The Undercliff Café — Restaurant in England

It was absorbed into the borough of Brighton, East Sussex, England in 1928, and now forms part of the city of Brighton and Hove. It has expanded through the growth of residential streets on its eastern and southern sides, and now has a population of about 1,200. Some of the current housing replaces earlier shacks of the type once found in Woodingdean and Peacehaven, built after the First World War. It almost abuts Rottingdean to the south-east and Woodingdean to the north-east, but still has open downland on its other sides, on which may be found a golf course and Brighton racecourse as well as some residual farmland.

The name, which is Old English for 'the valley of people associated with a man called Ōfa', shows that the village has existed since Anglo-Saxon times. Little seems to have disturbed its peace since. It is sometimes said to have been attacked by French raiders in the known incursion of 1377, but there is no hard evidence for this. The historic village is a conservation area. Its focus is the 11th century St Wulfram's Church. This dedicationwas only ever found in two other places in England (Grantham and Dorrington, both in Lincolnshire - it has vanished at Dorrington).

Many homes in the conservation area are converted farm buildings, and the most prominent houses are Ovingdean Grange and Ovingdean Hall. The Grange is the subject of legend. In 1857, the popular novelist W. Harrison Ainsworth wrote Ovingdean Grange, A Tale Of The South Downs, in which he described how the future King Charles IIstayed there for less than 24 hours before escaping to France in 1651, fathering a child in the process. In reality, the King stayed at the George Inn in West Street, Brighton. The Hall is a gentry mansion which was the birthplace of Charles Eamer Kempe, the stained glass window designer. It now serves as a language school for overseas residential students, Ovingdean Hall School. The majority of pupils are partially deaf or are equipped with cochlear implants. Longhill School, a comprehensive school, is on the edge of the village, with its postal address in Rottingdean.

Among those buried in the churchyard are the inventor Magnus Volk, the stained-glass artist Charles Kempe and the distinguished lawyer Helena Normanton, one of the first female barristers and QCs. Also in the graveyard is a monument to the family of pioneer female medical student Sophia Jex-Blake, who is buried some 25 miles away in Rotherfield.

The village has a single shop (a sub-post office) and no pubs.

Just outside the historic boundary of Ovingdean is Ian Fraser House, better known as St Dunstan's, a famous residential and rehabilitation centre for blind ex-servicemen. It was also the home of 113-year-old Henry Allingham, the last surviving founder-member of the RAF and briefly the world's oldest man.

Ovingdean is now the site of several proposed urban fringe sites due development under Brighton and...

Very disappointed with this place, the lady was not very polite, we ordered some icecreams for the kids & 2 teas & a mocha for myself, although the ice creams where covered in ice they seemed to be OK the 2 teas where very weak & milky & my mocha was horrible. I returned with my mocha to ask what she made me & found out she used nescafe original (instant coffee granules) & a cheap supermarket hot chocolate powder! I'm sorry but I find it unacceptable for a cafe to serve a drink like that! I know it's not Starbucks but surely they can do better than that? I have a Delonghi coffee machine at home that makes as good as any other coffee shop & it only cost £50 (it even steams the milk 😂 ) she just used a kettle & no milk at all.

I think its a great location to own a cafe yet it just isn't living upto standards I'm afraid & therefore I'm sad to say I have only left 1 star but if I return in the near future & see improvement then I will change my feedback...

Love the vibe of this place now it has reopened and feel it has transformed the gap. They have become busy quickly and hopefully the quality will keep pace with this.

A couple of small criticisms from us - coffee was served lukewarm on a couple of occasions though staff were apologetic and remade when I brought it to their attention.

The music was a little too loud on one occasion.

Tea was served in cup with milk already added and tasted rather stewed - this was a busy Saturday.

Staff do not understand if the loyalty card is per cup or per visit. When I asked the staff meme er told me she was not sure and had just been doing it per transaction. So next time I’ll pay for the drinks...