The terraced houses now known as Trevor Gardens were built for the workers in the Brigden’s Pit, below Mount Caburn, and Balcombe’s Pit, opposite Glynde Railway Station. All the houses, with their distinct walls of courses of flint framed in red Sussex brick, were built by the Weller family of builders and bricklayers between 1860 and 1881.

The three pairs of cottages now numbered 11-16 (there is no number 13 – this house has had the number 12a since at least 1945) built adjoining the western end of the Trevor Arms garden, were begun in the summer of 1860. Originally called Balcombe Cottages, four had been completed by the time of the 1861 census and the northernmost pair have a date stone on their northern wall with the year the row were completed, 1862.

In 1867/8 William Weller started work on the rows of houses now numbered 1-6 and 7 to 10 Trevor Gardens but originally named Pickfield, the former name of the field that they now stand in. William Weller died before numbers 1-6 could be completed and his son Charles took over the work. Numbers 7-10 were built in 1869-1870.

The final row of houses, numbers 17-34 and nicknamed ‘Teddy Street’, are the distinctive terrace running up the hill opposite the Trevor Arms. Built in three lots of six cottages in 1879, 1880 and 1881. George Weller was paid £281 16s 6d for the first six in 1879; £275 16s 6d plus £20 0s 8d ‘extras’ for the second six in 1880; and £301 11s 2d, including extras, for the final six in 1881. The table below gives the heads of households of the 34 houses after they had finally been completed by the 1881 census. The Glynde estate account books show that, in 1881, the rent for one of these cottages was £1 19s a quarter (3s a week).

As well as the Electoral Register & Census Returns (see below) some of the occupants of Trevor Gardens are recorded in a number of different places, a few of which we've reproduced here. The 1881 Census gives us the heads of the households, their age, occupation and place of birth while Glynde Estate's 1907, 1911 & 1916 Rent Books give details of the rents paid and who paid them.

The buttons below will take you to extracts from the Electoral Register and Census Returns for the Trevor Gardens houses which don't have their own pages.