Wish
– It was bounded on the north side by the middle of New Church
Road; on the west it was bounded by the east boundary of land
belonging to the Stretton trustees, then along Kingsway to the Adur Hotel,
then running south along the east end of Aldrington Basin to the
beach.
Licences
Before the amalgamation there had been no
licensing authority in Aldrington to deal with hackney carriages.
Therefore, Hove Commissioners decided to grant licences at once
rather than waiting until the annual licensing meeting. In October
1893 licences were issued to the following:
John
Chapman, 1 Arthur Street, for one 1st
class landau
William
Lake, 2 Westbourne Mews, for one 1st
class landau, and one 2nd
class victoria
James
Lewis, 4 Lion Mews, for two 1st
class landaus
 |
| copyright
© D.Sharp This drawing based on a 1896 map shows the location of the brickfield and the late Victorian housing development of Aldrington, Portland Road surface had not yet been extended to Portslade. Aldrington's boundary with Portslade runs down the centre of Station Road. |
First Aldrington Councillors
The first Aldrington councillors were elected in
November 1893 and were as follows:
Rutland
Edward William Hammond
William Allin Hounson
Samuel William Luke
St Leonard’s
Arthur Nye
William Henry Benham
Ernest William Sadler
Wish
Lewis Hough
Arthur Lewis
Edmund John Ockenden
 |
| copyright © Historic England Even by 1929 Aldrington was still largely undeveloped, apart for the roads around St Leonard's Church in the top left-hand corner and houses in Portland Road in the top right corner |
Middleton J, Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade
Hove Council Minute Books
Copyright © J.Middleton 2019
page layout and additional research by D. Sharp.