Regency Square
General view of the square from the south
Location	Regency Square, Brighton, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, United Kingdom
Built	1818–1828
Built for	Joshua Hanson
Architect	Amon Wilds, Amon Henry Wilds (attr.)
Architectural style(s)	Regency/Classical
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name	2–4 Regency Square; 5–20 Regency Square; 26–37 Regency Square; 51–56 Regency Square; 57–59 Regency Square; 60–66 Regency Square; 131 King's Road
Designated	13 October 1952
Reference no.	481126; 481127; 481129; 481135; 481136; 481137; 482002
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	22–25 Regency Square; 38–46 Regency Square; 46a Regency Square; 46b Regency Square; 47–49 Regency Square
Designated	20 August 1971 (38–46); 26 August 1999 (others)
Reference no.	481128; 481130; 481131; 481132; 481133
Location within Brighton and Hove

Regency Square is a large early 19th-century residential development on the seafront in Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Conceived by speculative developer Joshua Hanson as Brighton underwent its rapid transformation from fishing village to fashionable resort, the three-sided "set piece"^[1] of around 70 houses and associated structures was designed and built over a ten-year period by Brighton's most important Regency-era architects: the partnership of Charles Busby, Amon Wilds and his son Amon Henry Wilds. The site was originally a field used at various times as a military camp (mentioned in Pride and Prejudice), a showground and the location of a windmill.^[2] The square's central garden has been council-owned since 1884, and an underground car park was built beneath it in 1969.^[3] English Heritage has listed most buildings in and around the square for their architectural and historical importance: six blocks of houses are each listed at Grade II*, the second-highest designation, while five other residential buildings, a war memorial, a nearby inn and a set of bollards outside it have each been given the lower Grade II status. The house at the southwest corner is now numbered as part of King's Road but was built as part of Regency Square, and is also Grade II*-listed.

History

Brighthelmston, the predecessor of modern-day Brighton, was a fishing village surrounded by fields. One of these, west of the village and right on the seafront was named Belle Vue Field—probably in connection with the long vanished Belle Vue House, which was owned by a count and stood on the southwestern side.^[4][5] The field was a popular site for travelling shows, fairs and other gatherings, and military parades were regularly held there.^[2][3] Another feature was a windmill known as West Mill. A windmill was owned by Matthew Bourne in 1744, but was not marked on Ogilby's 1762 map. A windmill is shown on Lambert's View of Brighthelmstone which is dated 1765. The windmill stood in the field until 28 March 1797, when 86 oxen dragged it 2 miles (3.2 km) uphill to on a sled to the nearby village of Preston.^[6] It was re-erected there and renamed Preston Mill.^[5] After several more renamings, it was demolished in 1881. Its machinery was cannibalised by the owners of nearby Waterhall Mill.^[7] A watercolour painting, now displayed at Preston Manor, shows crowds of people watching the mill's removal to Preston.^[7][8]

By the late 18th century, Brighton (as it was now known) had begun to develop into a popular and fashionable seaside resort.^[9] Belle Vue Field became more important to the growing town in 1793, when in response to the increased military threat from France, a 10,000-man military encampment (Brighton's first) was established there.^[2] The camp quickly gained a reputation as a place for women to find partners, and Jane Austen used it as a setting in her novel Pride and Prejudice (written in 1796 and published in 1813). The heroine Elizabeth Bennet's sister is invited to Brighton and elopes with, and later marries, army officer George Wickham.^[10] The camp moved to another site in 1794;^[11] after returning to its former use as a fairground and showground, Belle Vue Field gradually lost popularity and was abandoned in 1807, when such entertainments moved to The Level, a large expanse of grass inland north of Old Steine.^[5]

A few years later, the site (which had no common ownership) was acquired by Joshua Flesher Hanson, a businessman.^[5] By this time, Brighton's popularity was such that speculators were commissioning architects and builders to design and lay out large-scale sea-facing residential developments to attract wealthy long-term visitors or permanent residents. Royal Crescent was already thriving; Clarence Square, Russell Square, Marine Parade and New Steine were being developed, and work had started on Bedford Square.^[12][13] Hanson decided to follow the trend but take it in a new direction: he divided the land into 70 plots, leased them individually and put strict covenants in place, demanding that each house be built in a specific style in order to ensure architectural harmony. In return, the leaseholders (mostly private builders) would have the right to buy, and would end up with houses much larger than average for the town, with excellent sea views and with exclusive access to the large central garden.^[2][3][14] Most leaseholders bought the houses as soon as they could, which was to Hanson's advantage as he made money and had no ongoing responsibility for the buildings.^[5] Restrictions in the covenants included the requirement to erect a façade with an iron balcony, to clad the area below the balcony in stucco, to paint the façade at least every three years, to repair any damage, and to pay towards maintenance of the central garden. No stucco was to be applied above the balcony line.^[15]

Although there is no documentary evidence confirming the architects, all sources attribute most of Regency Square's buildings to the father-and-son partnership of Amon and Amon Henry Wilds,^[5][2][4] who moved to Brighton from nearby Lewes in 1815 and became two of Brighton's most important architects; they were extremely prolific, and were responsible for defining and developing the town's distinctive Regency style.^[16][17] Although they worked extensively with fellow architect Charles Busby during the 1820s, historians agree that he was not involved in the overall design of Regency Square, at least not in its early stages: the buildings "appear to lack his distinctive flair"^[4] and are not as impressive as those at the Kemp Town estate to the east of Brighton, which all three men were involved with.^[5] Some of the later houses may have been the work of Wilds senior and Busby, however.^[2]

Building work started in 1818 and continued until 1830,^[3] although most of the square (except numbers 1 and 47–50) were complete by 1828.^[4][15] The long construction period affected the uniformity of design hoped for by Hanson, as did the fact that building plots were sold individually and at different times: even a strict covenant could not force the owners into designing identical houses.^[3] A passageway was built at the northeast corner to connect the square to the neighbouring development of Russell Square, which was built at the same time; the contemporary Regency Inn (now known as the Regency Tavern) faced both the passageway and Regency Square.^[18][19] St Margaret's Church, an Anglican chapel of ease designed in the Greek Revival/Neoclassical style in 1824 by Busby, was the local place of worship.^[19]

Bands often played in the square's central garden or on King's Road at the southern end of the square.^[20][21] Meanwhile, residents were upset in 1866 when the West Pier, designed by Eugenius Birch, was built opposite the square's central garden: its entrance booths affected their sea views.^[22] Otherwise, there was little for residents to worry about until the 1880s, by which time Hanson's covenants were about to expire.^[20] Unusually, he had set a 71-year time limit on the covenants rather than granting them in perpetuity, and on 25 December 1889 they would expire. Residents would then lose their rights to use the gardens, among other things. Five residents, led by solicitor Somers Clarke (unrelated to the Brighton-born architect of that name), attempted unsuccessfully to purchase the gardens and extend the covenants by an Act of Parliament;^[20] two years later, though, the passing of the Brighton Improvement Act 1884 achieved the same aims. Brighton Corporation took ownership of the gardens, and householders signed new deeds confirming they wished for the covenants relating to their houses to be extended indefinitely.^[2][23]

Number 1 Regency Square, later known as St Albans House and now numbered 131 King's Road,^[24] is "historically the most interesting house in the square".^[4] Amon Henry Wilds designed it for the Duke and Duchess of St Albans, and William Izard laid out the interior in 1829.^[23] Between 1830 and the Duchess's death in 1837, the house was one of the most important social venues in Brighton. Harriet Mellon, an Irish actress, had married banker Thomas Coutts in 1815. He left her his fortune when he died in 1822, and she became England's richest woman.^[23] After being courted by many men, she met and married William Beauclerk, the 9th Duke of St Albans, and they became regular visitors to Brighton. In 1830, they moved permanently to 1 Regency Square and renamed it St Albans House.^[25][26] For the next seven years, lavish balls with hundreds of upper-class guests, extensive feasts and falconry displays by the Duke, who was the Grand Falconer of England. St Albans House had an adjacent riding school which supposedly had the second largest unsupported interior space and the second largest dome in England, behind Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral respectively. (Part of the Bedford Hotel now occupies the site.)^[25][26] Two other famous characters paid an unintentional visit to Regency Square at the end of the 19th century: Oscar Wilde and his lover Lord Alfred Douglas crashed their horse and cart into the railings of the gardens. Local newspapers reported the story with interest, but Wilde dismissed it as "an accident of no importance"^[27]—possibly a punning allusion to one of his best-known plays.

Six parts of Regency Square, plus the former St Albans House,^[24] were listed at Grade II* by English Heritage on 13 October 1952. The west side was listed in two parts: the three houses at numbers 2–4,^[28] and the sixteen houses from number 5 to number 20.^[29] The northern side's central section, numbers 26–37, forms another listing.^[30] On the east side, numbers 51–56,^[31] 57–59^[32] and 60–66^[33] are each listed at Grade II*. Apart from St Albans House, all of these listings include iron railings attached to the exterior. Grade II* listed buildings are defined as being "particularly important ... [and] of more than special interest".^[34] As of February 2001, the buildings made up seven of the 70 Grade II*-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove.^[35] Numbers 38–46 Regency Square were listed at Grade II on 20 August 1971, while the rest of the square's houses were listed at the same grade on 26 August 1999 in four separate listings: numbers 22–25,^[36] 46a,^[37] 46b^[38] and 47–49.^[39] All listings except numbers 46a and 46b include attached railings, and the listing for numbers 38–46 also includes a carriage arch. Grade II listed status is given to "nationally important buildings of special interest";^[34] as of February 2001, there were 1,124 such buildings and structures in the city.^[35]

From the beginning, Regency Square was a prestigious, high-class development,^[40] and it is still considered to be "one of Brighton's best sea-facing squares".^[1] The square and the surrounding area are a conservation area.^[2] Some modern intrusions have successfully been overruled: by the mid-20th century, most of the houses had become hotels,^[2] and many sought permission from Brighton Corporation to erect neon signs advertising themselves; under pressure from the recently formed Regency Society, a Brighton-wide conservation group, the Corporation ruled that no such permission would be granted in any circumstances.^[41] In early 1969, however, the gardens were dug up and a 520-space underground car park was built underneath; a roof was then added and the lawns and flowerbeds were restored.^[2] Although less visually intrusive than the surface-level car park which was originally planned for the site,^[2] the square has been negatively affected by the change.^[3] The gigantic Sussex Heights, a residential tower block immediately to the east, also affects the character of the square: the modernist 24-storey building, finished in 1968, dominates the skyline and is not in character with the architecture of the square.^[1][42]

Architecture

2–4 Regency Square

5–20 Regency Square

26–37 Regency Square

51–56 Regency Square

57–59 Regency Square

60–66 Regency Square

131 King's Road

Other houses

Numbers 22–25 Regency Square—at the northwest corner of the square on a short road leading to Preston Street—include the building (number 67) on the corner of that street, which absorbed the house built as number 21 Regency Square.^[36] Attributed to Amon and Amon Henry Wilds, these bow-fronted terraced houses were built in about 1818. Number 67 Preston Street is of three storeys and has a shopfront facing west into that street; alongside that is a porch with rusticated decoration and an arched doorway. The Regency Square (south) façade has blocked windows at first- and second-floor level.^[36] The four houses facing Regency Square are of three storeys, except number 25 which also has an attic storey. They are of brick faced with painted stucco. Each house has a chimney on its slate roof. Each has an entrance staircase with iron railings, a rusticated ground floor, a single bay window to each storey, an iron balcony at first-floor level, a cornice and a parapet in front of the roof. At numbers 22 to 24, dormer windows cut through the parapet.^[36]

Numbers 38–46 Regency Square run alongside the northeast side, and are contemporary with the houses at the northwest corner. The Wildses are believed to have designed them. A carriage arch runs between numbers 42 and 43.^[43] Together with numbers 22–25 and the Grade II*-listed centrepiece of numbers 26–37, the houses form an approximately symmetrical three-part arrangement when viewed from the south.^[2]

Other listed structures

See also

• Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove

References

Notes

Bibliography