Certain sections in this entry are copied with permission from The Building of Georgian Chichester by local historian Alan Green.
The Westgate house bo. 17 “was added to number 15 in about 1787 – on a more modest scale.”
The property “is a typical Regency rebuild. Its three-storey single frontage under a slate roof is stuccoed and the front door is recessed within an elliptical arch and approached by steps up from the street.
Newly built in 1730, this site had already been occupied by a house, a woodhouse, and a slaughterhouse. A malthouse was added by 1775.
In 1841 James Gates, a Yeoman Farmer aged 65, was living here. In 1861 another James Gates aged 59, a retired butcher who had had a shop in East Street was here. Presumably he was the son of the previous owner. In 1871 he is recorded as an alderman aged 67.
Research by Clive Rogers (current owner).
This house has an internal Tudor wall, but the timber framework within the roof void reveals that that this would originally have been external. The roof timbers at the southern end of the property appear to be a later addition during the “Georgification” of the street. A fireplace was installed in this room with a tall chimney stack, later demolished.
This article concerns Nos 7 and 9 Westgate, which was a whole house previously known as no.4 and then no. 11 Westgate from 1950 – 1987.
The numbering of the houses in Westgate started in about 1900 and it has been a confusing experience for anyone trying to identify which property is which. In the 1901 census, this house is confirmed as 4 Westgate, a numbering which continued until the 1939-45 war. After the war, the whole street was renumbered, with odd numbers to the south side, and the house became no.11 Westgate. It was then divided into two in 1988 and renumbered at the same time as the rest of “The Georgian Priory” development, to become numbers 7 and 9.
In 1936 the lease owned by the Church Commissioners for the buildings at the top of Westgate – which included the Coach House and stable yard as well as what is now no. 5 – were let to the Chichester Theological College. This whole block, renamed Marriot House, was used for accommodation with eighteen students and 2 members of staff. There were 20 bedrooms, 4 WCs and 4 bathrooms. The main building for the College was No. 52 Westgate.
The following properties to the south side of Westgate were demolished in 1963 to make way for the Avenue de Chartres and the Chichester inner ring road.
For information concerning the lost buildings to the north side of Westgate, please click here.
These notes on the history of this property are by Anne Sparrow. Historic references are in bold to assist further research.
“When we bought No. 68 Westgate, on the deeds it was noted that it was originally called ‘Westgate Close’ [also “Crantock” in Kelly’s directory 1938 – RNB]. The name appeared on the wooden gate that was seldom used, owing to the regular use by our two cars, which were accommodated in an unusual double garage beneath an adjoining flat.
