Brighton Rock House

Edward Street used to be a narrow road full of little shops, like St James Street. It was widened in the 60s when it was normal to bulldoze everything! The area opposite the house was full of tiny streets but they became slums and the entire area was knocked down rather than renovate and restore. Now it has large buildings such as Amex, The law courts, the Police station. There is a new development coming that will restore an old street called Mighell Street and put back some of the bars and shops lost over time. It’s called The Edward Street Quarter.

Luckily our bit of Edward Street was saved from the bulldozer and you can see a picture of it in the 60s in the dining room (and in this folder). Opposite the house is the empty street that was once called Devonshire Street (which looked rather like Devonshire Place to the side of this house). This was knocked down to make way for the flats you can now see opposite.

Outside the house you will see two blocked up windows. In the 1696 – 1851 you were taxed on the amount of windows you had! In fact some say this is where the expression ‘Daylight Robbery’ comes from!

When you look the address up online you might see it listed as a flat or Yoga Centre. Obviously, it must have been these at one time and going back further the ground floor was a shop as you can see from the large window!