Hawthorn Road

There are a number of roads in the town that have their own very distinctive history. During the recent Sands of Time, we took the open topped bus tour through one such - Hawthorn Road, which runs from the Chichester Road through to Aldwick, and is used as a short cut by many people. Do you know what names it has previously been called? Do you know some of the people who have occupied various sites? This week we shall take look at the road whilst I ask you for other memories.

In 1888 on September 14th Servite life was established when Louise Raucheaueger, Superior of a Congregation of teaching Sisters in London, arrived in Bognor. This was to precede the building of a Nunnery in Hawthorn Road. Many local people can remember this construction, as it was not closed and demolished until the 1970's. The main cemetery between Hawthorn Road and Town Cross Ave. was planned in 1875 and finally opened 1887. The reason for the nuns' departure was the change from the quiet isolation of the fields in the 1880's into the major built up area of the 1970s. The Servite Convent finally closed its doors in 1975 to make way for a new housing development. Today this area is known as Servite Close. When the convent closed a number of the nuns had been there for over 50 years, and it must have been difficult for them to leave the confines of the convent after such a long period of time.

Maps from 1912 show that for a number of years there was also the Bognor Isolation Hospital, and this was shown in Bognor Directories from 1916 to 1928.

I have received a number of comments regarding the site of this hospital, i.e. it was in the region of Hillsboro Road and Parklands, this is incorrect, however over the weekend numerous people confirmed its existence.

The Wheatsheaf public house moved from West St. and but objections to its arrival were very vocal and a Mr. Chamberlain’s remarked were that “the vicinity did not require a public house” as it was entirely residential - not quite sure here why this was a reason for objection - however it appeared from the report that the majority of the land had a covenant imposed on it, so that only private dwellings could be built. Also, of course, a public house would apparently “decrease materially the value of all the houses in the immediate neighbourhood.” Some other objections included remarks that because ‘it was situated by a blind avenue’ ladies would not like having to pass a public house. Remember this is 1930!

One little known fact today is the existence of a boys' home in the town. Known as the Bognor Boys' Home for Waifs and Strays it was in existence from 1890 until 1907. Its opening was recorded in the Bersted parish magazine in April 1890, as follows “on Easter Monday there will be declared open by Mrs. Fletcher, Bersted Lodge, a new home for orphan and homeless boys.” It was intended for boys aged 9 to 13 where they were to be clothed, fed and taught, and a useful occupation. Ultimately these boys could be drafted to the Jersey Home for Working Lads in London, from where they could obtain employment. These buildings were situated in the vicinity of today’s Indian restaurant and the new homes in Fletcher Way, off Hawthorn Road. I very often receive request for information on this home

from people tracing their family history. However I do not have any photo’s or detailed information on this premise.

With the arrival of a new century - 1900 - the Bognor Football Club was becoming quite a feature of the town. One of the major changes for the club - new premises - this time in Nyewood Lane, a turning off Hawthorn Road. However according to the local paper it was some to be a retrograde step, as they felt ‘it takes a lot of interest to entice people to go to such an out of the way place’. Within 12 months the financial report was advising the Club committee that they had had to spend £6.15s.0d. to make a path to the Nyewood Lane site. Difficult to image the area to be so ‘out of the way?’

Looking through the history of the road I found it interesting to read about the Laundries that occupied numerous sites near the cemetery. One was Mrs. Verion’s laundry which became the more well known White Knight Laundry prior to closure in 1993. Originally known as the “Rock Laundry” when it was established in 1880. Eventually in 1896 following a possible merger with the Bognor & Bersted Laundry of Essex Road it became known as the Bognor and Bersted Verion Steam Laundry Company. Across the road in premises now occupied by Mulberry Press there was another laundry that of Simmonds Model Laundry. We tend to forget the number of these establishments that were required by organisations and people prior to the arrival of the washing machines at homes. They also provided employment to a large number of local people. Do you have any memories?


Over the years there have been some interesting memories in the local papers. One such article reported, in 1957 that a resident recalled the early days when there was a "golf course stretching from Linden Road to the Convent, and a black-bearded man who lived in a thatched cottage on a triangle of ground by the cricket field." A section of Linden Road from Victoria Drive to Hawthorn Road was constructed in the 1920s and 1930s and the houses remain much the same today, residential premises with their enclosed front and back gardens.

Another report in 1957 remembered when "gypsies camped near Gravits Lane and Hawthorn Road." the report continued that the area was used "by courting couples and Gravits Lane was often called Lovers Walk."

After his death, his collection remained at ‘Dalkeith’ under the ownership of his family, until 5th February 1943 when a bomb fell in Albert Road near the house causing structural damage and endangering his irreplaceable collection. The Group Leader of the Civil Defence Service was on duty, and knowing where the collection was held he arranged for its temporary housing – this was Martin Venables. In 1944 the West Sussex County Council accepted the off from the Guermonprez family of a gift of the collection, under the guidance of the Curator of the Lyon Street Museum, Mr. Venables.

In December a reader wrote to the Bognor Regis Post saying, “it is with great interest that I see that Mr. H. Guermonprez has offered the contents of his late father’s museum to the town.” The writer continued to explain the contents of this

museum, as a “fine collection, illustrating the natural history of this part of Sussex in all its aspects.” Much of his collection was housed in the museum in Lyon St., before its final move in 1970, to Chichester Road in Bognor Regis.

Whilst searching the Internet for information I came across a paper written by Martin Venables in 1939 about ‘Picking Mine’ apparently an old Bognor Industry.

Martin recalls Henry, ’his enthusiasm was most infectious, his zeal and industry reflected in his enormous collection.’ He then recalls that it was from Henry that he learned about the Bognor Industry, which Henry had explained in one of his ‘Selbourne Note’s.’ The industry depended on certain natural minerals. It was known as ‘Picking Mine,’ being an abbreviation of minerals.

Today we tend to think of the road as a thoroughfare containing homes. There has been a great mixture of premises, including schools, garages and shops. Can you remember Olby’s, who had numerous shops around the town in addition to their main shop in the High St.? Their High St. shop eventually closed in 1982 but continued in Hawthorn Road, until ultimately the premises closed and demolished and built a Co-op supermarket. In 2007 the Co-op has been demolished to allow flats to be built with a small Co-op shop beneath.

During 2004 there are major changes with the construction and opening of the Mayfield Doctors Surgery, and new homes opposite. This article is meant only as a taster for a much more detailed history in the future of one of our main arterial roads in the town. Therefore if you have any memories, pictures etc. Thank you for any assistance you can provide.

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