Eradication in the early 20th century

Photo of Sun Street (demolished in 1933)
From the private collection of Tony Tree

The eradication of the worst of Brighton Slums started in the Victorian Period and continued throughout the first two thirds of the twentieth century.

Definition of a slum
Slums were considered to be houses built of inferior quality material with poor sanitation however many disagreed on what constituted a slum and were not happy that they were going to be re housed in new modern flats and houses located in the Moulsecoomb and Whitehawk area. An old woman of a row of cottages on Leicester Street was offended that her house, which she felt so fortunate to live in, was described as a slum (David Arscott,2002).

Extremely poor conditions
Some slum areas in Brighton included places around Carlton Hill, Albion Hill, Eastern Rd (Ken Fines, 2002) and houses that use to occupy the area of today’s Churchill Square. Most of the houses had insect infestations as well as toilet and cold water washing facilities only available in the back yard. However for many there was a secure life style that went with living in the slum areas of Brighton, which included a strong community spirit.

Comments about this page

  • My father Bill Reeves and his 3 brothers, George, John and Jim, were born and grew up in Sun Street. When I was a child my father used to tell me that they drove their mother mad by swinging on a gas light attached to front of the house. It could be the one in the picture – nice thought.

    By Jim Reeves (11/03/2005)
  • My great great grandparents ran the Star Tavern pub from mid 1870s to the mid 1920s. This was on the corner of Sun Street and 95 Carlton Hill.

    By Paul (19/10/2017)
  • My grandfather lived at 99, Sun Street with his father, mother, uncle and aunt – they were from Italy. They weren’t there long because he had two sisters die from TB and they moved back to Italy, and then came to America. 

    By Lorrie Frezza Perkins (27/06/2018)
  • Sun Street

    Click on the link below and the year you are interested in

    http://www.mhms.org.uk/search/apachesolr_search/Sun%20street

    By Paul (09/03/2019)

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