It is a pity the description below the aerial photo of Peacehaven (The Argus Extra, February 19) was so incorrect.

Local residents often ask us how Peacehaven came into existence so, without going into too much detail - it is a long and complex story - let me outline briefly how it all started.

On, December 7, 1915, Charles William Neville agreed to purchase parts of what at the time was known as the Hoddern Estate, in the Parish of Piddinghoe. Very quickly, he formed a company to promote a new estate.

This was the South Coast and Land Resort Company, which, on January 8, 1916, advertised a competition in virtually every national daily newspaper to name a new town by the sea. The prize was a plot worth £100 and a further 50 plots as runner-up prizes, for which the winners had to pay three guineas (£3.3/- or £3.15 in new money) for the conveyance to purchase the winning plot.

The competition winner was announced as Mr Kemp of Maidstone and Mr West of Ilford, on January 16, 1916. They shared the prize by choosing the name New Anzac-on-Sea. Within days of this announcement, the Daily Express began a campaign that ended as a court case in the House of Lords for fraud, with a counter-claim for libel.

These cases dragged on for a number of years and although Charles Neville lost the court case, he gained huge publicity for his new estate. Some time in 1917, in order to improve the sales of land, Neville changed the name to Peacehaven.

Although plots were sold throughout the war, Peacehaven was under the plough until 1920, when the local agricultural committee handed back the land to its owners. From then onwards, Peacehaven has grown and grown to become one of the largest towns on the South Coast.

Readers may be interested to know that 80 years ago the Peacehaven Residents' Association was formed and later this year the Peacehaven and District Residents' Association will celebrate 80 years of continual service to the community with a special event.

It also appears - unless I am very much mistaken -Telscombe Cliffs will be able to celebrate its 100 years on August 11, 2004. Although the Cavendish Land Company had owned land in both the parishes of Telscombe and Piddinghoe, on that date it made the first actual sale of plots of land, something Charles Neville was not to do for a further 12 years.

-Stanley Bernard, Hon Sec, Peacehaven and Telscombe Historical Society