Elm Grove
Planted with elms in 1852
Reproduced with permission from the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder, 1990
Please note that this text is an extract from a reference work written in 1990. As a result, some of the content may not reflect recent research, changes and events.
The main road from the town to the race-course was given its name in 1852 when it was planted with trees, many of which were uprooted in the storm of October 1987; it increased in importance with the opening of the new workhouse in 1867, now the General Hospital (q.v.). The lower part of Elm Grove was developed principally around 1860 and the higher part in the 1880s, while the small roads leading northwards, in one of the mostly densely populated parts of the town, were built in the 1860s and '70s around Franklin Road, and in the 1880s, '90s and 1900s around Hartington Road and east of Bonchurch Road. Wellington Road, however, was developed in the mid 1850s with several large villa residences. Only one detached villa now remains, no.18, a Church of England home with a Doric porch. Nos.12-14 Wellington Road are the home of the Queen's Nurses, opened on 12 October 1912 in memory of the late King Edward VII, in conjunction with the Peace Statue on the sea-front; the home was extended in 1936. {83,108,112,311}
At the bottom of Elm Grove stands the Roman Catholic Church of St Joseph, a tall, grade II*-listed building in Early English style. The nave and transepts were built from rough Kentish ragstone by W.K.Brodo in 1866-9, and the three polygonal apses at the eastern end were added by J.S.Hansom in 1881-3. The church was completed by F.A.Walters with the addition of the west front in 1900 and the northern transept and chapel in 1906, but it was not dedicated until 8 May 1979 because of a long-standing debt. It has an impressive vaulted interior. The building bearing a cross at the corner of Milton Road was formerly St Joseph's School. {44,45,83,123} The chapel in De Montfort Road was erected in 1932 as the EmmanuelFullGospelChurch. {83}
Higher up Elm Grove stands the now redundant St Wilfrid's Church , erected in 1932-4 to the design of H.S.Goodhart-Rendel on the site of a temporary iron church of 1901. A large, brick edifice, it 'does not imitate any style of the past, nor indeed the modern style of 1930' according to Pevsner {45}. With a tall northern bell tower and a saddleback roof, it has been described by Sir John Betjeman as 'about the best 1930s church there is'. To reflect this architectural merit it has now been listed grade II*. The interior is spacious and sparsely ornamented, but was greatly enriched when the Lady Chapel was decorated with a large mural by German refugee artist Hans Feibusch in 1940. The church was closed in 1980 when blue asbestos was discovered in the ceiling and a public inquiry was held over its future; the Church Commissioners dropped a plan to demolish it following the inspector's recommendation, and it is now being converted into sheltered housing for the elderly. The parish, created in 1922, merged with St Martin's, but the 1926 church hall still stands in Whippingham Road. {44,45,123}
The Hanover Mill, a tall post-mill erected in about 1838 but demolished in the late 1890s, stood on a site approximating to 39 Bernard Road. {109,249,249b}
Any numerical cross-references in the text above refer to resources in the Sources and Bibliography section of the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder.
This page was added on 23/03/2007.