East side buildings

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.

g) BUILDINGS EAST SIDE: As discussed above, many interesting buildings of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries surround the Steine.
Nos.3-4, at the northernmost end facing south, are the remaining pair of a group once known as the ‘Blue and Buffs’. Together with nos.1-2 which were demolished in 1928 for road widening, the houses were painted in those colours of the Whig Party to please the Prince of Wales , who was then a supporter of the Whigs. They were built in 1790 and are listed buildings.
The buildings to the north of St James’s Street were erected in 1786 as the North Parade. Although most were refronted in the nineteenth century, nos.6-12 are listed buildings with distinctive doorways; some also have balconies and verandahs. No.9 has a plaque to Charles Talleyrand, the French statesman and ambassador who stayed there in 1831.
The South Parade faces the Steine to the south of Steine Street, and was also erected in 1786. The buildings, which are all listed except the red-brick no.19, have either four or five storeys with balconies and some verandahs, but again most have been refronted. In the 1830s no.20 was the home of Dr Gideon Mantell, a celebrated Sussex geologist and founder of the Mantellian Institution. Born in 1790, he practiced medicine in Lewes and moved to Brighton in 1833. The institution held lectures and meetings in the house, but he moved to London in 1838 when he was unable to set up a medical practice, and most of the institution’s collections were donated to the Brighton Royal Literary and Scientific Institution in 1842. The house was probably altered by the partnership of Amon Wilds and Charles Busby, as were nos.23 and 30. No.26 was refaced by Amon Henry Wilds and has the fluted pilasters, shell motifs and ammonite capitals so distinctive of his work. No.28 has mathematical tiles . No.30 has a plaque to lawyer Sir Edward Marshall Hall, the ‘Great Defender’, who was born there in 1858. {3,15,44,47,48,311}
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.

Comments about this page

  • Well, these pages bring back a lot of memories. I lived in the basement flat of No.4 Old Steine for 10 years until about 1956 when, aged 12, we moved to Edinburgh. My mother (known as ‘Hammy’, Jean Hamilton) was the nurse in the doctors’ surgery on the ground floor. The three doctors were Drs Hicks, Lindeck and Shaw. The upper floor was occupied by a Mr and Mrs Franks who went off to Singapore or Penang about 1953-54. I can’t remember the names of the people who replaced them.

    By Jim Tarbet (13/09/2007)
  • The red brick building… I’d love to find out more history about this place if anyone can help by adding a note.  The reason is that my Dad’s Dad’s Dad I think owned it when he came from Russia to Austria to France to Brighton with a small percentage of the Russian jewelry he had and bought property. The red brick one was one of them and I believe he turned it into a hotel. Along with properties in Cannon Place. Apparently he got into huge gambling debts and had to sell. Little is known about him but I believe he could be Russian royalty as he was extremely rich in Russia prior to 1917 when he fled. His son’s name was Henry Cohen, but I don’t know his name. I’d love further reading material on this or anything on that building. I think its No.19.

    By James Cohen (24/04/2008)
  • My husband works at the famous White’s Club in St James’s Street, London, and he has heard that there was once a house on the east side of the Old Steine that was associated with White’s Club. We have tried to research this but to no avail. Does anyone know of this?

    By Sue McGinlay (25/04/2008)

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