The familiar Regency Society's James Gray Collection, much used as a photographic reference for the history of Brighton & Hove, now has a second version. Contemporary images matching the original scenes as closely as possible have been created and sit side-by-side to show the changes, with a new descriptive text.
It can be navigated from a street index or a map and can be searched by keywords.
Follow this link:
We are sad to announce that John Small, a long-time member and former honorary secretary of the Regency Society, died at Christmas after a long illness.
Although many assumed that John was ‘Sussex-born-and-bred’, he was in fact born in Tolworth in south-west London, the son of an electrical engineer, and arrived in Hove at the tender age of two. The borderland between Brighton and Hove, however, remained his home for the rest of his life, apart from a period of national service and brief sorties to West Africa.
He spent his schooldays at Brighton and Hove Grammar School (now BHASVIC) where he showed a talent for drawing and developed an interest in design. Then, at the age of 16, he joined the Brighton School of Art, where he studied architecture under Frank Green and eventually became an associate of the Royal Institute of Architects (ARIBA).
Between 1955 and 1957 he did his National Service in the Royal Engineers and was stationed for the most part in Salisbury. Much of his time, it seems, was spent designing alterations and extensions to officers’ houses, an experience which provided him with a fund of amusing anecdotes.
In 1957 John married Marilyn Mayhew, a librarian, and they went on to form a close-knit family with three children—Nic (Nicholas), Pippa (Philippa) and Alex (Alexandra). That year also marked the beginning of John’s career as an architect when he joined a firm of architects in London and committed himself to a daily commute from Preston Park Station to London Victoria.
In 1959 he and Marilyn bought a piece of land in Inwood Crescent, high above the railway line. Keen to put his architectural ideas to the test and to explore the possibility of operating as an architect-developer, John designed and built a pair of houses, the eventual sale of one of which would help to finance the other. In order to accommodate the steep slope of the site the house was built on split levels around an open stair with the bedrooms on the upper entry level and the reception rooms below, opening to the garden. In 1970 the house proved too small for their growing family and they moved to a large Edwardian house in Windlesham Gardens.
In the same year John joined architects Ronald Ward and Partners, the practice he would remain with for the next 32 years, first as an associate and later as a partner. Ronald Ward ran a respected commercial practice which specialised mainly in office buildings, the most famous being the Vickers Tower beside the Tate Gallery. During the 1960s John was involved with work in West Africa and spent regular short periods in Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone. Later, during the 1980s, he worked on designs for the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank in Hong Kong. When the office finally closed in 1991, John took early retirement at the relatively young age of 58, though he continued to work as an architectural consultant in Brighton and was responsible, amongst other things, for the internal re-ordering of St John the Baptist Church on Palmeira Square.
In 1979 John joined the Regency Society and in 1992 became a committee member and trustee. Anthony Dale had been one of the founders of the Regency Society in 1945 and served as its honorary secretary from 1948 until his death in 1993. During this period the secretary was the mainstay of the society and the chair had a more symbolic role. When Dale died, the Society was at a low ebb and it seemed possible that it would die with him. But the then chair, Ian Dunlop, rose to the challenge, put the society’s finances into order and laid the foundations for a new era of intense activity. In 1995 John became the Conservation Secretary and its representative on the City’s Conservation Advisory Group (CAG). Finally, in 1997 he stepped into Anthony Dale’s empty shoes to become the honorary secretary.
John served as secretary for 12 years from 1997 to 2009 under a succession of three very different but equally effective chairs: John Wells-Thorpe (1997-2000), Gavin Henderson (2000-2006) and Michael Ray (2006-2009), and there can be no doubt that he provided the foundation on which these three were able to function so effectively.
With hindsight this period can be regarded as the Society’s second ‘golden age’ (its first being the early years from 1945 to 1951). Its president was the Duke of Grafton and its vice-presidents were the academics Asa Briggs and Sir John Kingsman. The committee included such well-informed enthusiasts as Peter Bareham, David Beevers, John Bluet Denman, Delia Forester, Derek Granger, Eileen Hollingdale, Liane Jarrett, Duncan McNeill, Hazel McKay, Selma Montford, Peter Rose, Derek Sherborn and Audrey Simpson. Every year there was a full winter programme of lectures by such luminaries as Helene Binet, Gillian Darby, Jeremy Dixon, Nick Grimshaw, Peter Howell, Simon Jenkins, John McAslan, John Outram, Anthony Seddon, Gavin Stamp, Derek Sugden, Giles Waterfield, George Saumarez-Smith and Lars Tharp. Every year, without fail, members met for a garden party in the Secret Garden and during every summer there were day-outings to places of interest across the south-east and long weekend visits, organised by Stella and Tony Mercer, to such faraway places as Lincoln, Chester, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Bath, Worcester, Salisbury and Buxton. Throughout this time, the society made its voice heard with critical comments on heritage and planning issues that were channelled through CAG to the council's planning committee or published in the society’s own quarterly review.
That era drew to a close in 2009 when Michael Ray relinquished the chair and John Small stepped down as honorary secretary. John was made an honorary life member and in 2014 an annual lecture in his name was instigated.
As secretary of the Regency Society and chair of CAG John made a significant contribution to debates about the future development of Brighton and the conservation of its unique architectural heritage. He was also an active member of the Montpelier and Clifton Hill Association, the Hove Civic Society, the International Building Study Group (London) and the Sussex Heritage Trust.
In 2000 John sold the family home and moved to a flat in art-deco Furze Croft, where he surrounded himself with his unique collection of 20th-century furniture. His impeccable taste was apparent in the design of his flat and also in his carefully chosen wardrobe of elegant contemporary clothes. He continued to support the activities of the Regency Society and always stood out as the best-dressed man at the Annual Secret Garden Party.
David Robson
January 2023
Image: David Robson
Regency Society Occasional Paper 1
Brighton College is a fine example of an ambitious approach to building success in every sense. The history of its buildings recounted here demonstrates that the college has not always been the leading institution it is today. Vision, top quality design and a refusal to compromise have contributed centrally to its transformation. This has clearly not always been easy, and is an example we hope other institutions in our city will learn from.
This beautifully illustrated history by John McKean shows why Brighton College has created a benchmark for design in the city.
The Society is pleased to announce that the next AGM will take place at 7pm on Wednesday 12 April 2023. The venue will be the Hove Club, 28 Fourth Avenue, Hove.
As well as presenting the annual report for 2022, the agenda will include the election of trustees. If you would like to become one, please contact the honorary secretary. The meeting will be followed by
John Small Lecture: Wild & Busby Revisited
For details see the events page. Non-members are welcome.
Do you remember the Sackville Hotel?
It was built in 1904 on the corner of Kingsway and Sackville Gardens, originally as a terrace of private houses. It collapsed in 2006 and was demolished after being battered by strong winds.
The site then stood empty and unloved until 2016 when a developer proposed a 17-storey circular tower. The Regency Society was one of the many voices opposing this idea. Amongst our worries was the shape of the flats, – think of a slice of a circular pie!
The application was withdrawn and replaced with a more credible and down to earth plan for a block of sixty flats. Although one member of the Planning Committee described the design as “a little bland” it was approved.
The Regency Society had commented that the building “made no attempt to turn the corner in an elegant manner.” The final building’s curved corner is perhaps a suitable response.
What do you think of the result?
The Planning Forum, attended by members of the Regency Society and Hove Civic Society hovecivicsociety.org meets monthly to discuss planning applications which the Forum considers significant. Each society forms its own view on the applications and decides what action, if any, to take.
From Farm House to Superstore
At the top of Dyke Road Avenue there is a roundabout which provides access to the by-pass (A27). Adjacent to the roundabout is a plot of land which for many years was the home of the Court Farm House.
The site was previously proposed for residential development, a scheme which the Regency Society supported. Permission was granted in 2017 but never implemented.
The latest proposal is for an Aldi Superstore with parking for 120 cars. If you’re a driver and you want a convenient place to shop you may see this as a welcome development. However, the application has attracted lots of adverse comment. Click OBJECTION TO PROPOSED ALDI SUPERSTORE AT COURT FARM to see what the store would look like and to read why the Regency Society is opposed to it.
The Plan for the Gas Works Site
Property developer, St William Homes has submitted a proposal for the site of the former Gas Works in Kemp Town.
If approved, it will result in 553 new homes in eleven tall buildings and several smaller ones, all located between Marine Gate to the east and Courcels to the west. The scheme also includes new commercial properties.
The Regency Society is supportive of the principle of a residential development on this site, which has been a blot on the landscape for far too long. However, we cannot support this proposal.
Click Gas Works site objection 2-1-22 to read the comments we have submitted to the Planning Authority.
Gas Works Site proposal 2021
The Planning Forum, attended by members of the Regency Society and Hove Civic Society hovecivicsociety.org meets monthly to discuss planning applications which the Forum considers significant. Each society forms its own view on the applications and decides what action, if any, to take.
What’s happening at the Gas Works?
The Society is monitoring closely the proposals for 700 new homes on the site of the old gas works in Kemp Town. We are represented in Aghast, a coalition of local groups opposed to the development.
Smartening up the Old Steine café
The café at the south end of the Old Steine started life in 1926 as a tram shelter, built to a design by David Edwards, who at that time was the Borough Engineer. Later it became a public convenience. It was in the 1990s that it became a café.
A planning application has been approved for various alterations. The aim is to create a more modern café environment. The building will be restored to remove unsympathetic additions and there will be much needed repairs to the flat roof and the windows.
The Regency Society welcomes this development which will return a historic, listed building to good condition and beneficial use while retaining its historic interest.
Flats in the Old Market
The planners are looking at a listed building in Hove, the Old Market in Upper Market Street.
An application has been submitted for alterations on the south side of the building to convert two floors of office space into four flats.
The proposed internal alterations are not radical and there is no removal of historic material. There will only be one visible change to the exterior of the building: the installation of two windows on the southern façade, to match the four existing ones.
The scheme doesn’t seem to create any obvious harm to the listed building, and it will provide four new homes.
Inside the Temple
This month brought a second planning application relating to the Girls school in Montpelier Road, this time dealing with the interior of Thomas Read Kemp’s fine building.
We applaud this application, which will restore the Temple to its rightful position as the focus of the school site. Its entrance will become the principal entrance to the school, also providing an element of public access.
The Temple is very much a multi-period building, having been in a variety of educational uses for all but the first decade of its two centuries of existence. The current proposals will add another layer to its long history while revealing rather than obscuring it.
Another Addition at Brighton College
The Regency Society has been supportive of the range of impressive new buildings that have arisen on the Brighton College campus in recent years and which complement the College’s existing listed buildings.
Their latest proposal is for a “Performing Arts Building” to replace three existing, but uninspiring buildings. Historic England was asked to comment on the new proposal. Their response commended the “high quality, innovative design” but suggested that it could appear “overbearing and dominating” from some viewpoints.
They go on the recommend “that the Local Authority explores with the applicant whether the less than substantial harm … can be minimised any further by reducing the scale of the building, so it is not visually dominant or overbearing within the close setting of the listed buildings.”
We believe that the Council’s planners should follow up on this advice and have contacted the Head of Planning to ask whether they will be doing so.
Another step forward for Saltdean Lido
We were very pleased to see the latest proposals for the Saltdean Lido building, which, as this photo of the West wing shows, is in desperate need of repair. We have submitted a minor comment regarding the drawings of the proposed balcony infills, but generally we welcome this proposal which is an important step towards bringing the building back into use.
If approved the work will include repairs and alterations to the render, concrete and balustrading. The café will be enlarged and the flagpole and chimney will be reinstated. A new, “bespoke” spiral staircase will be installed in the enlarged café.
Good News in Cannon Place
Permission was granted recently for a new hotel in Cannon Place, behind the Metropole Hotel. As yet, there is no sign of work starting on this major new city-centre building.
However, the planning approval also included renovation of the listed facades of two bow front houses in Cannon Place and of the entrance to the former Newburgh Rooms in St Margaret’s Place.
We’re pleased to report that this restoration work has already been completed. We now wait with fingers crossed to see how they will look once the new hotel has been constructed around them.
The Planning Forum, attended by members of the Regency Society and Hove Civic Society hovecivicsociety.org meets monthly to discuss planning applications which the Forum considers significant. Each society forms its own view on the applications and decides what action, if any, to take.
New owners and a new roof for the Hippodrome
The Brighton Hippodrome in Middle Street has been a sad sight in the heart of the Old Town Conservation Area for many years. Some years ago, after much debate, the Regency Society supported controversial plans to convert it to a multi-screen cinema. The plans were approved but never implemented.
Since then, the site has had various owners. Currently it is owned by Hove property development company, Matsim. They have applied for permission to carry out works to create a new roof, above the current one, which is leaking.
The future use of the site is undecided but work to protect the fabric of this Grade II* building is welcome.
Click here to see the Society's comments : Hippodrome comment May 2021
Worst Circus Street fears fulfilled?
The Regency Society spent much time reviewing the plans to develop the site of the former fruit and vegetable market in Circus Street when they were first revealed. We had useful discussions with the developer, but they failed to convince us that their plans would create the vibrant and sunny open spaces promised.
Several years later, the development is now almost finished and it is possible to walk through much of it. We said that the buildings would be too tall and too close together, creating potential wind tunnels, seriously limiting the amount of sunlight and creating potential overlooking across the narrow spaces between.
If you have a chance, please take a look and tell us if you think we got it right. Or were too pessimistic?
An additional planning application has recently been approved for the site. It is for a sculpture to be erected on one of the new buildings. The working title is “Dancing Staircase”: it will represent a spiral staircase which springs apart as it rises up the building: a nice touch of the absurd! The sculptor is Alex Chinnek.
Should Black Lion Street be grey?
The Regency Society supported a recent planning application for a bold new colour scheme for Moore House in Black Lion Street. The planners disagreed and refused permission on the grounds that the proposed colour scheme would harm the appearance and character of the Old Town Conservation Area and the settings of the neighbouring listed buildings.
A new application proposes a different colour scheme, matching the grey tiles on the Black Lion, which is next door.
The Planning Forum, attended by members of the Regency Society and Hove Civic Society hovecivicsociety.org meets monthly to discuss planning applications which the Forum considers significant. Each society forms its own view on the applications and decides what action, if any, to take.
Of Trees and Green Spaces
The Peacock Industrial Estate in Davigdor Road is the location for a lot of new development at present. The latest plan is for a three-storey office block on a plot of land in front of P&H House.
The land is currently a green space with several trees. We are objecting to the proposed development on the grounds of the loss of green space. We have also suggested that a master plan should ne prepared for the whole area before any more new development is considered.
Architectural Illiteracy in Ship Street
If you have ever eaten in the Ivy in Ship Street you may recognise the original features illustrated in our first image. They serve to separate the front and back of house areas of the restaurant. The second illustration shows what will be left of them if the proposed changes go ahead.
The most striking feature is the central archway. To leave the arch with its keystone, which is intended to appear loadbearing, without visible means of support would be architectural illiteracy.
Fortunately, the planners have taken a similar view and the application has been refused on the grounds of harm to the architectural and historic interest of the listed building
Making Space Under the Eaves
tennis club
The Queens Park Tennis Club needs more space. Their club house is not quite big enough. However, its roof is bigger than its footprint, so they are proposing to create more space by “infilling” under the eaves. The new space will provide storage, a seating area and a new disabled WC. A neat solution, which the planners have now approved!
A chapel on the move
A huge re-development project is currently underway at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. As a result, some historic features will be removed, such as the Barry Building which formed its original entrance and presented an impressive view when looking north up Paston Place.
However, not all will be lost. Thanks to an intervention from English Heritage (as it was then known) the planning permission included a condition requiring the removal and storage of the hospital’s fine chapel. The permission is about to expire so a new application has been made to renew it. This is welcome, but what is not clear is whether, when and where the chapel will be re-constructed.
Click here to see a view of the chapel interior.
132 Kings Road
BH2021/00852 | Erection of a four storey extension onto existing building to form 2no additional self-contained flats, and associated extensions to existing floors. Revised fenestration and associated works. | 132 Kings Road Brighton BN1 2HH
The Regency Society most strongly objects to this application. 132 Kings Road is a heritage asset which warrants at least local listing. The proposals would be highly detrimental to its architectural and historical interest, internally as well as externally. They would have a severely adverse effect on the character of the Regency Square Conservation Area and on the settings of the adjoining Grade II* St Albans House and locally listed Astra House, of the Grade II* Regency Square and of the Grade II South African War Memorial and the Shelter on the promenade opposite.
The Heritage Statement is a travesty. 132 Kings Road is not as claimed just an “infill building” but the remaining half of a matching pair of late 1790s villas. It is the only survivor of the 18th century buildings between Preston Street and Regency Square and the oldest standing building in Kings Road, older than any of the listed buildings.
The site of 132 and 133 was conveyed in 1793 and is marked as Belle Vue on Cobby’s map of 1799. The Grade II* listed 131 was developed in 1828-30 by Amon Henry Wilds for the Duke of St Albans, two storeys taller than 132. No 134, Regency House, was a storey taller than 132-3. With 133, it was then redeveloped in the later 1870s as the New Club, of greater height than St Albans House. The New Club was redeveloped in 1938 as the locally listed Astra House.
The actual auditorium where the “first film show in the UK outside London was held” in 1896 is not within the original building of 132 but behind it in the area outlined in blue on the location and block plans, outside the area of the application. The auditorium is preserved among, as the Design and Access Statement says, the “industrially styled warehouse roofed buildings (Formally [sic] a dance hall or theatre”. The cinema was mainly used as a theatre from 1955.
The Heritage Statement claims that “Following the closure [of the cinema] the building started its adaptation into residential use on all floors above the Art Deco style projecting first floor level”. Residential use of all the upper floors, including the first, appears in fact to have been continuous. The as-existing plans indicate that the original domestic configuration of all the upper storeys has remained substantially intact.
The inter-war excrescence on the first floor was designed for residential use, with multi-pane timber sash windows. To describe its current utilitarian appearance as Art Deco style requires a considerable stretch of the imagination.
The central Brighton seafront has long been characterised by abrupt variations in height, evidence of its historical development. The modest scale of Belle Vue, built during the uncertainties of the French Revolutionary Wars, contrasts with the ambition of St Albans House, built in the peaceful years after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. 132 and 133 were originally brick faced but were modernised with stucco to match St Albans. A century later, Astra House was characteristic of the inter-war development of Brighton and Hove.
Two additional residential units would be a paltry public benefit for the damage to the City’s heritage from doubling the height of a currently unlisted building of merit in a conservation area which forms part if the setting of Grade II and II* listed buildings.
The Planning Forum, attended by members of the Regency Society and Hove Civic Society hovecivicsociety.org meets monthly to discuss planning applications which the Forum considers significant. Each society forms its own view on the applications and decides what action, if any, to take.
