Archive for October, 2008
Station Road
There are plenty of roads around Brighton & Hove whose names change along their lengths but just one that I know of with a different name each side.
The names of Dyke Road, Church Road and Upper North Street all change as they become Dyke Road Avenue, New Church Road and Montpelier Terrace respectively. But, the case of Station Road in Portslade is entirely different for it is in fact only half of a road – widthways. The other half – the Hove side – is called Boundary Road. There are plenty of examples of sets of houses with different names to the roads on which they are situated. Indeed, Carlton Terrace on Station Road is one such case. However, I wouldn’t describe any set as a road by itself.
Station Road has been known variously as Aldrington Lane, Aldrington Drove and Red House Drove. The railway arrived in 1840 and the name "Station Road" was certainly in use by 1889. At that point, both sides of the road, as one would expect, were called Station Road. In 1903, Hove Council renamed its side of the road "Boundary Road" because people were expecting Hove Station to be at the top. Hove Station was actually a couple of miles away though – hence the confusion. Strangely, Portslade Station is technically on the Hove side anyway. The original station was in fact on the Portslade side but that’s another story entirely.
Hove Station is now, of course, at the top of Goldstone Villas but that was not always the case. The Hove Station of today opened in 1893 and is in fact the third station to be built in that part of Hove. Goldstone Villas was once known as Station Road and the station was then known as Cliftonville Station after the area that it served. The road later became Goldstone Villas Road and then simply Goldstone Villas.
Much of the above can be attributed to the relationships between place names and administrative boundaries. Just as Aldrington and Cliftonville were once seen as distinct areas, they are now either unknown or seen simply as "Hove". It is certainly the case that several areas – Hanover for example – have fought well to preserve their identities but others need more support.
I propose a radical rethink of administrative boundaries. The names "Cliftonville", "Aldrington" and even "Brunswick Town" should be properly revived – as distinct council wards of their own.
Seven Dials Monument
Back in May, Brighton & Hove City Council announced a competition to design a feature for the centre of the Seven Dials roundabout.
Long before the specifications were released, it was generally hoped that the prolific Regency architect, Amon Henry Wilds, would somehow be commemorated. The Council did actually mention Wilds in its literature which is certainly in tune with local residents’ views. Wilds was responsible for, amongst many other things, Montpelier Crescent, Villas and Road nearby. His trademark features were shell motifs above windows and Ammonite capitals (fossil-inspired column tops). He is thought to have used the Ammonite design as a pun on his first name.
Below the artwork, the structure will consist of three circular tiers. The first will be an over-run area for vehicles; the second a concrete plinth incorporating uplights; and the third a smaller plinth. The finished monument should be durable, maintenance-free, easily seen and, indeed, attractive from the seven roads that approach the roundabout (Dyke Road twice, Prestonville Road, Chatham Place, Buckingham Place, Vernon Terrace and Goldmsid Road). Seven Dials was one of the country’s first roundabouts and today seems one of the busiest! Thankfully the planned works will also be addressing safety concerns.
It’s a strange twist that the creator of some of Brighton’s greatest monuments – the Victoria Fountain, the archway at St Nicholas Churchyard, the tomb of Amon Wilds Sr – is to receive his own monument. The continued love of his buildings may well be the greatest gift that he could have asked for. After all, The Latin inscription on Sir Christopher Wren’s tomb in St. Paul’s translates to "Reader, if you seek his monument, look around you".
Nevertheless, the formal recognition of Wilds’ work is fantastic so I congratulate those involved and hope to hear the official announcement of the winner soon.
Pevsner Brighton & Hove
Nikolaus Pevsner’s section on Brighton in his 1965 guide to the buildings of Sussex is revered to this day. Now taking the form of an updated volume of its own, Brighton and Hove by Nicholas Antram and Richard Morrice has just hit the bookshop shelves.
Pevsner was born in Germany in 1902 but moved to England in 1933 due to the difficulties that he faced as a Jew under Hitler’s regime. He began work on his county by county guide to the buildings of England in 1945 and ended up writing 32 of the books himself and 10 with collaborators. The series was later extended to Scotland, Wales and Ireland.
Brighton and Hove’s typical cover photograph of Brunswick Square and a herring gull suggest the mundane. The picture’s, well, a red herring really as inside, efforts have clearly been made to offer innovative photographs of the buildings. This has caused considerable frustration for me as several of the ideas that I have for a book of my own are no longer original! Standard shots of Embassy Court and the Clock Tower, for example, have been avoided and new thought-provoking views used instead. There is just the right blend, however, between the familiar and the unusual to ensure that both experienced local historian and architectural newcomer are kept happy. I was especially pleased to see included three of my favourite historic plans for Brighton that never came to fruition.
The first shows the Anthaeum, a giant glass dome, in its intended location at the top of Oriental Place. The second depicts Adelaide Crescent as it was meant to be – a deep enclosed arc with no Palmeira Square above. Adelaide Crescent was modified and the Anthaeum was built there instead (but it collapsed in 1833 almost instantly!). The third shows Sir James Knowles’ vision for the West Brighton Estate of First, Second, Grand, Third and Fourth Avenues (now technically in Hove). There were to be four gargantuan yellow-brick structures; two either side of Grand Avenue. Of the two that were actually built, one was bombed during the Second World War leaving us with just King’s House, Brighton & Hove City Council’s headquarters.
Brighton and Hove’s clear descriptions, useful suggested walks and handy size make it a practical tool, not just something for the coffee table. My one criticism is the use of the term "Brighton Pier". It’s the "Palace Pier"! Quite unforgivable.
Martha Gunn Painting
From 7th October, Brighton Museum & Art Gallery will have an exciting new permanent exhibit – all the way from Brisbane, Australia.
Sea-bathing had become extremely popular by the end of the nineteenth century and two new professions emerged – ‘bathing’ (the immersion of men by men) and ‘dipping’ (the immersion of women by women). The sexes were required to bathe separately and, indeed, this restriction remained in place in Brighton until the 1930s. Martha Gunn was ‘queen’ of the dippers and friend of the Prince of Wales, as was her male equivalent, John ‘Smoaker’ Miles. She was born in 1726, retired in 1814 and died in 1815. Having spent most of her life working on Brighton beach, it’s no surprise that she set off for warmer climates; well, her painting that is.
An original oil painting of Martha Gunn has just been donated to the people of Brighton & Hove by Chris Gunn, a direct descendant. The painting left Brighton in 1949 when Chris’ family moved to Uganda where it hung in a mud house. It then travelled to South Africa, Australia, back to Africa and then, in 1982, to Australia again! A private bequest was made available to cover transport and import costs, and the painting is now back by the sea in Brighton, its natural home.
It is thought that the painting dates from the 1780s but unfortunately the identity of the artist is not known. It shows a rather plump Martha wearing a hat, several layers of clothing and a clearly-displayed wedding ring. Chris recalls the painting hanging in the family flat in Eastern Terrace during the Second World War. Since its return, a press cutting has been discovered which suggests that it was given to Chris’ great-grandfather.
Martha Gunn was buried in St. Nicholas Churchyard as was another interesting character with a bathing connection called Sake Dene Mahomed, the proprietor of Mahomed’s Baths. Other graves include those of Captain Nicholas Tettersell (rescuer of King Charles II) and Amon Wilds (the great Regency architect/builder). As I wrote several months back, this summer saw the rejuvenation of the Churchyard by Brighton & Hove City Council and local residents.
Martha’s painting will be hung on Monday 6th October and will be on display to the public the following day. Admission to the centrally-located Museum & Art Gallery is free so there is simply no excuse for not taking a dip.
Salisbury
If Brighton & Hove is to have a policy on its built environment that is worthy of its rich heritage, lessons must be learnt from other palces where procedures are in place that do work well. Take Salisbury for example.
Upon learning that the spire of Salisbury Cathedral is the UK’s tallest, I was looking forward to something special. At 123 metres, the Cathedral is the tallest medieval structure in the world yet amazingly its foundations are just 4 feet deep. As impressive as its dominance is, the fine collection of individual houses of The Close facing it is truly divine and captures the true essence of Englishness. Indeed, ‘Arundells’ on the Westside was the home of former Prime Minister, Sir Edward Heath.
Salisbury is technically a city but it’s nothing like Brighton & Hove. In fact, it is more like Lewes in terms of size, atmosphere and layout. There is an interesting connection between Salisbury and Hove though – Churchill. Hove was where Sir Winston Churchill went to school and the small room at the front of the Haunch of Venison pub in Salisbury was where he and General Dwight Eisenhower met whilst planning the D-Day landings. Although Salisbury itself is steeped in history, a nearby ancient monument – one of the planet’s most important – was simply unmissable.
The history of Stonehenge is extensive to say the least but I found the human level of investigation and repair over the years fascinating. Mile Oak at the top of Portslade once had a henge of its own that was discovered when the A27 was built. All that remains is an exhibition in Foredown Tower on the matter. There is much debate on whether or not a tunnel should be constructed for the busy road beside Stonehenge; similar, in fact, to the battle that raged which led to the construction of the A27′s Southwick Tunnel. I’d be inclined to say that it shouldn’t be built. Tunnels may hide ugly roads but they are inflexible, expensive and susceptible to grottiness. Trees shielding roads in ditches would be preferable in my eyes.
