March 2021
Brighton c1830-1855 – from successful Regency resort to troubled early Victorian one (part 1 of a 2 part talk)
by Dr Sue Berry. In the mid 1820s, Brighton was a large and prosperous resort with a long, famous frontage and some very striking leisure buildings where visitors could meet. The Pavilion, revamped in an Indian style, and the Chain Pier became popular subjects for prints and paintings. A secure future beckoned. Yet, by the late 1820s, all was not well. Building slowed down, some projects stopped. A national recession, and the need for the resort to improve its public…
Find out more »Brighton and Hove c1855 – 1870 – a successful Victorian seaside resort with controversial health issues (Part 2 of a 2 part talk)
By Dr Sue Berry. Between the later 1850s and 1870, Brighton’s expansion greatly affected the surrounding parishes, particularly Hove. This took place in spite of the controversies which appeared in the national press such as the poor sanitation and its links with infections in all social classes, and the unsuccessful attempts to quash Anglo-Catholicism in Brighton, which became a major centre of it. In spite of controversies, Brighton flourished and development spread into the parishes to the north and west. …
Find out more »April 2021
A Denman Century – The work of Samuel, John-Leopold and John-Bluett Denman, 1876 to 1982 (part 1 of a 2 part talk)
Duke of Wellington Pub, Shoreham. image: David Robson An Illustrated talk by David Robson. Three generations of Denmans ran an architectural practice in Brighton over a period of a hundred years. During that time, they completed hundreds of buildings across Sussex including such landmarks as Lewes Town Hall, the Hove Club, The Brighton Masonic Centre, the Sussex Eye Hospital and what would be one of Britain’s last great country houses at Eridge. And beyond the Sussex boundaries they built the…
Find out more »A Denman Century – The work of Samuel, John-Leopold and John-Bluett Denman, 1876 to 1982 (part 2 of a 2 part talk)
Citizen's Building Society, Brighton, portrait of JL Denman by Joseph Cribb_web. Image: David Robson An Illustrated talk by David Robson. Three generations of Denmans ran an architectural practice in Brighton over a period of a hundred years. During that time, they completed hundreds of buildings across Sussex including such landmarks as Lewes Town Hall, the Hove Club, The Brighton Masonic Centre, the Sussex Eye Hospital and what would be one of Britain’s last great country houses at Eridge. And beyond…
Find out more »November 2021
Making it new: gender, identity and modernism in English architecture
an illustrated talk by Elizabeth Darling, reader in architectural history at Oxford Brookes University. This lecture will consider how new forms of self-consciously modern identities created new forms of architecture in 1920s and 1930s England. It will trace how gay men and women, determinedly single professionals and pioneering social reformers worked with architects to produce transformed and transforming spaces both private and public. Elizabeth Darling is Reader in Architectural History in the School of History, Philosophy & Culture, Oxford Brookes University, UK. Her work focuses…
Find out more »January 2022
Eugenius Birch: The King of Piers
During the 1860s and 70s there was a mania for pier building around the British coast. The Engineer Eugenius Birch not only built more of these than anyone else, he also built the first pier made of iron and the first pier to have an integral entertainment pavilion. Among his commissions were the West Pier at Brighton, Blackpool North Pier, Birckbeck at Weston-super-Mare, Eastbourne, Hastings and Bournemouth piers. Birch started out as a railway engineer before specialising in marine engineering,…
Find out more »February 2022
Beautifying the City
Panel presentation and discussion with Helmut Lusser -Hove Civic Society Diane Smith - 20 Minute Neighbourhoods These speakers have exciting and innovative ideas about making our city beautiful,. They have some visionary suggestions they will share and will invite discussion and feedback. Diane Smith is a promoter of the 20 minute neighbourhood, made famous in Paris by mayor Anne Hidalgo, but also of interest to town planners everywhere. The 20 minute neighbourhood is the idea that facilities in cities should…
Find out more »March 2022
Brighton Aquarium
The idea of an Aquarium was started in 1866 by Eugenius Birch, architect and engineer who wanted to use his skills to design an extraordinary building on the seafront in Brighton. So that the seawater could be pumped into the tanks by a steam engine, where visitors would be able to see sea creatures face to face through the glass, in some of the largest tanks that had ever been engineered. It was to be a splendid decorative building, a…
Find out more »May 2022
John Small lecture : Drink in Brighton (and Regency Society Annual General Meeting)
Pubs are a prominent feature of any streetscape. David Fisher's profusely illustrated talk will look at the architecture and historical development of these iconic public buildings in Brighton and Hove, the breweries that supplied and usually owned them, and consider the context of the social conditions in which they operated. All are invited. Admission free. The lecture will immediately follow the Regency Society's AGM. Image: The Stag Tavern (Malcolm Drummond) 1929
Find out more »July 2022
Summer Garden Party 2022
The Society’s annual garden party will be held between 2.30pm and 5.30pm on Saturday 16 July 2022 at the Secret Garden in Bristol Gardens, Kemp Town. Tickets cost £12.50 per person. This includes a glass of wine or a soft drink and canapés. Members are welcome to buy additional tickets for guests, as are non-members – this year we're opening the event to everyone. We will need to know numbers ASAP for catering purposes, so please buy your tickets as…
Find out more »September 2022
Antony Dale Lecture: Restoring the Madeira Terrace
All tickets have now been sold for this event. The terrace and arches were designed by Brighton borough surveyor Philip Causton Lockwood and opened in 1890. They have been closed to the public since 2012. In this year's Antony Dale Lecture, Lian Harter, senior project lead at the heritage consultants Purcell, will describe the first of four phases of her company's work on the restoration of the stricken 865m-long cast-iron terrace. This is one of the city's most important…
Find out more »October 2022
Seaside Hotels
A Regency Society free lecture by Karen Averby All are invited. No need to book. Since Brighton emerged as an exclusive resort in the 18th century, its varied visitors have required accommodation. In the early days newly built houses were leased for the ‘season’, but increasing visitor numbers led to the growth of commercial ventures, and permanent establishments—some quite luxurious. The grander seafront hotels of the 19th century were designed in the fashionable architectural styles of the time and represent…
Find out more »November 2022
The Victorian House
A Regency Society free lecture by Kit Wedd All are invited, no need to book. The Victorian Building Site: the system of speculative suburban development, house planning and architectural style, the trades involved in constructing the house, and the hierarchy of labour on the building site. Kit Wedd is a historic buildings adviser, a trustee of the Victorian Society and author of several books about old buildings. She worked for the Victorian Society, Historic England and the consulting…
Find out more »December 2022
The James Gray Collection website relaunch
The website of the RS photographic collection is being given a complete revision to include revised and additional text and newly-taken photographs to match many of the original 7,500 images. Mary McKean will introduce the new-look site, with a little bit of seasonal Christmas fun and cheer.
Find out more »January 2023
Brighton & Hove Art Collection
The Royal Pavilion and Museums Trust looks after a large and varied collection of art works, with around 1,300 paintings and 8,000 works on paper. Many of these are by well-known and important artists, ranging from Philippe de Champaigne, Poussin and William Blake to Aubrey Beardsley, Walter Sickert and Frank Stella. Works are displayed across the Trust’s five venues and at any one time others are on show in national and overseas exhibitions as part of a busy loans programme.…
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