Can Anyone Identify This Building?

[SonofSussex]

This picture was taken in Seaford some sixty years ago.  My parents were visiting Seaford where my mother lived with her first husband in the early days of WW2.  I think the building had some special significance for my mother.  She and her then husband operated a furniture store or interior design store in town and I wonder if there is a connection.  Can anyone identify this building and (I know this is a stretch) tell me what was in the building back in the early 1940s?  Perhaps a museum or historical society might be able to help.  I should note that the picture may be a mirror image of the building.

[tonepad]

The building appears on Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/574068283728667679/

next to the old Southdown Bus Depot and opposite the Ritz Cinema, and your photo is a mirror image.


Tony

[maddys52]

Is this the building (or part remaining?) on Dane Rd, Seaford
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01rqw/

[tonepad]

Looks like the same building Maddys52.

Barracloughs the Opticians present address is The Old Cottage, Dane Rd, Seaford BN25 1DJ.


Tony

[maddys52]

A google search for "the old cottage dane road seaford" brings up a will for Albert John STAIT in 1955. Not sure if this means anything to you, or if it's a bit late?

The probate is on Ancestry - died 2 Nov 1954. Aged 78, so born c1876.

Modified to change year of death - 1954 

There is a tree on Ancestry for this family if of interest.

[japeflakes]

Reversed for you (assuming still needed reversing)

[SonofSussex]

Thank you all for responding.  For some reason, I did not receive any notification that responses had been posted.

Yes, I had a feeling my picture was a mirror image, so thanks for the confirmation.

The possibility that my picture shows a building on Dane Road is intriguing.  For most of 1943, my mother lived at a place called Stanmore Cottage on Dane Road, owned by a couple named Louie and George (don't have a surname).  Perhaps Stanmore Cottage and The Old Cottage are one and the same.

[Jool]

My intention was to try to find out if The Old Cottage and Stanmore Cottage were the same place.  No luck with that so far but I did find out a bit about Louie and George.

Firstly, I found a newspaper report in the Sussex Agricultural Express 27 August 1943. It mentions Mr. George Kennard of Stanmer (not Stanmore) Cottage, Dane Road, Seaford had received news that his son, Pte. John Kennard, was reported missing from operations off Sicily.  From your last post I see your mother would have been there when he received this news in 1943.

A bit more digging revealed that John was the son of George Kennard and his first wife Elsie Clayton.  He divorced Elsie in 1937 and in 1938 he married Frances Louie Wall.  His address at the time was The Creamery, Seaford.

Still trying to find out if The Old Cottage and Stanmer/Stanmore Cottage were the same place

[SonofSussex]

Jool, what a great find!  Thank you so much.  I have a couple of letters that my mother wrote in 1943, and she never mentioned George and Louie's surname.  Now I can do a little bit of research on them.  My mother and Louie wrote to one another long after my mother emigrated to Canada in 1945.

I have no explanation as to why my mother referred to Stanmore Cottage rather than Stanmer Cottage.  She mentioned the name twice in her letters (?).  Hoping you can find something to corroborate the Old Cottage/Stanmer Cottage connection.