Listed Buildings

St Margaret's Place: Grade II

By Jennifer Drury

Formerly Regency Cottages

St Margaret’s Place, which is off Cannon Place was built in the 1820s and originally called Regency Cottages. The name was changed when St Margaret’s Church was opened, at the end of the road, in 1824.

St Margaret’s Church

The church was designed by Charles Busby for Barnard Gregory, the then editor of the Brighton Gazette. It was named after his wife Margaret, and at the time was considered to be the best classical church in Brighton. With a seating capacity of 1,500 persons, it was second only to St Peter’s Church.

Numbers 2 and 3 St Margaret's Place

Photo by Tony Mould

Detail of railings and gate

Photo by Tony Mould

Former Royal Newburgh Rooms

Photo by Tony Mould

Undated photograph of St Margaret's Church

Image reproduced with kind permission of The Regency Society and The James Gray Collection

Listed buildings

The houses, which have Ionic pilasters, and railings, at numbers 2-3 on the north side of Cannon Place, are listed and probably by Wilds and Busby. Opposite stands the very grand entrance to the former Royal Newburgh Assembly Rooms, by A.H.Wilds for Charles Wright, also listed, and erected c1833. The entrance facade has two Corinthian columns on either side of the doorway, with a central pediment. William IV is reputed to have attended the opening of the assembly rooms which were a popular social centre for many years.