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Promenading 1930s
This picture is from around 1930 looking west from in front of the since-demolished Esplanade Hotel just a little way from where you are standing. Seaford’s south coast location is possibly its greatest resource. It has drawn visitors, even the rich and famous, from the stone age to today.

Note that the shingle beach was then some twenty steps down from the road due to the actions of our very energetic wind-blown sea. Unsurprisingly, our town motto, ‘E Ventis Vires’, translates as ‘From the wind – strength’.

The winch on the shore would have been used to haul boats onto the beach. Fishing was a local industry, and our shrimps were famous.

Why a weighing scale is sitting on the pavement in the middle of the picture remains a mystery.

Seaford Museum, housed in the Martello Tower a few paces from you, is well worth a visit to see the varied display of Seaford memorabilia and social history artefacts. We open on weekends and Bank Holidays (except Christmas Day) from 11am-4pm and on Wednesdays from 2-4pm.

Broad Street 1920s
It’s difficult to believe that our main shopping street originally consisted of large dwelling houses.

To the right of the picture is the Old Tree Hotel at the corner of High Street. Thought to have been named because it was once the site of the town pillory where apprehended criminals would be ‘locked and mocked’, the building was knocked down in 1965.

The Congregational Church far away in the centre was built in 1877 and still serves the community.

The trees were planted in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. During WWII, the trunks were ringed with white paint to reduce the chance of motorists hitting them in the blackout.

Traffic appears sparse in this ‘20s picture. Once the houses gave way to shops, traffic inevitably increased, and parking was restricted to one side on even dates and the opposite side on odd. One-way traffic had to be introduced in 1992.

Esplanade 1910
A seafront scene facing west towards Newhaven. Originally taken in black and white, the original would have been tinted by the postcard maker. Ladies, dressed in their Edwardian finery, would promenade (from the French word for walk), hoping to be admired by all.

Note the tents erected on the beach, the precursors of the beach huts we see today. The beached boats may well have been used to give holidaymakers joyrides on the water.

The wooden groynes stretching out into the sea were intended to stabilise the beach. Today, you would need more than a bucket and spade to find their remains under several feet of shingle.

Morning dip 1903
The ‘huts’ on wheels are bathing machines. Ladies could preserve their modesty by changing into their bathing attire in the privacy of the machine before being wheeled into the shallows so that they could slip into the water away from prying eyes. At similar resorts, horses could have been used to pull the machines in and out of the sea. A restored bathing machine is amongst the interesting displays in Seaford Museum which is housed in the Martello Tower beside you.

Our beach faces south-west towards South America with little to shelter it from the predominant winds from that direction, yet the town generally enjoys its own pleasant mini climate. Mind you, extremes of weather can still strike, as happened in 1875 when a sea surge reached the steps of the Parish Church in the centre of town.

Seaford Museum is well worth a visit to see the varied display of Seaford memorabilia and social history artefacts. We open on weekends and Bank Holidays (except Christmas Day) from 11am-4pm and on Wednesdays from 2-4pm.

The long bit

Esplanade 1910

A seafront scene facing west towards Newhaven. Originally taken in black and white, the original would have been tinted by the postcard maker. Ladies, dressed in their Edwardian finery, would promenade (from the French word for walk), hoping to be admired by all.

Note the tents erected on the beach, the precursors of the beach huts we see today. The beached boats may well have been used to give holidaymakers joyrides on the water.

The wooden groynes stretching out into the sea were intended to stabilise the beach. Today, you would need more than a bucket and spade to find their remains under several feet of shingle.

Morning dip 1903

The ‘huts’ on wheels are bathing machines. Ladies could preserve their modesty by changing into their bathing attire in the privacy of the machine before being wheeled into the shallows so that they could slip into the water away from prying eyes. At similar resorts, horses could have been used to pull the machines in and out of the sea. A restored bathing machine is amongst the interesting displays in Seaford Museum which is housed in the Martello Tower beside you.

Tower 1905

The Martello Tower at your shoulder dates from around 1810. Manned by an officer and 24 soldiers from the long-gone nearby battery fort, it was intended as a defence against invasion by the forces of Napoleon, but it never saw action. Since then it has been used as a signal station, quarters for Customs officers in operations against smugglers and accommodation for the sappers who, in 1850, were brought in to blast off part of the cliff to function as a defence, unsuccessfully, against coastal erosion.

It was briefly a museum in the 1880s before it was bought by Tom Funnell, a local entrepreneur, and turned into a tearoom and roller-skating attraction. Half of the dry moat was covered in the 1930s to provide continuation of the promenade. Tom built a flat on the roof as you can see in the nearby photograph.

During WWII, the War Department requisitioned the tower as a machine-gun post after which it was bought by the local council. The tower and moat have housed the displays of the local museum since 1979.

Splash Point Hotel

The building in the top, left of the picture began life as Cliff Cottage around 1897, a seaside retreat for a wealthy London family, the Fleming Baxters. Over time it changed hands, at one time being owned by the parents of teenaged Richard Addinsell, future composer of the Warsaw Concerto.

In the late ‘20s, it became Cliff House and, from 1931-39, accommodation for the Friendship Holidays Association or, as it became saucily known, the ‘find a husband association’.

It served as an army cookhouse in WWII, then opened as the Splash Point Hotel in 1947. Described as ‘disused’ in 1959, it passed through several owners, each with their grand plans for the place but by the mid-‘60s it had been demolished, leaving all but the enigmatic brick wall overlooking the bay.

The basket chair in the foreground gives a clue that Seaford drew visitors looking to improve their health with its bracing sea air. It’s no surprise that these potential health benefits were a magnet for the establishment of over 100 schools, mostly independent, in the town between 1780 and the present day.

Church St 1920s

The Parish Church of St Leonard’s has dominated the skyline since the 11th Century. Note the roofed shelter on its boundary, over the lych gate. So called after the archaic name for a corpse, it’s where the coffin would rest, awaiting the clergyman to conduct the funeral.

The two pubs on the right, The Old Plough and the Crown, although much changed, are still popular.

The plumbers and builders on the left were H Green & Son. No guessing who painted their shop sign! First recorded there in 1914, they remained until the morning of April 1st 1941 when a bombing raid took the life of Alfred Boswell from the neighbouring Kennard’s Creamery and devastated many of the other buildings in the area, damaging others including the church. The Post office, Police Station & Tourist Information Centre now occupy the site.

Martello Tower 1970s

The tower was built around 1810, the easternmost of a string of coastal defences against the invasion by Napoleon that never materialised. Following a century of mixed functions as a signal station, Customs office and military accommodation, local entrepreneur Tom Funnell bought the building in 1911 and turned it into an amusement attraction with tearoom, roller-skating rink and public baths. In 1922 he constructed a flat for himself on the roof. Tom died in 1955 and the flat remained until it was removed in 1978, a year before Seaford Museum moved, from West House in the town centre, to occupy the tower and the section of moat that was covered in the 1930s as a continuation of the promenade.

The Buckle

Until Hawth Hill was cut through in 1963, the A259 ran alongside Seaford beach, past the Buckle Inn. An 1823 map shows a public house at that location and the inn is named on an 1883 map.

Whilst the inn would have been ideally placed to catch passing trade, you can see from this photograph, dated November 1924, that it was vulnerable to the ravages of the weather. Shingle is piled against the wall, repairs are being made to the roof, and the roadside has been wrecked. Long-time Seafordians will recall the days of picking their way in order to progress through layers of sand and pebbles deposited over the main road by the mountainous winter waves.

The Inn was demolished in 1962 and business was transferred to the new building behind. This is now a private residence.

1919 Place Lane

A wonderful frozen moment in time. Where to begin? The photo was almost certainly taken on or around Empire Day (now Commonwealth Day), May 24th. This would have been the 100th birthday of the late Queen Victoria, Head of the British Empire.

On the corner of Place Lane, then the main road between Newhaven and Eastbourne, and Church Road, Mr Sewell from Brighton has set up his popular fish stall.

The defiant “No Draw” quote from Prime Minister David Lloyd George relates to WWI which was to officially end the following month with the Treaty of Versailles. The cartoon takes a snipe at Admiral Von Tirpitz, former head of the German Imperial Navy, alluding to his failure to secure victory.

The man on the right holds a copy of the Daily News, a national newspaper founded in 1896 by Charles Dickens. Under the chairmanship of Edward Cadbury, chocolate magnate, the paper merged and became the News Chronicle in 1930, 30 years before being absorbed into the Daily Mail.

SHOP HISTORY NOTES

L Cameron & Son Ltd.

L Cameron is Seaford’s oldest existing business. The shop was established in High Street by Mark Wynter as Seaford Pharmacy in 1855. Some 30 years later, he moved to Broad Street. Its location next to Hurdis House, then a doctor’s practice, was a shrewd move.

Meanwhile, Lauchlan Cameron grew up and trained as a druggist in Brighton and he bought the Broad Street pharmacy business in 1899. He supplied the many local private schools with medicines and toiletries and did well. In 1927 Lauchlan had made enough money to have a substantial house, Ness House, now number 42, built in Sutton Park Road, opposite the present war memorial.

Lauchlan was a founder member of the Seaford Masonic Lodge in 1902. He died in 1944 but the shop perpetuates his family trading name, with the addition of ‘& Son’, alongside its original epithet as Seaford Pharmacy.

Empire Cinema

Built in Sutton Road in 1913 to seat 500 people on two levels, stalls and balcony, it was described as “the pinnacle of kinematographic perfection”. The owner of the building was Charles Bravery, an influential local businessman whose business interests were supervised by his son C Victor Bravery. Victor did not run the Empire, but leased it to 20-year-old Oscar Deutsch, later founder of the Odeon cinema chain.

The cost of Bravery’s Empire cinema was £1,975 and it measured 72ft deep by 32ft wide. Programmes included silent films and live entertainment on stage.

Tragedy struck early on March 1st 1939 when it was engulfed in fire. The local volunteer fire brigade attended swiftly but fireman Fred Mace lost his life from injuries sustained when the escape ladder beneath him was blown to the ground in high winds. The space left after removal of the ruins of the building is now a small car park.

The Museum has published booklets about the history of Seaford cinemas and about Fireman Mace that may be purchased from our gift shop.

The Buckle

Until Hawth Hill was cut through in 1963, the A259 ran alongside Seaford beach, past the Buckle Inn. An 1823 map shows a public house at that location and the inn is named on an 1883 map.

The inn would have been ideally placed to catch passing trade, but it was vulnerable to the ravages of the weather. Long-time Seafordians will recall the days of picking their way in order to progress through layers of sand and pebbles deposited over the main road by the mountainous winter waves.

The Inn was demolished in 1962 and business was transferred to the new building behind. This is now a private residence.

Buckland

Edward Buckland served his apprenticeship with Dixons (now Currys) before working in George Jakens’ radio and electricals shop in High Street. In 1963, at the age of 34, he decided to open an independent shop in Church Road selling cameras and photographic supplies. He built a reputation as a photographer and was a founder member of Seaford Photographic Society. Following his death at the age of 60, he was described as ‘a very helpful member of society’.

R Snushall

Records from 1909 show 33 year old Richard Snushall’s business as a draper, i.e. trader in fabric and clothing, and undertaker. The shop sat boldly at 1 Gloster Place, on the corner of Church Road and Dane Road.

By 1940, they had given up the funeral directing part of the business. As suppliers of school uniforms, they must have laughed all the way to the bank as Seaford was a favoured location for scores of schools, attracted by the bracing sea air and availability of suitable sites. Information on these schools is on display elsewhere in this museum.

A Wynne

Once a local forge and stables, number 3 Place Lane became a wine merchant’s in the early 20th century. Albert Wynne jointly ran a hardware business with Mr Pawson at 30 Broad Street from the 1920s before striking out on his own. In 1933, he purchased the off-licence which he turned into an Aladdin’s cave of treasures for DIY enthusiasts.

Under a succession of owners, the business survived in Place Lane, relatively unchanged, until it was brought down by Covid 19 after 90 years. Anything in the hardware line could almost certainly have been purchased there. If you needed a hinge and four screws, no need to buy a box of 100, you could get just what you needed, carefully counted out into a brown paper bag. They prided themselves that if they didn’t have it, they’d get it, or tell you where you could find it. The firm of Wynne’s continues to serve the needs of gardeners from their store at Cradle Hill.

Albert was also a hobby chemist. After he died in 1977, his house was found to hold over 800 containers of chemicals, many so highly dangerous that it was said that they could have burned the house down as well as fatally poisoning the entire population of Seaford.

Bravery & Sons

The family name of Bravery is woven into Seaford’s history. Local directories covering the first half of the last century show the family was involved in, at least, trading in furniture, china, antiques, marine equipment and metal. Add to that being estate agents and surveyors, running the Sunny Rise Nursery in Alfriston Road, building and managing the Empire Cinema and being carriers, including providing passenger transport by pony chaise and dog cart.

Their huge shop in Burlington House on the corner of Broad Street and Sutton Road was their furnishing trade base for over 70 years.

H E Hawke

Records from 1900 show 37 year old Londoner Henry Edmonds Hawke’s watchmaker’s shop at 41, High Street. The addition in 1902 of optician to his business was short lived, as was Mrs Hawke’s sideline as an agent receiving laundry on behalf of the Brighton branch of the London and Brighton Laundries between 1902 and 1906. In 1910, Henry shuffled along the road to number 39 where he seems to have established himself firmly as a supplier and repairer of clocks and watches.

As the town centre evolved from a residential to a more commercial area, Henry moved to number 24 in the busier Broad Street around 1913.

Although he died at the end of 1915, the business survived until 1932 under the same name.

J H Herbert (toys)

This stationer’s and fancy repository, run since 1900 by J H Herbert, was at 4 Gloster Place, next to the Terminus Hotel. You won’t find either anymore. The Terminus, appropriately named as it was built to accommodate visitors arriving by rail, was most recently The Shore until closure in 2022. Gloster Place was a short stretch between the hotel and Church Street. Until 1903, Telsamaure Road ran seaward from the hotel before being renamed as the current Dane Road.

In 1903, Mr Herbert diversified his business to include agency for the Imperial Insurance Company. The agency seems to have taken off as, by 1905, Mrs M Herbert took over running the shop.

The stationery business had been handed over to Mr P C Rankin by 1909.

W Broadbridge

Walter James Broadbridge followed his father into the hairdressing profession. Born in Brighton, one of six children, Walter set up in Church Street at the age of 26 as one of only two hairdressers recorded here in 1900.

He seems to have found it difficult to settle as by 1902 his business moved from number 15 to 18 and, by the following year, he disappears from the Seaford directory, reappearing on the 1911 census, still hairdressing, living in a red-brick terrace in Tottenham.

W Beal

With her long-standing business, established in 1887, Mrs Beal appears in the directories for some 65 years. The business was listed mainly as a draper (trader in clothing), with occasional additions of hosier (stockings and socks), milliner (hats), boot seller and outfitter. Mrs Beal occupied a prime site in High Street on the corner of Saxon Lane. Around 1910, High Street was renumbered, so the shop became 26-28 after decades of being numbers 10-11.

Around 1938, ‘& Sons’ was added to the trading name but, with neighbouring premises, the shop became a victim of the wrecking ball around 1964.

Miss Jocelyn

This lady’s small dressmaking business can be traced to number 8 Melbourne Terrace from 1906, so possibly she worked from home. Her last entry in the directory is in 1920, by which time the address had been renumbered as 51 Broad Street North. It’s likely that she was known as Lizzie but tracing her has proved difficult. If you have any additional information on this display, or anything else in the Museum, we’d be pleased to hear from you.

Lamberth & Early

Although built to withstand a battering from Napoleon’s forces, the Tower’s defences are insufficient to keep out a more persistent enemy – water. When the rain seeped in and ruined our earlier replica shop, the subsequent rebuild in 2022 was planned and carried out by our own team of craftsmen. The new shop has been named in appreciation of the significant contributions of Brian Early and the late Tony Lamberth.

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