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Author: Mary McKean

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Sadly, Amex House in Edward Street, Brighton is no more. Demolition is now  complete and the site is surrounded with hoardings.

The Regency Society campaigned for Amex House to survive as one of the best post-war 20th centre buildings in the city without success. We liked the look of the building and the way it was set back from the road, creating a pleasant open space in what is otherwise a lacklustre streetscape.

The new American Express building, which had been hiding modestly behind the old one, is now partly visible above the hoardings. But it won’t be for long if the planners and developers get their way.

...continue reading "New plans for Edward Street"

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We still need your help with our next project!

The James Gray Collection contains over 7,500 historic photographs. It is the most heavily used service the Regency Society provides. The JGC is a unique resource of historic pictures of the whole of Brighton and Hove. We are fortunate to have it.

However, the original website of The James Gray Collection was very out of date. It was hard to understand and browse. Many captions were dated. It is also not suitable for use on modern tablets and phones.

How you can help

We wanted to give it a new lease of life with a new site. We have done this with help from a lot of people who know and care about Brighton and Hove and have been willing to help update the information about the images. You can now visit the new website, which was launched in December 2022.

However, the work is not quite finished. We still need help finding all the remaining places in the photographs and recording what is there now. We also need help with other tasks. If you are interested in the project but not sure if working on updating the information is for you—don't be put off!

...continue reading "A new site for the James Gray Collection"

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In 2017 the Regency Society published Chroniclers of Brighton by Andy Grant and Steve Myall to coincide with the launch of our website of historic prints of Brighton and Hove. The new site is based on the private collections of members of the Society of Brighton Print Collectors. Read more about the new website here. 

The book and its authors are described below however all copies of the book have been sold.

...continue reading "Victorian Chroniclers of Brighton: Regency Society publication"

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Our new website of Georgian and Victorian prints of Brighton is now live. It was launched at a very successful event at The Keep on 22 November 2017. This is a product of collaboration between the Regency Society and the Society of Brighton Print Collectors over the past year or so.

Our latest publication, Chroniclers of Brighton by Andy Grant and Steve Myall, was launched at the same time, with over 70 copies sold and more available. However all copies have been sold.

...continue reading "Website of Georgian and Victorian prints launched"

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The Pavilion Tea House in Hove Park is much loved by locals, particularly when the sun is shining, and you can sit outside. However, this pleasant building is no longer large enough to cope with the all-year-round business it now attracts. The kitchen is cramped, there are no toilets or disabled facilities and the inside seating is limited.

...continue reading "A new tea house for Hove Park?"

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Capability Brown is often hailed as the great master of 18th C. English landscaping. And yet there are some who regard his work as formulaic and others who consider him to have been a vandal. John Phibbs discussed this dichotomy. ...continue reading "Capability Brown: Vandal or Genius? Lecture by John Phibbs"

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The Society keeps a special reserve for occasions when an exceptionally important conservation project comes along. We look after it carefully and do not dip into it often. After careful consideration, the committee has decided that Madeira Arches is an especially deserving and urgent cause. So this is the right moment to put our conservation project reserve to good use.

We've decided that we will contribute as generously as we can afford to the restoration of the Madeira Arches. The Society is pledging £10,000.

The Arches before and after closure in 2015. The structure has become so precarious that it is a danger to the public.

By setting an example we hope to encourage others, so we will be seeking as much  publicity as possible for our donation. The Regency Society should be taking a lead on causes like this in the hope that others will follow. If our members, the general public and the conservation community locally and nationally join us in contributing we may be able to prevent disaster.  You can help too: please click here to contribute to the crowdfunding campaign.
...continue reading "We pledge £10,000 to help restore the Madeira Arches"

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David Robson considers the current plans to remodel Valley Gardens and is disappointed.

Valley Gardens is a precious green lung that barely survives between two arteries of thundering traffic at the heart of our City. Framed by a theatrical backdrop of buildings of different styles and periods, it has the potential to act as an exciting urban promenade, as an event space, as a place of repose. However, plans currently being advanced by the Council fail to exploit this potential and promise little more than clipped grass, trampled flowerbeds and bonded gravel.

...continue reading "How grey is our valley – we object to proposals for Valley Gardens"

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The Planning Forum, attended by members of the Regency Society and Hove Civic Society committees, meets monthly to discuss planning applications which the Forum considers significant. You can read more about the Planning Forum here.

Each society forms its own view on the applications and decides what action, if any, to take. 

In September 2017 we considered the following applications: 

2, The Conifers (Tongdean)

We considered a plan for demolition of a house in the Tongdean conservation area. The proposed replacement is very poorly designed so in this case we decided to object. You can read our objection here.

Royal Pavilion Ice Rink

There was quite a bit of discussion about the ice rink. There has been an ice rink in front of the Royal Pavilion for several years and this application was asking for permission to continue with it for the next six years.

The temporary structures required obscure an important view of our city’s most important listed building for almost one third of the year. On the other hand, the rink generates much needed cash for the maintenance of the Pavilion. So, there are good arguments for and against. After a useful discussion, we decided that proper maintenance of the building is essential so we will not object.

Plans for a large block of student housing in Lewes Road

The building is large but does step up from south, providing a number of different level roof spaces. This seems appropriate in the context of the larger scheme for the Preston Barracks site. We decided not to comment.

Other planning issues discussed at the Planning Forum

We also discusssed an outline application for housing on land of Overdown Rise, Mile Oak, The Jubilee Car Park at the University of Sussex and the replacement of windows at Hove Town Hall  but decided to make no comment.

If you are a member of the Regency Society and would like to comment on our positions on any issue we would be delighted to hear from you:  please contact us. Further details of all current planning applications are available on the Council’s website.

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The Regency Society cares about our city. We want to preserve its wonderful heritage and encourage new, well designed buildings. This is why we keep a very close eye on planning applications in Brighton and Hove.

To do this we monitor proposed developments. We speak out about them when we think they are unacceptable as well as when we think they are good.

Until recently we did much of this through our membership of the Council’s Conservation Advisory Group (CAG). Recently we decided to withdraw from the group. You can read more about our reasons here. Hove Civic Society has also withdrawn, for similar reasons.

...continue reading "Our new approach to planning"