The ward consists of two main areas, Patcham to the west and Hollingbury to the east. Although many consider Patcham to be the main historic heart of the ward, Hollingbury most probably has the more valid claim as its history goes back to the Iron Age with the ancient encampment on Hollingbury Golf Course. Stories also abound about the name at the crossroads of Ditchling Road and Coldean Lane. Amongst locals it is known as Old Boat Corner and draws on tales of a boat found nearby. The boat is thought to have been used in the river that once flowed in the valley below, where London Road is now. The river is still there but is now an underground stream and every so often makes its presence known when flooding takes place around the London Road area.

Patcham was originally a village centred around the 12th to 13th Century All Saints Church. Patcham came into the Brighton conurbation in April 1928 when Sir Herbert Carden oversaw the boundary changes that brought it into the Greater Brighton area. The two great Stone Pylons erected along London Road that mark the city boundary were erected in celebration of that event.