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High Street: Trellis Restaurant

Please note that this text is an extract from a reference work written in 1990.  As a result, some of the content may not reflect recent research, changes and events.

This, the main village street connecting the gap with the Green, retains many old buildings to the north of the crossroads, but has been radically redeveloped to the south. The south-eastern side near the gap was known as the ‘Quarter-Deck’ because of its marine outlook, but the flats of St Margarets, designed by Richard Jones, were erected in 1938 by the Saltdean Estate Company, and Highcliff Court was added in 1967; St Margarets was damaged by a bomb on 18 December 1942. Opposite stands the White Horse, formerly an important coaching inn and meeting place for the villagers, and also a centre for cock-fighting and bull-baiting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The 300-year-old inn was known as the King of Prussia for a time, but was demolished in 1934 and replaced by the present large hotel.
The first modern intrusion was the north-eastern corner of the crossroads. The car-park opposite lies on the site of a terrace of red-brick houses and the Royal Oak public house, all demolished in the 1930s. No.17 Marine Drive nearby is known as the Poet’s House and was the home of poet Sir William Watson (1858-1935).

c) TRELLIS RESTAURANT, no.39: Built in 1680, it was once known as Llewellyn Cottage. The facade is in knapped flint but is partly obscured by an adjoining property.

Any numerical cross-references in the text above refer to resources in the Sources and Bibliography section of the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder.

Trellis Restaurant: 39 High Street
Photo by Tony Mould

Comments about this page

  • Most of this information isn’t true. My grandmother is the owner of this restaurant so I think we would both know what it used to be called. Not only that but when I search info about this “Llewellyn Cottage” nothing comes u apart from houses in wales and since The Trellis is a historically protected building don’t you think something would come up?

    By Olly Venturi (09/01/2017)
  • The statement “Most of this information isn’t true” needs comment. is it only the name in question? The building is listed but that does not mean that its name could not be changed. The fact that it is not capable of being ‘Googled’ just means there is nothing up there on the Net about it. Tim Carder who wrote the initial article was a student of mine many years ago and was, and is, scrupulous about his facts. Perhaps someone from the Rottingdean Museum may know the origins of the name Llewellyn Cottage, presumably named from a previous owner.

    By Geoffrey Mead (10/01/2017)
  • I agree, Geoffrey. A house built in 1680 may very well have several name changes in its long life. I tried looking in the censuses and in the various online directories for names, but couldn’t find anything other than just “High Street”. 

    By Janet Beal (11/01/2017)
  • I think it worth mentioning that Kelly’s 1947 simply states the property as being No. 14A, High St. (not 39).  Knowledge of any changes in street numbering is important when researching ! The name Llewelyn Cottage appears in G.M.F. Pike’s 1939-’40.

    By Sam Flowers (11/01/2017)
  • I’m the grandson of the owner and I know for a fact that The Trellis has no adjoining properties. Never has.

    By Olly Venturi (09/04/2017)

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