Westdene

Westdene is an area of the city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex. It is a northern suburb of the city, west of Patcham, the A23 (London Road) and the London to Brighton railway line, north of Withdean and northeast of West Blatchington. It is on the Brighton side of the historic parish boundary between Brighton and Hove. It is very close to the South Downs, from which it is separated by the Brighton Bypass, and was built on the slopes of two hills.The first part of the suburb to be developed was part of Valley Drive, on which around 30 houses were built in the "Tudorbethan" style between 1932 and 1934. In 1938, local building firm Braybon Ltd signed a contract with Brighton Corporation to develop 168acre of land nearby as an extension of the Withdean estate, with low-density housing of various types. Braybon had bought the land a year earlier. The Second World War intervened, and most of the building work took place in the 1950s.Small greens and open spaces were provided, as were some shopping facilities. The central green was the site of a short-lived bowling green, and an 18th-century barn that was part of a farm survived on the site until the mid-1960s. The Church of the Ascension, a public library and a primary school are nearby. The church, part of the parish of All Saints Church, Patcham, was opened in February 1958; John Wells-Thorpe built the brick and glass structure. The school dates from 1961 and the library was opened in March 1964.