Regency Square conservation area

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.

f) MONTPELIER ROAD: Montpelier Road once ran all the way from King’s Road to Ditchling Road, but the name is now restricted to the section south of Denmark Villas. Developed from the 1820s, there are a number of listed buildings to the south of Western Road; nos.14-17 and 19 have narrow bows, while nos.21-24 were built in a late-Regency wide-bow-fronted style of about 1840. No.23 was the home of the co-operative pioneer Dr William King (1786-1865).
Sillwood House, on the eastern side at the rear of Debenhams, dates from 1827-8; see “Sillwood Place” below. On the opposite side of the road stood Christ Church, built for Revd Henry Wagner in 1837-8 by George Cheeseman junior with a low tower and spire flanked by the entrances. It was consecrated on 26 April 1838 by the Bishop of Chichester, and the interior, which held 1,070, was remodelled by Edmund Scott in 1886. However, the building was was badly damaged in a fire started by vandals on 29 August 1978, and was subsequently demolished in 1982; sheltered housing was built on the site in 1985-7. The nearby pillar-box at the corner of Western Road dates from 1858 and is of the first national standard type-A design; it is one of only four remaining, and is now a listed structure.

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

  • The flat with the railings now enclosed, on the fifth floor, was the first place my wife and I lived after getting married. We lived there from April 1975 until January 1985. It was a great place to live – right in the centre of Brighton, a few hundred yards from the sea front and with underground car parking!

    By Alan Phillips (24/12/2007)

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