Hangleton is a suburb of Brighton and Hove, in the ceremonial county of East Sussex, England. The area was developed in the 1930s after it was incorporated into the Borough of Hove, but has ancient origins: its parish church was founded in the 11th century and retains 12th-century fabric; the medieval manor house is Hove's oldest secular building. The village became depopulated in the medieval era and the church fell into ruins, and the population in the isolated hilltop parish only reached 100 in the early 20th century; but rapid 20th-century development resulted in more than 6,000 people living in Hangleton in 1951 and over 9,000 in 1961. By 2013, the population exceeded 14,000.
The church and manor house (now a pub) are now surrounded by modern development. Following the parish's incorporation into the Borough of Hove in 1928, a mixture of council housing and lower-density private houses were built between the 1930s and the 1950s, along with facilities such as shopping parades, schools and more churches and pubs. Regular bus links were developed to other parts of Hove and Brighton, but a short-lived railway that ran through the area had closed by the time residential development got underway.
Etymology The spelling of Hangleton has varied over the centuries: ten variants were recorded between the time of the Domesday survey (Hangetone or Hangeton) and the 17th century. The meaning of the name is not known for certain, but most sources suggest an Old English phrase meaning "the farm by the sloping wood".
History Early history The present Hangleton Lane is an ancient trackway used since prehistoric times. It was also used by the Romans as part of their route from London to their port at the river Adur in present-day Southwick. A small village gradually developed around a bend on this trackway, close to the church and original manor house. The rest of the parish was downland forming part of the South Downs; Round Hill, around which the track ran and which has traces of ancient field systems, rises to . The parish of Portslade is to the west; West Blatchington is to the east; the parishes of Hove and Aldrington lie to the south and south-east; and Brighton is further to the south-east beyond Hove. The English Channel is to the south and Lewes (the county town of East Sussex) lies to the east.
St Helen's Church was first documented in 1093 as a possession of Lewes Priory, to which it was granted by William de Warenne, 2nd Earl of Surrey. In the 16th century, its parish was united with that of St Nicolas Church, Portslade and later (in 1585) with that of St Peter's Church, West Blatchington before becoming a separate parish again. Hangleton and Portslade were united again between 1757 and 1951. The nave was built in the 12th century, the west tower was added a century later and the chancel dates from 1300. The last significant alteration to the structure was the removal of the chancel arch in the 14th century.
The village was small and largely agricultural: the inhabitants raised sheep and grew crops, especially grains and legumes. Some of the community were free peasants while others were villeins who provided the Lord of the manor with labour in exchange for the right to work the land. By 1300, it was "a thriving community of approximately 200 people", but during the 14th century decline set in: the population was unsustainably large, and a series of poor harvests around 1320 followed by the effects of the Black Death meant the village was almost wiped out. Only two householders were recorded in 1428, and even by the mid-19th century only about 80 people lived in the parish. The Ministry of Public Building and Works undertook an archaeological dig in summer 1954 and uncovered eight 13th- and 14th-century buildings and the remains of the parsonage north of the church, which had been destroyed by fire in 1666. The original manor house near the church also vanished and was replaced by a new building to the south-west in the 1540s. Richard Bellingham, Lord of the manor at the time, incorporated stones from Lewes Priory in the front of the house.
20th century In 1928, the Hangleton was absorbed into the Borough of Hove for administrative purposes (the ecclesiastical parish was still linked to Portslade). At the time of the census in 1931, the population of the parish was still only 109, but during that decade residential and commercial development started apace and continued after World War II. Housing spread north-westwards from Hove and Aldrington, especially from 1936 onwards, and the whole area was built over by the end of the 1950s. St Helen's Church, which was "still entirely isolated" in 1929 when it was kept locked except during services, became surrounded by houses; it was reopened for regular worship in 1949, having been used irregularly (sometimes as infrequently as once per year) since the mid-19th century. Housebuilding in the parish was largely complete by the end of the 1950s, although the population has continued to grow: at the 1951 census it was 6,158, rising to 9,006 in 1961 and an estimated 14,270 in 2013. Hangleton is popular both with families and with retired people, and the percentage of residents under the age of 16 is one of the highest of any ward in the city of Brighton and Hove.
The earliest housing was provided by Hove Borough Council and was mostly terraced or semi-detached. Also in the 1930s, but mostly in the 1950s, private developments of semi-detached houses and detached bungalows emerged, especially on the highest ground offering good views of the South Downs and the sea. There are also some low-rise blocks of flats. Many streets are lined with trees and extensive grass verges, some houses have large front gardens and the overall housing density is low; this especially in the north-west of the estate, where most of the privately developed bungalows are situated. The council housing is mostly in the north and east of the estate. Most houses built by the council are now owned by their occupiers; privately rented housing is the other main form of housing tenure.
In 1951, the parish had a population of 2,676. On 1 April 1974, the parish was abolished.
Hangleton Manor became a farmhouse and was still used as such until 1930 when the farm was broken up and the land allocated for residential development. The 16th-century building went through various uses and was requisitioned by the Army in World War II. It became a listed building in 1956, but it was in such poor condition that demolition was anticipated. Between 1964 and 1967, it was empty and suffered repeated vandalism, but in the latter year a plan to convert the building into flats was announced. Nothing came of this, but the following year a hotelier from Worthing bought the building and converted it into a country club. By 1976, it was a pub called the Hangleton Manor Inn and had been extensively restored. In the pub garden is a dovecote, also a listed building, dating from the 1680s. It was restored in 1988.
Education Hove Park School, one of the city's main secondary schools, was formed in 1979 by the merger of two older schools. The buildings date from 1935 and were built on a site bought by East Sussex County Council in 1931–32.
King's School, Hove moved to a purpose-built site on Hangleton Way at the northern edge of Hangleton in 2018. It had been established in 2013 in the former Portslade Aldridge Community Academy premises in Portslade village. It is adjacent to West Blatchington Primary School, which dates from 1957. Hangleton Primary School incorporates the former Hangleton Infants School, opened in 1949, and Hangleton Junior School (1952).
Geography Hangleton downland
To the north of the A27 is the Old Dyke Railway Trail, which follows part of the route taken by the old Dyke Railway Branch Line and takes walkers and cyclists up to Devil's Dyke beauty spot. It runs between two golf courses, the West Hove and Brighton and Hove Golf courses. Much of the trail across the Downs is on a hard surface.
There are many archaic Down pastures in the area. To the west is Benfield Hill (), a Local Nature Reserve which is famous for its glowworm displays on midsummer evenings. On the steep east side of the hill there is large thyme, autumn gentian and many butterflies. Bee orchids can be also found in some years. On the western side of the Hill the gentle slope has longstanding populations of small blue and brown argus butterflies. The tall grass encourages magnificent displays of burnet moths.
To the north of the City boundary this secondary chalk grassland continues on Devil’s Dyke Farm land (). A prehistoric barrow () marked that boundary, but is now only detectable by a slight rise in the fence line as it crosses the ploughed-out mound. In a good evening light you can see the lynchet lines of an Iron Age field system in Adder Bottom () just west of the Devil’s Dyke Farm.
Round Hill. to the north east, is a special place too. There are signs from a number of periods of human history. There are many old barrows in the area and even the name Skeleton Hovel for the old flint barn () is thought to commemorate a prehistoric burial site unwittingly discovered during farming work. Round Hill's eastern slope () is the richest chalk grassland site in Hangleton, although it desperately needs grazing management for its many downland flowers such as field fleawort, chalk milkwort, orchids, cowslips, hairy violet, rockrose, crested hair-grass and devil’s bit scabious. There are two rare Forester moth species, fox moth and heath moth, purse-web spider, moss and pygmy snails. To the north of Round Hill is the Newtimber parish.
To the north of this part of Brighton and Hove downland area are the Poynings and Newtimber parishes and the notable geography of Devil's Dyke.
Toads Hole Valley Between Hangleton and Westdene, south of the A27, is Toads Hole Valley. Its west slope, below Downland Drive was once a rich, grazed downland area, and it is still home to threatened species such as dormice, hedeghogs and adders. The valley has been unmanaged for many years and the area has turned to scrub. It has now been designated for development and up to three hundred homes are planned to be built on the site.
Amenities
Hangleton is primarily residential, but there is a local shopping area near the Grenadier pub and Hangleton Library; a doctors' surgery is also part of this development. There are three smaller shopping parades in other parts of the estate. The nearest supermarket, the Sainsbury's at West Hove, is immediately south of Hangleton. Industrial development is minimal: there are two "small industrial yards".
Hangleton Manor Inn occupies the 16th-century manor house and is a Grade II* listed building. It has been operated as a tied house by the Hall & Woodhouse brewery since September 2005. The Grenadier pub, designed by John Leopold Denman for the Kemp Town Brewery of Brighton, opened in 1935. It had a well-planted garden which the Brighton Herald described as "one of the most beautiful in Hove", but this was lost in 1968 when shops and flats were built on it. The pub is operated by Mitchells & Butlers under their Sizzling Pubs brand.
Tamplin's Brewery of Brighton bought land for a pub at the north end of the estate in 1948, and The Downsman opened in 1956. A large area of open land believed to be a site of archaeological interest was retained next to it. After various name changes in the 1990s it reverted to its original name, but in closed in 2014 and permission was granted in 2017 for demolition and replacement with 33 houses and flats.