St. Mary's Road
| Junctions | |
|---|---|
| Junctions | |
| Construction | |
| Completion | 1899 |
Some nine of the houses were built in 1879 by George Weeks[1], the rest of the road being built in phases between 1873 and 1899 with construction appearing to start from the Milward Road end - a tenanted corner property with adjoining buildings being placed on the market for sale in 1880[2]. Numbering of the road, together with the nearby roads in what was then known as the Mount Pleasant Building Estate towards the West Hill took place in 1880 - it being noted that a number of plots were still empty in all of the roads and the numbering scheme was to make provision for these[3]. Properties number 52 to 60 have mews garages beneath them, accessible via a lane between numbers 49 and 52. This mews was known in 1893 as "St Mary's Road Mews".
Numbers 48, 49 and 50 were demolished during WW2 in 1940 as a result of enemy action[4], and rebuilt as two houses numbering 48 and 49[5], as was number 51, this subsequently becoming the entrance to the mews[6].
Numbers 61 to 63 were destroyed in an air raid during WW2 and a larger, detached property was rebuilt post-war - number 63, the remaining gap being filled by a garage/workshop accessed via the mews.
Murder of Charles Levett[edit]
On the 26th of June 1971, Mr. Charles Levett was murdered at his home, being stabbed 14 times by two brothers from Eastbourne. Keith Robert Langham and Alan David had been at his home watching a television program with their Swedish girlfriends and proceeded to kill him following the show. The attack was so ferocious that no less than four kitchen knives were broken[7]. Both brothers were sentenced to life imprisonment at Lewes Assize in November of that year, however launched an appeal the following year with an unusual reason - their barrister claimed that the judge had fallen asleep during parts of their hearings. The appeal was dismissed by the panel of three judges - them ruling that if this had indeed happened, surely one of the barristers or other court officials would have taken some action at the time[8].
Images[edit]
- Images
1883 Mapping of area around The Langham
St Mary's Road c1910
St Mary's Road 1957
St Marys Road 1975
References & Notes
- ↑ Hastings & St Leonards Observer 07 June 1879 pg. 7
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive Hastings & St. Leonards Observer 3 July 1880 Pg. 0004
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive Hastings & St. Leonards Observer 4 December 1880 Pg. 0007
- ↑ East Sussex County Council Archive The Keep GB179_DH_C_6_2_2126
- ↑ East Sussex County Council Archive The Keep GB179_DH_C_6_1_3727
- ↑ East Sussex County Council Archive The Keep GB179_DH_C_6_1_6992
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive Daily Mirror 27 November 1971 Pg. 0007
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive Aberdeen Evening Express 24 April 1972 Pg. 0007
