Moulsecoomb Place | United At Heart

A story of
Moulsecoomb Place

A GOOD PLACE TO START

(Chapter 1)

Let’s start with the stories.

Stories about a green and pleasant valley a short ride from a seaside town, and a manor house that was refuge from the crowds for a young prince.

Rolling hillsides lined with farms and market gardens, where seeds were sown and crops were gathered, and nothing much changed except the weather and the seasons.

Let’s think about the dream of a town-and-country community, that would offer more space, beauty and opportunity than the town, and more to do than in the country.

A ‘garden city’ with homes fit for heroes, playing fields, big-hearted neighbours and grocery carts bringing vegetables, fruit and flowers from nearby nurseries.

Hodshrove Farm. From the private collection of Mr Howard Bates

The original estate

Moulescoomb has a distinguished history. After passing through the hands of Thomas Cromwell and Anne of Cleves, the estate was bought by a brandy merchant, Benjamin Tillstone, who added an Italianate front to the manor house and laid out formal gardens around it.

ACC 8358 3 3 Benjamin Rogers Tillstone c1899 w

Benjamin Rogers-Tillstone, the owner of Moulsecoomb Place, on a horse-drawn carriage in the 1890s.

King George IV when Prince Regent 1762 1830 by Henry Bone

Royal retreat

In the 1810s, the Prince Regent, later George IV, would sneak away for a relaxing break from the seaside crowds and construction work to finish his beloved Royal Pavilion. With a guard stationed discreetly in a niche in the flint wall south of the manor house, the prince would play the flute in a dovecote that had been specially converted for him into a summer house.

Moulsecoomb Home Farm, 1889

Cultivation meets culture

While the manor house was decorated and gentrified, the land around it was cultivated. Small, market gardening farms sprang up, such as Bates Nursery, which grew green vegetables and root vegetables, fruit trees, flowers and bulbs for decades until it was acquired by Brighton Council for housing.

THE BEST OF INTENTIONS

(Chapter 2)

And let’s not forget the stories of war heroes who built new homes with their bare hands. Of the flight here from seafront slums as Brighton cleaned up its act. Of unchecked housebuilding and an absence of planning. Of a place left behind between prospering town and glorious countryside, neither here nor there. Between Brighton Rock and green hills, a hard place.

Let’s reflect on stories of good intentions unfulfilled. Of a university that became just another place to feel cut-off from, and of two communities living side-by-side, one growing.

Homes fit for heroes

Between the world wars, Brighton Council built hundreds of new homes on land at South Moulsecoomb and later North Moulsecoomb. The developments aimed to reflect the new philosophy of the ‘garden suburb’, offering both the convenience of town living and the space and tranquillity of country life.

Moulsecoomb, 1923

GARDEN
CITY
MOVEMENT

“This lay-out is situated in an exceedingly beautiful hollow in the Downs, and it is due to the steepness of the hillside on which it is situated, that a very informal system of planning has been adopted.”

‘The Site Planning of Housing Schemes’,
The Town Planning Review, Vol. 8, No. 3/4, December 1920

A local attraction

The houses of the early 1920s scheme were designed in a range of styles with generous hedges and lawns, and laid out in long, straight roads with a symmetrical layout to accommodate the gradient of the hillside. A long, wide green to echo the grassy open spaces that ran the length of Sussex villages nestling in hollows in the Downs. From the 1930s to the 1950s, the estate was listed as an attraction in Brighton visitors’ guides.

Designs for living

The layout of the Moulsecoomb schemes was overseen for Brighton Council by professor of town planning Stanley Adshead. His ideas owed much to the work of Ebenezer Howard, who had described a utopian city in which people live harmoniously together with nature. His ‘garden city’ aimed to reduce the alienation of humans and society from nature, by combining the best of town and country.

Ebenezer Howard

Stanley Adshead

Princess Mary tin

A box, originally containing chocolates and cigarettes, given by Princess Mary to all servicemen in France for Christmas 1914 (fighting World War 1). The words on the box are “IMPERIUM BRITANNICUM” at the top, “CHRISTMAS 1914” at the bottom, “FRANCE” on the left and “RUSSIA” on the right. The box was designed by architects Stanley Adshead and Stanley Churchill Ramsey. (Wikipedia)

Type of Gift Box

What was included?

Standard smokers 1914 (inc. Ghurkhas)

Christmas card, Princess Mary picture, lighter (sometimes replaced by alt. small present), pipe, one ounce of tobacco, twenty monogrammed cigarettes.

Standard non-smokers 1914

Christmas card, Princess Mary picture, bullet casing pencil, acid tablets, khaki writing case.

Sikh gift box 1914

Christmas card, Princess Mary picture, tin box of spices.

Bhistis 1914

Christmas card, Princess Mary picture, tin box of spices.

Other Indian Troops 1914

Christmas card, Princess Mary picture, sugar candy, pack of cigarettes, box of spices.

Nurses 1914

Christmas card, Princess Mary picture, chocolate.

Universal box 1915–1918

New Year’s card, pencil.

LOCAL HEROES

(Chapter 3)

Stories about dead ends, deprivation and division, when people needed belonging, heart and hope for growth.

But let’s also hear the tales of inspiration from local heroes and heroines putting time and love into rebuilding the social fabric, making lives and places better against the odds.

New arrivals

In the 1930s, much of Brighton’s unfit housing stock was cleared and replaced with new developments, with many residents rehoused in suburban estates. The arrival of many households labelled ‘problem families’ by the council led to concern among the middle-class and more affluent working-class people who had made their homes in Moulsecoomb.

Bates Estate Construction, 1953

Bates Estate Construction, 1953

“The lack of of social facilities and amenities in the area… left many residents feeling ‘disoriented’ and ‘isolated’.”

Ruby Dunn

Author of Moulsecoomb Days: Learning and Teaching on a Brighton Council Estate, 1922-47

Moulsecoomb memoirs

The families who put down roots in Moulsecoomb after the war had no school or church, but they were proud of their semi-detached homes, electric cookers and ready supply of fruit from nearby nurseries. Ruby Dunn and Sheila Winter were early residents who both penned their own memoirs of the close-knit community from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Memories of Moulsecoomb
Are forever in my mind,
Of loving, caring people
And friends I left behind,
Of playing in the sunshine
Where hopes and dreams were born,
Bird song in the cherry trees
Each day at early dawn.

Memories of laughter
And although we were poor,
Our wealth was in the humour
That dwelt behind each door.

Memories of Moulsecoomb
Will forever stay with me,
Moulsecoomb days
and Moulsecoomb ways
A cherished memory.

SHEILA WINTER

Author of Moulsecoomb Memories

A club for the community

Originally a place to meet for members of the local ratepayers’ association, Moulsecoomb Social Club opened on 7 September 1930 in one room of the 16th century timber-framed building next to the Tithe Barn. A hub of the community, it grew to occupy the whole building, and is still going strong.

A circular influence

Ebenezer Howard himself – and the garden city movement – had been inspired by Henry Solly, the radical social reformer who helped develop the model for the working men’s club in the 1860s and also for the industrial village. Today, Solly’s pioneering and radical ideas are being revived close to where he was educated, in Brighton. At the new Moulsecoomb Place, well-tended green spaces and a social club open to all will take their place again at the heart of community life.

Let's do it ourselves

(Chapter 4)

Stories from thousands of local people, young and old, Moulescoomb veterans and newcomers.

Let’s start with them. Why? Because the stories that happened here didn’t happen anywhere else. They’re the treasure, the seeds, the DNA. They make this place what it is.

And all that it can be.

LET’S
DO IT
OURSELVES

DIY HOMES

An innovative self-build scheme in the mid-1950s helped 40 young couples save money on their new, semi-detached, three-bedroom homes in East Moulsecoomb’s Ashurst Road. Each member contributed £50 at the start of the project and committed to working at least 22 hours a week in their evenings and weekends. Steel reinforcing rods for the concrete were recycled from Conway Street Bus Garage, which was being demolished. These photos were collected by descendants of those involved in the scheme.

A tale of two towns

After the war, day-trippers and holidaymakers arrived in Brighton in their droves from London and beyond, ready to spend money in shops, guesthouses, restaurants, pubs, bars and amusement arcades. Business boomed, and the surge in the student population that came with the opening of the University of Sussex in 1961 added to the town’s fashionable status.

While Brighton got busy catering for visitors and university students, Moulsecoomb was trying to come to terms with a lack of basic local amenities and attractions. Although there were jobs at businesses nearby such as electrical engineering firm Allen West, there was nowhere to go for residents in their free time. The separate development of South, North and East Moulsecoomb had taken place without a clear vision of the district and its residents’ needs, beyond a roof over their heads.

University of Brighton Construction, c. 1960

Allen West employees. From the personal collection of Reg Potter.

Allen West Radar Machine. From the private collection of Peter Groves.

Disunity in the community

The expansion of the then-Brighton College of Technology site nearby and the local student population gave rise to an academic, transient community that was continually passing through the neighbourhood, but existing separately from it. Alongside the lines of semi-detached homes, large, incongruous educational edifices such as the Cockcroft Building were erected.

As Brighton Polytechnic, the institution continued to expand, taking over the giant former Allen West building, Mithras House, in 1977, and building more student accommodation. Students were made welcome, but the sense of a divided community continued to grow among Moulsecoomb’s permanent residents.

Aerial view of the University of Brighton under construction, c. 1970

BACK TO NATURE

(Chapter 5)

And what can it be?

It can be the place it always should have been: a sustainable neighbourhood with a place for everyone, where town meets country, community meets university and borough meets biosphere. A destination in its own right between South Downs and city. A solution to the challenges of today, grown from the roots of yesterday. The piece of the jigsaw that’s been missing for decades.

A green gateway?

In 2014 Unesco chose to designate the Brighton and Lewes Downs as a world biosphere reserve site – one of only seven such sites in the UK. The designation recognises the the richness and quality of the area’s culture, and of its three distinct but interdependent environments: urban, coastal and marine, and rural.

Unesco defines biosphere reserves as ‘learning places for sustainable development’: sites for testing ‘interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and managing changes and interactions between social and ecological systems, including conflict prevention and management of biodiversity’.

At the centre of the biosphere reserve, at the intersection of city and natural landscape, stands Moulsecoomb. The promise made a century ago of capturing the best of town and country has yet to be fulfilled – but in our age of imbalance, the opportunity remains greater than ever.

The green shoots of a more balanced existence are here. The Moulsecoomb Forest Garden and Wildlife Project, for example, was started in 1994 and connects local people with gardening, food and nature. The scheme involves local schoolchildren and excluded pupils in the running of the garden, offers training and volunteering opportunities and promotes sustainable lifestyles. These images are from The Living Coast ©.

The Living Coast includes

Stevewinsor brighton marina underwater 1 2 w800 — 1

Marine Conservation Zone

Southease Views 012 — 2

Rivers

The River Ouse and the River Adur

Aerial map biosphere bing images may 14 w1920 — 3

Environments

Countryside, City & Towns and Coast

Bluebells credit Cary Creed — 14

Sites of Special Scientific Interest

2 are National Nature Reserves

“It means that an area already protected nationally for its special landscapes has been recognised internationally for the importance of its wildlife and the role it can play in improving quality of life and boosting a greener economy for the millions of people who live around it.”

Jeremy Burgess

Eastern Downs Area Manager for the South Downs National Park and Vice-Chair of the Biosphere Partnership

Seedy business

Tales from an allotment shed
Warren Carter

Download

COMING TOGETHER

(Chapter 6)

It can be a place with a heart. A living, breathing place that brings neighbours out of their homes into wide, planted walkways and parks full of colour and trees, to walk the dog, have a kickaround with the kids or find somewhere in the shade for a coffee with a friend.

And, at the heart of everything, the manor house and tithe barn, restored and opened to the community. Historic buildings celebrated, adapted and integrated into a destination for the whole community by complementary, contemporary design. A new pub, restaurant, event space, guest rooms and bar. And a good-as-new social club.

GATHER
ROUND

COMMON
GROUND

SEE YOU TOMORROW

(Chapter 7)

A chance to grow something new and nourishing from what came before, somewhere made for hustle and bustle, chance meetings, culture, creativity, cooperation and fun.

No more ‘Keep out!’; more ‘See you tomorrow!’.

We can do this. We can make this a place of growth and human flourishing again, where the community can reap the rewards of renewal and creative regeneration.

Lots of people are working hard to create that place – to turn a tide of love and hope, ideas and purpose into harmony, wellbeing and opportunity for a whole community. But they can’t do it all on their own. They need support. We’re here to help.

THERE’S
NO PLACE
LIKE HOPE

Our public consultation event last summer

HOW WE GOT HERE

2022 saw Cathedral, the new owners of Moulsecoomb Place, canvass the views and ideas of the local community on their proposals for the site at two large consultation events, in July and October, and bring local people together for a winter fair. Our beautiful vintage Airstream diner arrived on the lawns and, under the brilliant management of Jacob and Kate from Tiger Eats Carrot, is serving up delicious plant-based food and drinks as well as hosting events on site - find them on Instagram for more!

Instagram

THIS IS WHAT WE DO

(Chapter 8)

We hear you.

Who are we? And, come to think of it, why on earth should you trust us to make any of this happen?

You don’t have to look far.

At Preston Barracks, we created the blueprint for more than 300 new homes, a medical centre, shops, green spaces and traffic-free routes, as well as the new bridge over Lewes Road. We’ve also contributed more than £2m to local community projects, like Moulescoomb Community Leisure Centre, Carden Park’s new games area and local allotments.

And at Circus Street in Brighton, we turned a derelict food market into homes, offices, cafés and gardens, creating a completely new, contemporary quarter for the city.

PRESTON
BARRACKS

Plus X at Preston Barracks

Plus X at Preston Barracks

CIRCUS
STREET

FOR LOCALS, BY LOCALS

(Chapter 9)

We do community-led regeneration, not by bulldozing through a blueprint dreamt up far away, but by working with local people to maximise the social and economic payback of the places they care about.

And wherever we go, we start the same way: with the stories. By being inspired by the people who know a place best, allowing the past to speak to the future, and letting something better take root.

We’ve heard about Moulescoomb’s yesterdays. Now let’s make a better tomorrow.

Let’s start here.

A CHANCE
FOR CHANGE

A chance for change

The abundance on Moulsecoomb’s doorstep makes the inequality and lack of opportunity felt within the neighbourhood that much harder to bear. But there are more than enough local people, groups and businesses working together to bring about change and improve health and wellbeing, connecting the community with better spaces, facilities and activities.

There’s a lot of positive things happening already within the neighbourhood. As The Bevy has shown, every community needs places to come together, to rub shoulders, bump into friends and feel a sense of identity and unity. In any Moulsecoomb future, places like these have a massive part to play.

Which is why the plans for Moulsecoomb Place are a chance for change – a chance to create exciting new facilities and green spaces at the heart of the community, with local people in mind. Places to walk, sit, eat, drink, work, get fit, take part, get involved, put up a pop-up or watch a show. Places to feel good and feel proud.

Bell Lodges by Jim Stephenson 7 3000x1934

A GOOD PLACE TO START

Let’s start with the stories.

Stories about a green and pleasant valley a short ride from a seaside town, and a manor house that was refuge from the crowds for a young prince.

Rolling hillsides lined with farms and market gardens, where seeds were sown and crops were gathered, and nothing much changed except the weather and the seasons.

Let’s think about the dream of a town-and-country community, that would offer more space, beauty and opportunity than the town, and more to do than in the country.

A ‘garden city’ with homes fit for heroes, playing fields, big-hearted neighbours and grocery carts bringing vegetables, fruit and flowers from nearby nurseries.

Hodshrove Farm. From the private collection of Mr Howard Bates

The original estate

Benjamin Rogers-Tillstone, the owner of Moulsecoomb Place, on a horse-drawn carriage in the 1890s.

Royal retreat

Moulsecoomb Home Farm, 1889

UnitedAtHeart

The original estate

Royal retreat

Cultivation meets culture

Homes fit for heroes

A local attraction

Designs for living

Princess Mary tin

Type of Gift Box

What was included?

New arrivals

Ruby Dunn

Moulsecoomb memoirs

SHEILA WINTER

A club for the community

A circular influence

sheila winter

DIY HOMES

A tale of two towns

Disunity in the community

A green gateway?

The Living Coast includes

Marine Conservation Zone

Rivers

Environments

Sites of Special Scientific Interest

Jeremy Burgess

Seedy business

HOW WE GOT HERE

A chance for change

The original estate

Royal retreat

Cultivation meets culture

United
At
Heart