The Portslade Tapestry
The 'Portslade Tapestry' is currently on display outside at Emmaus in Portslade. This 50 foot long 'work of art' covers Portslade history from 1066 to 2066.
Each picture contains a Latin explanation, revealing new details, wise sayings and very corny jokes. The translations - next to the appropriate picture - are listed below in order.
Latin: King Harold dies
1066 – The Battle of Hastings. King Harold is defeated by William of Normandy.
The Normans sweep across Sussex. They claim the rich farming lands of Portslade as theirs.
Latin: All religions are to be tolerated; for everyone must reach heaven in their own way.
1130 – The Manor house and St Nicolas are church built. The Lord of the Manor lived in the house, whilst villagers lived in straw and mud huts. St Nicolas is the oldest church in the city in continuous us
Latin: I love this house, although parking is difficult
1540 – Kemps, the large house in the High Street, is built. The oldest residential building in the city, its former residents have included mayors, MPs and the personal physician to Queen Victoria.
Latin: Two pints of beer and a packet of crisps, please
1662 – The Stag pub in the Old Village opened. After 21 years of Puritan restrictions on alcohol, the return of King Charles II (the King who brought back partying) saw beer flowing once again in the village.
Latin: Money can't buy you happiness, but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery
1807 – The Norman manor house had fallen into decline. A new manor – complete with 12 bedrooms, stables and staff accommodation - was built for the Lord of the Manor. Portslade population stands at 410 residents.
Latin: The train is delayed due to the wrong sort of leaves
1840 – Portslade station opened. The commute time to London was four hours. In 1881 the station was re-sited on the east side of the level crossing, including the construction of the main building, which is still there today.
Latin: An investment in knowledge pays the best interest
1872- Brackenbury School opened. Named after the Victorian multi-millionaire, Hannah Brackenbury, the school provided free education to children up to the age of 10. Ms. Brackenbury is buried in St Nicolas church.
Latin: The best way to predict the future is to create it.
1840 to 1881 – Industry and employment booms in Portslade, as the gas works opened (1874), brewery expanded (1881), Tates laundry opened in Foredown Drive (1886), and the brick fields employed men into labouring jobs (now Victoria Park).
Latin: I told you I was ill
1887 – Foredown Isolation hospital opened. It was used to contain infectious diseases such as typhoid, TB and scarlet fever. It could hold a maximum of 61 patients, spread in different wards dependent on the disease. The Isolation hospital closed in 1972.
Latin: When the alarm sounds, our hearts don’t race—they find their purpose
1900 - The Portslade fire brigade was formed, replacing the Hove service. The fire station on Church Road was built in 1909.
Portslade fire brigade were demobilised in 1941, when the fire service was nationalised.
Latin: Please keep your receipt. No refunds
1900s – Portslade population tops 4100 residents. Station Road, North Street and the old village had an array of shops for all needs. Instant coffee was introduced in 1901, followed by cornflakes (1902), tea bags (1904) and Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bar (1905).
Latin: If i ever win the lottery, I will buy these houses
1800s to 1900s – Portslade become the fashionable place to live for the wealthy, with large mansions doted around the old village. Local people would often be employed as servants, chefs and gardeners in these grand houses. Portslade even had its own set of postcards.
Latin: Please pick up your dog poo
1902 – Victoria Park opened. It was the first public open space in Portslade for recreational use. For the previous 50 years the site had been used as an industrial brickfield (where clay and chalk are dug up, mixed with ash in kilns, to make household bricks)
Latin: Poor Servants of the Mother of God
1904 – St Marye's convent opened. At its peak, 65 nuns and other women lived here. They would farm the land and run a laundry business to raise money. The convent closed in 1995. The Emmaus homeless charity has been here since.
Latin: An army marches on its stomach. Thank goodness for the Portslade cooks
1914 to 1919 – Portslade in World War I. The army cookery school was set up in Portslade. Over 14,000 men were trained as army cooks. They were taught how to make meals out of the bare minimum ingredients and with limited equipment, often just yards from the front line.
Latin: God bless these brave men. All of them are heroes.
Formed in 1939 to fight the expected German invasion, this brave group of men from Portslade main aim was to 'slow down the Germans as much as they could.' The Home Guard were disbanded on Nov 1st, 1944. Tapestry from outside Portslade Town Hall.
Latin: Your children need your presence more than your presents
1948 - Easthill Park opened. Once the private gardens of a Portslade mansion, the 11 acres was transformed into a public park by Portslade Council. During the Great Storm of 1987, the park lost 162 trees, uprooted by gusts of up to 120mph.
Latin – I remember when this was all fields, said the horse
Mile Oak had its first housing constructed in the 1930s. However, it was during the 1960s that many new first-buyer homes were built, giving the area the nickname of 'Nappy Valley.'
Latin: Children must be taught how to think, not what to think
As the Portslade population grew, new schools were required. 1965 - Mile Oak School opened. 1967 – St Nicolas School opened. 1974 – Peter Gladwin School opened. 1972 Portslade Community College opened (merging two single-sex secondary schools)
Latin: Apart from the sanitation, education, public order, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Council ever done for us?
Portslade Urban Council were founded in 1894 and controlled many of the vital local services. It was in operation until 1974, when Portslade merged with Hove Borough Council. The Town Hall – pictured – was once the social club for Ronuk (now Ronseal).
Latin: Every little helps.
1981 -Tesco opened in Station Road, some five years after the initial planning application. Before Tesco, the site was occupied by Vine and Lee, a car sales and garage company, in business since 1907.
No Latin included on the picture
The A27 Portslade bypass opened in 1995, some five years after construction began, and sixty years after the idea was first proposed. It is estimated that 75,000 vehicles use that stretch every day.
Latin: Last orders, please
Portslade once had 20 pubs (now just 8). Here is a list of the closed ones: Jolly Sailors (1960s), Clarendon Arms (1960s), Crown (1969), Southern Cross (1973), Clarance Hotel (1982), Gardener's Arms (2011), Cricketers (2012), Alexandra (2012), The Mill (2013).
Latin: Diary: Drive to Bernard Castle, then party at Downing Street
Between April, 2020 and Feb, 2022 it was estimated that 25 million people in the Uk had the Covid –19 virus, resulting in 232,112 deaths by 2024. Free vaccinations were offered, with 93% nationally having at least one dose (just 76% in Brighton and Hove).
Latin: Who the hell gave planning permission for this
How Portslade may look in the future.
"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time." — Abraham Lincoln
