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VICTORIAN | ||||||||||
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The accession of Queen Victoria in 1837 marked a fundamental change in the fortunes and character of Brighton.The social distinction enjoyed under George IV’s patronage rapidly decayed when Queen Victoria ceased to use the Pavilion. Equally important was the arrival of the railway which made possible the development of a truly popular resort, dubbed “London by-the-sea”. Popular pleasures supplanted the more refined amusements of the fashionable classes. and the high season became a summer one, rather than winter or spring. The great squares and terraces were still being completed and indeed the north side of Palmeira Square was not finished until the Seventies. In the mid-Forties the Clifton Hill area, built on land owned by Thomas Read Kemp, began to be developed with villas and terraces still retaining the elegance of the Regency period. In newly developing Hove, however, ambitious plans, rivalling Kemp Town in scope, were designed by James Knowles, considerable parts of which were completed. These avenues lined with substantial mansions, streets of semi-detached villas and shopping terraces were designed in an ochre-brick style with elaborate shaped brick enrichments, in striking contrast to the smooth stucco of the Regency style. As well as brick, cast iron became fashionable as a structural as well as decorative building material. The great iron canopy of the station, the Madeira Drive arches, the West Pier and later the Palace Pier, together with numerous smaller structures such as bandstands and sea front railings, gave Brighton the lacy look which it still retains. Hotels such as the Grand, the Metropole and the Norfolk were built in the Victorian revivalist styles which supplanted Regency.The Grand Hotel became a symbol for opulent grandeur and set a model for hotels elsewhere. Public buildings however, such as the museum and library, continued the fanciful oriental style of the Royal Pavilion. The revival of church worship, together with the influx of new residents in need of spiritual comfort, created a demand for new churches to accommodate them. Huge brick edifices such as St.Bartholomew’s and St.Michael and All Angels became a dominant and greatly admired feature of the rapidly expanding hinterland of Brighton and Hove.These churches are amongst the most distinguished architectural contributions made to Brighton in the latter part of the nineteenth century. | ||||||||||
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