Coldean - Bevendean History Project
Coldean Farm
In
1776, the Pelham family acquired the manor of Falmer to add to other
land they already owned. This was later known as the Chichester
Estate; the Lord of the Manor received the title Earl of Chichester in
1801.
A map drawn in 1799 by William Figg shows the Menagerie farm at Coldean, later this was simply referred to as Coldean farm.
A map drawn in 1799 by William Figg shows the Menagerie farm at Coldean, later this was simply referred to as Coldean farm.
Keep reference: ACC 3714/4
Before the war, Coldean Farm was a remote settlement, reached via Coldean Lane which ran from Lewes Road, becoming a track halfway up before reaching Old Boat Corner at the top of Ditchling Road.
Plan of Coldean Farm in the 1940s. Keep Reference: ACC 4600-137
This 1940 drawing by Charlie Yeates shows the farm buildings with the Menagerie visible on the other side of the road. The flint barn is the only farm building in the William Figg map of 1799-1800, where it lies in the south east corner of New Barn Field.
‘The Menagerie’ refers to the little group of buildings on the opposite side of Coldean Lane. The buildings got this name as it was where some of the family’s animals were kept.
The Menagerie building on the opposite side of Coldean Lane to the main farm buildings and the big barn which is now used as the church of St Mary Magdalen. Keep reference BH/A/54/21_0026c.
The photographs of Coldean Farm come from the Brighton and Hove Newspaper archives held by the Brighton and East Sussex Records Offices at the Keep in Falmer. Many of these photographs were printed under the title ‘Beauty within our Borders’ and they present a typical Sussex landscape.
Coldean Farm in January 1937 with snow on the ground. The barn in the centre of the picture is now the church at Coldean.
Keep reference: BH/A/54/03_0007a.
Cows by a snowy pond at Coldean Farm in January 1937.
Keep reference: BH/A/54/03_0007b.
Cows by a snowy pond at Coldean Farm in January 1937.
Keep reference: BH/A/54/03_0009a.
Coldean Farm Pond with the barn in the distance.Before the war, Coldean Farm was a remote settlement, reached via Coldean Lane which ran from Lewes Road, becoming a track halfway up before reaching Old Boat Corner at the top of Ditchling Road.
Plan of Coldean Farm in the 1940s. Keep Reference: ACC 4600-137
This 1940 drawing by Charlie Yeates shows the farm buildings with the Menagerie visible on the other side of the road. The flint barn is the only farm building in the William Figg map of 1799-1800, where it lies in the south east corner of New Barn Field.
‘The Menagerie’ refers to the little group of buildings on the opposite side of Coldean Lane. The buildings got this name as it was where some of the family’s animals were kept.
The Menagerie building on the opposite side of Coldean Lane to the main farm buildings and the big barn which is now used as the church of St Mary Magdalen. Keep reference BH/A/54/21_0026c.
The photographs of Coldean Farm come from the Brighton and Hove Newspaper archives held by the Brighton and East Sussex Records Offices at the Keep in Falmer. Many of these photographs were printed under the title ‘Beauty within our Borders’ and they present a typical Sussex landscape.
Coldean Farm in January 1937 with snow on the ground. The barn in the centre of the picture is now the church at Coldean.
Keep reference: BH/A/54/03_0007a.
Cows by a snowy pond at Coldean Farm in January 1937.
Keep reference: BH/A/54/03_0007b.
Cows by a snowy pond at Coldean Farm in January 1937.
Keep reference: BH/A/54/03_0009a.
Keep reference: BH-A-54-06_0031c
Keep reference BH/A/54/21_0025b.
Harvesting at Coldean Farm in August 1947 by the old method of cutting the corn and tying it up into sheaves and standing the sheaves in stooks to dry. The sheaves would then be built into a straw rick in the farmyard. The corn grains would be removed from the stalks by a threshing machine at some time later.
Keep reference BH/A/54/21_0025a.
The flint barn at the farm is all that remains of the original buildings and by the 1950s had fallen into disrepair. However, it was considered suitable for conversion to a church by the Diocese of Chichester and the church of St Mary Magdalen was duly dedicated by the Bishop of Lewes (the Rt. Rev. Geoffrey H. Warde) on Tuesday the 20th December 1955.
The last farmer at Coldean Farm was Albert Ernest West who is recorded as being at the farm in the 1911 England Census with the address given as the Menagerie Farm, Coldean, Falmer near Lewes, Sussex. He married Winifred Maud Wiles in 1903 at St Martins Church in the Lewes Road.
In the 1939 England and Wales Register Albert West is recorded as living at 2 Park Road, Coldean, Brighton with his wife, 2 sons and 3 daughters.
A letter heading for Coldean Farm from the c1940 which refers to Arthur West and Sons. The Corner House is 2 Park Road.
Keep reference: ACC 4600/137.
Fields at Coldean Farm with Coldean Lane on the right hand side and the woods at the top of the lane near Old Boat Corner.
Keep reference BH/A/54/21_0026b.
The farmer, Albert Ernest West, and the other Coldean farm workers, moved to Stanmer Home Farm following the purchase of the Chichester Estate by Brighton Corporation in 1947. Most of the farm land at Coldean was then used to build the Council Estate.
Mr West died on 31 Dec 1962 and was buried in Falmer Churchyard on 4 Jan 1963.
Harvesting at Coldean Farm in August 1947 by the old method of cutting the corn and tying it up into sheaves and standing the sheaves in stooks to dry. The sheaves would then be built into a straw rick in the farmyard. The corn grains would be removed from the stalks by a threshing machine at some time later.
The flint barn at the farm is all that remains of the original buildings and by the 1950s had fallen into disrepair. However, it was considered suitable for conversion to a church by the Diocese of Chichester and the church of St Mary Magdalen was duly dedicated by the Bishop of Lewes (the Rt. Rev. Geoffrey H. Warde) on Tuesday the 20th December 1955.
The last farmer at Coldean Farm was Albert Ernest West who is recorded as being at the farm in the 1911 England Census with the address given as the Menagerie Farm, Coldean, Falmer near Lewes, Sussex. He married Winifred Maud Wiles in 1903 at St Martins Church in the Lewes Road.
In the 1939 England and Wales Register Albert West is recorded as living at 2 Park Road, Coldean, Brighton with his wife, 2 sons and 3 daughters.
A letter heading for Coldean Farm from the c1940 which refers to Arthur West and Sons. The Corner House is 2 Park Road.
Keep reference: ACC 4600/137.
Keep reference BH/A/54/21_0026b.
The farmer, Albert Ernest West, and the other Coldean farm workers, moved to Stanmer Home Farm following the purchase of the Chichester Estate by Brighton Corporation in 1947. Most of the farm land at Coldean was then used to build the Council Estate.
Mr West died on 31 Dec 1962 and was buried in Falmer Churchyard on 4 Jan 1963.
