The History of 21 Sussex Square

No 21 was a Gentleman’s School from 1862-1895 with boarding from 1893.

The headmaster was John Cross with his wife Mary Ann and their daughters May and Agnes. There were 15 students and 6 servants including a ‘Wardrobe Keeper’ and a boot boy. After the Great War the house was divided into flats before returning to academic use in 1928, when it became part of St Mary’s Hall School for Girls.

St Mary’s Hall had opened in 1836 in Eastern Road, on land donated by the Marquess of Bristol and on the initiative of Reverend Henry Venn Elliott, as a school for the daughters of poor clergymen. St Mark’s Church, on the corner of Eastern Road and Church Place, was originally built as the school’s chapel and concert hall. The school expanded in 1920 when the daughters of laymen were admitted; from 1928 until 1973, 21 Sussex Square was used as a boarding house for the school. St Mary’s Hall School closed in 2009, merging with Roedean, and the building is now part of the Royal Sussex County Hospital.