Few inventions changed everyday life more dramatically than the telephone, and Bexhill was surprisingly quick to adopt it.
Bexhill's first telephone exchange opened in 1898, serving just 33 subscribers. Rather than occupying a purpose-built telephone building, the exchange was housed in a room above S. F. Gilpin's ironmongery in Station Square (now Devonshire Square). From this modest beginning grew the town's entire telephone network.
The earliest subscribers included doctors, solicitors, hotels, auctioneers, butchers, chemists, builders and other local businesses. Having a telephone at the turn of the twentieth century was still something of a luxury, and most households would never have seen one.
Early telephones were fitted with a small hand-operated magneto generator. Turning the handle sent an electrical signal to the exchange above Gilpin's shop, alerting the operator that someone wished to make a call. The subscriber would then ask for the required number—perhaps "Number 13" or "Number 28"—and the operator would connect the two lines manually by inserting cords into a switchboard.
No dialling was involved. In fact, Britain's first public automatic (dial) telephone exchange did not open until 1912, some fourteen years after Bexhill's exchange began operating.
Bexhill Local History Group member Paul Wright has drawn up a list of local phone numbers from the town’s street directory of 1908 when telephone numbers appeared for the first time. It is complimented by information in Bexhill’s Town Guide of 1910 (also good for advertisements) and the street directory of 1912.
In addition, the Bexhill Chronicle printed a Bexhill Directory 1910 as a stand-alone publication of local telephone numbers, a copy of which the Local History Group is still trying to locate. Some numbers changed location soon after they were introduced, keeping the telephone operators on their toes, ensuring that the right call went through to the right person.
Bexhill Telephone Numbers, 1908
| 1 | Wallis T, pork butcher, 5 Devonshire Road |
| 1a | Wallis T, pork butcher, 53 St Leonards Road |
| 2x | Marchant TE, cycle dealer, 52 St Leonards Road |
| 2y | Wickens C, grocers, 34 Devonshire Road |
| 3y | Goddard SC, fishmongers, 4 St Leonards Road |
| 4 | Davey E, wine merchants, 2 Sea Road |
| 4x | Carter H, butcher, 31 Devonshire Road |
| 4y | Lewis Hyland, tailors, 58/60 Devonshire Road |
| 5 | Kent S, doctor, Dorset Cottage, Hastings Road |
| 5y | Pocock JL, butcher, Boswell House, High Street |
| 6 | South Eastern Electricity Board, 51 St Leonards Road |
| 6y | Harman SE, wine stores, Marina |
| 7 | Electricity Works, Ashdown Road |
| 7x | Offen FJ, butcher, 19/21 Station Road |
| 8 | Mrs Gibson, Hotel Metropole, Marina (private line) |
| 9 | Beach Laundry Company, Belle Hill |
| 10x | Wimhurst F, chemist, 16 Devonshire Road |
| 10y | Hart J, piano / music salons, 44 Devonshire Road |
| 11x | Woodward P, draper, 43 St Leonards Road |
| 11y | Finelater, Powell AG, wine merchants, 56 St Leonards Road |
| 12 | Hume-Carey G, butcher, 40 St Leonards Road |
| 13 | Langham FG, solicitors, 15a Sea Road |
| 13x | Giggins M, greengrocers, 3/38 St Leonards Road |
| 13y | Harris WG, decorator, 48 St Leonards Road |
| 14 | Bray J, auctioneers, (5 Devonshire Terrace) 1 Devonshire Square |
| 16 | Cohen Nathanial, 60 Dorset Road |
| 19 | Cave Austin, grocers, High Street |
| 19x | Thomas & Gipps, auctioneers, 12 Station Road |
| 20 | Bexhill Publishing and Printing Company, 7/9 Buckhurst Place |
| 20x | Green G, house agents, 3 Sea Road |
| 20y | Gaby & Stapylton-Smith, solicitors, 10 Sea Road |
| 21x | Offen FJ, pork butcher, 71 Station Road |
| 21y | Mc Gregor David, wine merchant, 67 Station Road |
| 22 | Pilbeam FH, butcher, 3 Belle Hill |
| 22x | Warburton, corn merchants, 8 Belle Hill / 35 Station Road |
| 23 | Stokes Kenneth, doctor, 5 Sutherland Avenue |
| 23x | Ward, hosiers, 25 St Leonards Road / 88 Station Road |
| 25y | Beacon School, Dorset Road |
| 27y | Christian G, grocers, 34 Belle Hill |
| 28 | Cunningham, Sabin, house furnishers, 8/10/St Leonards Road |
| 28x | Field Miss, milliner, 35 St Leonards Road |
| 28y | Weston R, chemist, 37 St Leonards Road |
| 29 | Lightbody JH, doctor, 39 Sea Road |
| 30 | Hodgkinson P, ironmongers 4 Devonshire Terrace / 2b Western Road |
| 30y | Spring Bros, ironmongers, 10 Sackville Road |
| 31 | Brimmell & Miller, timberyard, Ashdown Road |
| 32 | French JL, ironmongers, 36 Devonshire Road |
| 32x | The Gables School, 8 Cantelupe Road |
| 32y | Bexhill House Agency, 4 Sea Road |
| 33y | Gurney, butchers, 73/75 Western Road |
| 34 | Riches & Gray, auctioneers, 25 Sea Road |
| 34y | Hecks FJ, tailor, 22/22a St Leonards Road |
| 35 | Riches & Gray, auctioneers, 25 Sea Road |
| 36 | Town Hall and Bexhill Fire Brigade alarm call |
| 37 | Emmet JW, doctor, 29 Sea Road |
| 38 | Lady Malet, Wrest Wood, Holliers Hill Road |
| 39 | Hotel Metropole, Marina |
| 40 | Osbourne F, doctor, Heatherdune, The Down |
| 41 | Bexhill Water and Gas Company, 5 Sea Road / Ashdown Road |
| 41x | Ebor School, Dorset Road |
| 42 | Bexhill Observer offices, 57 Devonshire Road |
| 43 | Brook Miss, London & Bexhill Nurses Institute, Marina |
| 44 | Paine & Rogers, fruiterers, 16/16a Western Road |
| 46 | Police Station, Cantelupe Road |
| 47 | Manor House, Old Town |
| 48 | Kursaal, Marina |
| 49x | Fitch-Jones E, 127 Dorset Road |
| 49y | Hecks Frank, tailor, 22 St Leonards Road |
| 50x | Gaby and Staphylton-Smith, solicitors, 10 Sea Road |
| 50y | Hunter EG, grocer, 6 Devonshire Road / 94 Station Road |
| 51 | Hibbert Mrs, Genista, Belle Hill |
| 53 | Hawkins JW, Marina Court Avenue |
| 55 | Ellio Jacob, stone works, Windsor Road |
| 57 | Blunt, Sir John, Collington Lodge, Collington Rise |
| 60 | Carrick George, Orchard House, St Johns Road |
| 86 | Fire Station and alarm, Town Hall, Station Road |
| 306 | Alexandra Laundry, Reginal Road |
| 318 | Creed and Pollard, wholesale fruiters, 2 Sackville Road |
| 321 | Harris Gordon, Works, De La Warr Mews |
| 322 | Cable Frank, Marina Model Diary |
| 326 | Normandale School, Collington Avenue |
| 327 | Georges Lloyd, 34 Eversley Road |
| 328 | Devonshire House School, Hastings Road |
| 329 | Chapman, The Mount, De La Warr Road |
| 336 | Shorter and Son, ironmongers, 36 Sackville Road |
| 337 | St Faith’s Nursing Home, Rotherfield Avenue |
| 340 | Dimmock TW, grocer, 77/79 Western Road |
| 341 | Glover JM, 9 Cantelupe Road |
| 342 | Austral House School, Collington Avenue |
| 343 | Empire Laundry, Reginald Road |
| 344 | Bennett Charles, plumber, 8 Western Road |
| 346 | Meads Edward, dentist, 48 Sea Road |
| 347 | O’Callaghan MQ, doctor, Abergeldie, Marina |
| 348 | Glenister, piano dealers, 46 Sackville Road |
| 349 | Staines and Co, house / estate agents, 7 St Leonards Road |
| 350 | Hobden, carriers and coal merchants, 1 Devonshire Place |
| 351 | Blasseneck, prep school, West Down Road |
| 352 | Evershed William, drapers, 20 St Leonards Road / 137 Station Road |
| 353 | Cairns Glen, upholsterer, 8 Sea Road |
| 355 | Miller and Franklin, outfitters and Drapers, 43 St Leonards Road |
| 356 | Jewhurst, bakers, 12 St Leonards Road |
| 356a | Jewhurst, bakers, 18 Windsor Road |
| 358 | Cockett FS, grocer, 34 Belle Hill |
| 359 | Davis J, Sales Rooms, 43 Western Road |
| 360 | Deeprose A R, greengrocer, 21 St Leonards Road |
| 361 | Harman S, wine stores, Marina |
| 362 | Marsh HE, dentist, 1 Cantelupe Road |
| 363 | Kinnis and Co, dry cleaners, 17 St Leonards Road |
| 365 | Sackville Laundry, 63/65 Western Road |
| 367 | Devonshire Dairy, 10 Devonshire Road |
| 368 | St Wilfred’s School, Collington Lane |
| 370 | Effingham School, Collington Lane |
| 371 | Cave & Brookes, decorators, 3 Devonshire Place |
| 372 | Eccles Mrs, Nursing Home, 9 Marina Mansions |
| 377 | Cardwell A, barrister, West Down, Broadoak Lane |
| 379 | Thomas Chilton, Elmstead, St Johns Road |
| 382 | Sackville livery stables, Sackville Mews, Middlesex Road |
| 383 | Pocock JL, butcher, Boswell House, High Street |
| 384 | East Sussex Saw Mills, Ashdown Road |
| 386 | Deeprose Alfred, 34 Sackville Road |
| 387 | Ainslie Bros, butchers, 8 Devonshire Road |
| 388 | Castle Hotel, Buckhurst Place |
| 390 | Longley Bros, drapers, 59 / 63 Devonshire Road |
| 392 | Ancaster House School, Hastings Road |
| 393 | Brook Miss, The Hydro, Marine Mansions |
| 395 | Vardon Mrs, Whitehill, Whitehill |
| 396 | Apps W, market gardeners, White Hill Lane |
| 398 | Bruce and Co, builders, 12 Sea Road |
| 399 | Pulham & Co, motor engineers, Sackville Road |
| 402 | Sargent’s Carriers, 5 Buckhurst Place / 45 Station Road |
| 404 | Bexhill Marine Club House, Marina |
| 405 | Neville Bakery, 53 Devonshire Road |
| 406 | Wright T, watchmaker, 19 Devonshire Road |
| 407 | Pelham Hotel & Pugh A, Pelham livery stables, Sidley |
| 408 | Arscott, bakers, 45 St Leonards Road / 39 Sackville Road |
| 409 | Stevens, estate agents, 1 Sea Road |
| 410 | Green & Webber, auctioneers, 9/11 Sea Road |
| 412 | Brisley G, chemist, 2 Wilton Court |
| 413 | Devonshire Hotel, Devonshire Road |
| 414 | Harvey JO, doctor, 16 Parkhurst Road |
| 415 | Roberts Marine Mansions Hotel, Devonshire Road |
| 416 | Collbran JW, watchmaker, 54 St Leonards Road |
| 417 | Robbins, chemist, 44 St Leonards Road |
| 418 | Mummery JP, house furnishers / funeral directors, 50/52 Devonshire Road |
| 419 | Waghorn, butchers, 40 St Leonards Road |
| 420 | Rickett Smith, coal merchants, 1 Sea Road |
| 421 | Cornelius CG, carriage builder, 10 Parkhurst Road |
| 422 | Perrett, chemists, 25 Devonshire Road |
| 423 | Friend J, livery stables, Metropole Mews, 45 Sackville Road |
| 424 | Murdoch A, doctor, 24 Albert Road |
| 425 | Howard H, estate agents, 11 Cantelupe Road |
| 428 | Skyrme CR, doctor, 2 Albany Road |
| 429 | Collingwood CR, wine merchants, 4 Marina Court Parade |
| 430 | Wallis Thomas, butcher, 53 St Leonards Road |
| 431 | Bexhill Golf Club, Cantelupe Road |
| 433 | Hull JL, dairyman, 63 Devonshire Road |
| 435 | Pead CA, solicitor, 23 St Leonards Road |
| 436 | Rogers James, builder, Park Cottage, Hastings Road |
| 437 | Granville Hotel, Sea Road |
| 439 | Hotel Metropole, Marina |
| 440 | Croucher WH, fruiterers, 67 Devonshire Road |
| 442 | Hall and Co, coal and builders merchants, Bridge House, Sea Road |
| 443 | Hubbard L, solicitor, 5 St Leonards Road |
| 444 | Draycon W & Stebben, grocer, 51 St Leonards Road |
| 446 | Wills JP, Chintings, Upper Sea Road |
| 447 | Bexhill Club (private), 17 Marine Mansions, Marina |
| 448 | Woolley T, electricians, 3 Church Street |
| 449 | Neal HL, stationer, 38/40 Sackville Road |
| 450 | Webb Rodney, dentist, 63 Wilton Road |
| 452 | Bennett and Co, coal merchants, 6 Western Road |
| 453 | Bidwell L, doctor, 18 Egerton Road |
| 454 | The Bell Hotel, Church Street |
| 455 | Findlater, wine merchants, 28 Sea Road / 56 St Leonards Road |
| 456 | Savill, doctor, 42 Sea Road |
| 457 | Carter Paterson, carriers, De La Warr Mews |
| 458 | Rudge N, Baskerville, 1 Dorset Road |
| 459 | Pugh, wine merchants, 15 Sea Road |
| 461 | Britton W, baker, 33 Western Road |
| 463 | Cameron Taylor, doctor, 1 Marina |
| 465 | Bexhill Information Bureau, 13 Sea Road |
| 466 | Osbourne O, Dr, Borough MOH, 44 Station Road |
| 467 | Johnson H, 3 Brassey Road |
| 468 | Pettit and Co, coal merchants, 27/28 Station Road |
| 469 | Paton Alexander, Thirlmere, Hastings Road |
| 470 | Blacker AH, tobacconist, 51 Devonshire Road |
| 471 | Riposo Hotel, De la Warr Parade |
| 472 | Riposo Hotel, De la Warr Parade |
| 473 | Hyde Colbran, house agents, 14 St Leonards Road |
| 474 | Sackville Hotel, Marina |
| 476 | Barker’s Library and Stores, 40 Devonshire Road |
| 477 | Wilton Court Hotel, Marina |
| 478 | Carey Stephen, Haddocks Hill |
| 479 | Devonshire Livery Stables, Endwell Road |
| 480 | Hampton RC, tailors, 16 St Leonards Road |
| 481 | Bexhill Printing Co, 7/9 Buckhurst Place / 47 Station Road |
| 482 | Giles W, hairdresser, 33 St Leonards Road |
| 483 | Beach Haven Hotel, 62 Sea Road |
| 485 | Russell, motor engineers, 97 Station Road |
| 486 | Gale P, chemist, 16 Sackville Road |
| 488 | Kursaal Theatre and Deck, Marina Promenade |
| 490 | Kewhurst House, Church Hill |
| 491 | Waghorn, butchers, 75 Western Road |
| 492 | Ellis JW, chemist, 9 St Leonards Road |
| 494 | Rankin Miss, masseuse, Jameson Road |
| 496 | Paine Mrs, Normandie, De La Warr Parade |
| 497 | Sussex Hotel, Ninfield Road, Sidley |
| 498 | Parker L, baker, 39 Devonshire Road |
| 499 | Squirrell and Co, domestic engineers, 37 Station Road |
| 500 | Manor Farm Diary, 50 St Leonards Road |
| 501 | Radford John, music, 69 Devonshire Road |
| 504 | Freeman, Hardy Willis, shoes, 12 Devonshire Road |
| 505 | Star Supply Stores, 26 Devonshire Road |
| 506 | Alexandra Laundry and Dye Works, 65 Reginald Road |
| 510 | Tyzack H, 10 Bedford Road |
| 512 | St John’s School, Collington Avenue |
| 513 | Harris W, Penlands, De La Warr Road |
| 515 | Mepham T, carrier, 78 Windsor |
| 516 | Smyth E, chemist, 37 St Leonards Road |
| 517 | International Tea Stores, 20 Devonshire Road |
| 518 | Smith TW, fly proprietor, 16 Western Road |
| 519 | Baker and Farnfield, plumber, Victoria Road |
| 522 | Burstow and Clements, auctioneers, 46 Station Road |
| 524 | Rains RH, doctor, 111 Station Road |
| 525 | Lindores School, 127 Dorset Road |
| 526 | O’Donnell Thomas, Dolton Lodge, Holliers Hill |
| 527 | Creed John, 3 Colebrook Road |
| 551 | Sackville Hotel, De La Warr Parade |
| 542 | Bexhill-on-Sea Building Society |
Today we expect telephones to connect instantly, but in 1898 every call required the assistance of a human operator.
Early telephones were fitted with a small hand-operated magneto generator. Turning the handle sent an electrical signal to the exchange above Gilpin's shop, alerting the operator that someone wished to make a call.
The subscriber would then ask for the required number—perhaps "Number 13" or "Number 28"—and the operator would connect the two lines manually by inserting cords into a switchboard.
No dialling was involved. In fact, Britain's first public automatic (dial) telephone exchange did not open until 1912, some fourteen years after Bexhill's exchange began operating.
The mystery of the letters
While Paul compiled his list of Bexhill's earliest telephone subscribers from directories dating between 1908 and 1912, one curious feature immediately stood out.
Many numbers carry small letter suffixes:
- 2x and 2y
- 4x and 4y
- 10x and 10y
- 13x and 13y
- 20x and 20y
- 28x and 28y
Others include the suffix a, such as 1a or, in later years, 356a.
After searching contemporary sources, one part of the puzzle now appears to have an explanation. A study of another National Telephone Company exchange records that suffixes x and y were used on shared (or "party") telephone lines. Instead of every subscriber having a separate line to the exchange, several customers could share the same circuit. Different ringing arrangements distinguished which subscriber was being called.
This matches the Bexhill evidence remarkably well, where so many early numbers occur as x/y pairs.
The suffix a remains more uncertain.
Several examples suggest that it may have indicated an additional telephone or a second business premises belonging to the same subscriber. For example, butcher Thomas Wallis appears as both Number 1 and Number 1a, serving two different shops. Likewise, baker Jewhurst later appears as 356 and 356a at separate addresses. This interpretation fits the surviving evidence, although no contemporary instruction has yet been found confirming exactly what the suffix meant.
A network that quickly grew
Although the exchange opened with only 33 subscribers, the system expanded rapidly.
Within a little over a decade, telephone numbers had reached several hundred. Hotels, schools, laundries, coal merchants, estate agents, doctors, dentists, the police station, the fire brigade, the gas and water company and many of the town's principal businesses had joined the network. What had begun as an experimental service was becoming an essential part of everyday commercial life.
An interesting local development came in 1912, when a second exchange opened at Cooden. For a town the size of Bexhill, having two exchanges at such an early date was rather unusual and reflected the rapid growth of the area.
Research into early telephone systems is surprisingly difficult. The equipment survives in museums, but the day-to-day operating practices of the earliest exchanges are often poorly documented.
The explanation of the x and y suffixes now appears reasonably well supported, but the precise meaning of a remains uncertain. It may yet be explained by an overlooked National Telephone Company directory, an operator's handbook, or perhaps the elusive Bexhill Telephone Directory of 1910, which is known to have existed but has not yet been located.
Another Bexhill Pioneer
Technically speaking, very technically, the first telephone system was introduced to Bexhill in 1891, not 1898. Installed by the 8th Earl De La Warr in 1891 when he renovated the since-demolished Manor House in Bexhill Old Town, this instrument was part of a “decentralised manual intercommunication” system – an intercom as we know it today – but wired cross country to cover his estate. By turning the dial on the base, users manually switched between 15 dedicated lines to connect directly to different estate offices.
This multi-wire system required no central operator. In contrast, Bexhill’s 1898 system introduced a centralised switchboard exchange, where operators upstairs at S.F. Gilipin’s ironmongers physically connected lines together. You can see one of the 8th Earl’s phones, or intercoms if you prefer, at Bexhill Museum today (pictured).