Roedean is a village in the city of

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority area, ceremonially in East Sussex, England. There are multiple villages alongside the seaside resorts of Brighton and Hove in the district. It is administe ...

, England, east of the

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

Notable buildings and areas

Roedean Gap is a slight dip in the cliffs between Black Rock and Ovingdean Gap, and has been known by the name since at least 1724. It was the site of a toll-gate on the

Newhaven Newhaven is a port town in the Lewes district of East Sussex, England, lying at the mouth of the River Ouse. The town developed during the Middle Ages as the nearby port of Seaford began drying up, forcing a new port to be established. A ...

turnpike, and Roedean Farm stood on the clifftop until the construction of the Marine Drive road in the early 1930s. There was also a

windmill A windmill is a machine operated by the force of wind acting on vanes or sails to mill grain (gristmills), pump water, generate electricity, or drive other machinery. Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern period ...

at Roedean from around 1750 to about 1790, and the old mill-house was amongst the buildings cleared for the road construction. Roedean Road itself opened between Arundel Road and the coast road at Roedean Farm in 1897 as an alternative to the cliff-top road which had become unusable to the east of Black Rock owing to cliff erosion; seventy-five feet of land had disappeared in fifty years. The new road to

Rottingdean Rottingdean is a village in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. It borders the villages of Saltdean, Ovingdean and Woodingdean, and has a historic centre, often the subject of picture postcards. Name The name Rotting ...

, Marine Drive, was opened on 22 July 1932 by Percy John Pybus,

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

, with the cliffs protected by the Undercliff Walk sea-wall.

Roedean School

The village is known for its

independent school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

Roedean School Roedean () is a private boarding school governed by royal charter on the outskirts of Brighton, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1885 by three sisters to educate wealthy daughters and heiresses of aristocracy and industrial elites of the 19t ...

White Lodge

White Lodge, The Cliff, is an atypically small house by

Sir Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memorials ...

, built for Victoria Sackville. It was one of the architect's first commissions, and herringbone-style vertically laid floor tiles in the garden were in part laid by the architect himself.

John Howard House

John Howard House at the western end of Roedean Road (which today would be considered part of the mid-late 20th century East Brighton estate of

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

) was opened in 1914 at the expense of Sir John Howard as a convalescent home for gentlewomen, but it was almost immediately requisitioned for use as an officers' hospital in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. In 1974 it became a home of the Royal Hospital and Home for Incurables, which is based in

Putney Putney () is an affluent district in southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ...

and run on a voluntary basis. It is now the site of the Brighton Steiner School.

Roedean Bottom

Roedean Bottom extends northwards from the gap and has been the site of a number of Roman finds. In about 1900 an isolated row of coastguard cottages now known as Roedean Terrace was erected to the west of the valley. The Roedean estate, which was developed around the terrace from the 1930s, is now one of Brighton's most exclusive residential districts with a population of around 600. The open spaces along the cliff top were acquired by the corporation in 1928–35. The miniature golf-course opened in April 1957, but was reduced to 16 holes in 1988 for the new layout of Marine Drive to cater for Marina traffic; the adjacent area to the north of Roedean Road has also been used as a pitch-and-putt golf course. Stretching north, between the pitch and putt golf course and the

is a downland meadow. On its east slope of the Bottom there is a little piece of aboriginal Downland turf, where in late summer autumn ladies tresses orchid grow, with

carline thistle ''Carlina vulgaris'', the carline thistle, is a plant species of the genus '' Carlina''. It is a biennial that grows on limestone, chalky or other alkaline grasslands or dunes. The flowers are clusters of very small brown florets surrounded by b ...

and

hairy violet ''Viola hirta'' is a species of the plant genus '' Viola''. It is also called the hairy violet. As with the sweet violet, no fossil seeds of this species have been found. It is confined to the cold temperate zone, in Europe, north and west Asia, ...

. Tiny moss snail in the turf demonstrates the site’s antiquity.Bangs, Dave (2008). ''A freedom to roam Guide to the Brighton Downs : from Shoreham to Newhaven and Beeding to Lewes''. Brighton: David Bangs. . . In autumn migrant birds gather there and on the grazed fields yellow wagtails gather and in the trees above the school Pallas' Warbler was seen in 2020.

East Brighton Golf Club

The East Brighton Golf Club in Roedean Road is a private club, founded in 1893 as the

Kemp Town Kemp Town Estate, also known as Kemp Town, is a 19th-century Regency architecture residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England. It consists of Arundel Terrace, Lewes Crescent, Sussex Square, Chichester Terrace, and th ...

Golf Club.East Brighton Golf Club official website
/ref> Initially it had just a few holes alongside Roedean Road, but it was soon extended to nine holes across the Downs, and in 1897 changed its name to East Brighton with the addition of another nine holes. The small clubhouse was near the present fourth tee, but the present clubhouse was erected in 1897 and extended several times until 1912. The course itself is 6,291 yards long and was remodelled in 1903 along Wick Bottom; the land is leased from the corporation which acquired it in September 1913 as part of the East Brighton estate. Past presidents of the club include the

Duke of Norfolk Duke of Norfolk is a title in the peerage of England. The premier non-royal peer, the Duke of Norfolk is additionally the premier duke and earl in the English peerage. The seat of the Duke of Norfolk is Arundel Castle in Sussex, although the t ...

Marquess of Abergavenny Marquess of Abergavenny (pronounced Abergenny) in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom created on 14 January 1876, along with the title Earl of Lewes (pronounced "Lewis"), in the County of Sussex, for the 5t ...

Earl of Chichester Earl of Chichester is a title that has been created three times, twice in the Peerage of England and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. The current title was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1801 for Thomas Pelham, 1st Ea ...

and

Earl Haig Earl Haig is a title in the peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1919 for Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. During the First World War, he served as commander of the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front in France and B ...

. Unlike many Downland courses still has its roughs to scrub thickets and woodland and in winter short-eared owls often reside in the area.

References

{{Brighton and Hove Areas of Brighton and Hove