11 lewes road context key stages of historic development Lewes Falmer The Lewes Road is one of the four main routes into central Brighton. Stretching station from the A27 Brighton & Hove bypass, through the city to Brighton Palace Pier A23 to London and the sea, along a dry valley floor. For many visitors it is their first impression to Lewes & of the city. Travelling along the route the city gradually reveals itself passing Eastbourne some of Brighton’s famous landmarks until reaching the sea. Moulsecoomb A27 southern railway Since medieval times this route has been used by fishermen’s wives to take their catch to the market town of Lewes helping to establish Brighton as a to Southampton successful fishing town. Up until 1910 the route ran through open downland and past small farmsteads. infrequent Preston Barracks buses to Brighton station Lewes Road The first development along the route was the Preston Cavalry Barracks around which small communities grew up. Open space along the route allowed for industrial uses to establish themselves including diamond and engineering factories. This allowed for small existing communities to grow bringing with them shops and services. cemetery The introduction of the railway in 1841 also brought with it industrial and commercial development along its route helping to establish the Lewes Road as a commercial corridor. It wasn’t until the 1920s that saw the large scale residential development of the Lewes Road. The South Moulsecoomb estate, inspired by the garden village frequent buses to city centre movement, was built to house people displaced by the slum clearance of Albion N Hill. However rents were too high and so tenants came from further afield, 1865-75 topography and microclimate including London, following advertising campaigns. The route follows the floor of a dry valley, moving from the flat open land along the coast up into the rolling typology hills of the surrounding downland. As such its visual envelope is contained within the rising valley sides. Lewes Road may be classified as a major corridor into Sight lines are restricted along the route as the city gradually reveals itself until the route moves into the the city encompassing a mix of uses, scale and building central conservation areas. Here, views open up over The Level and Valley Gardens and the traveller form whose character changes as it passes from edge of North Moulsecoomb experiences a succession of landmarks of city wide importance until reaching Brighton Palace Pier and downland, through suburban into urban development. the sea. Sitting at the bottom of a valley the route is sheltered from prevailing winds. However, there are some issues with wind tunnelling along the route and the development that rises up on either side of the Refer to the introduction and summary for more information valley can cause overshadowing creating harsh pedestrian conditions in winter. on landscape character types. Preston Barracks South Moulsecoomb industrial development Series of views and landmarks experienced along Lewes Road from the Downs to the sea 1928-33 59 A27 11 lewes road key characteristics • The Lewes Road is one of the four key movement corridors land use movement into the city centre. There are frequent bus services into the city from the universities, and towns and villages beyond. This is reflected in a high use of buses as a mode of transport to work and the level of traffic along the route. Although the route Moulsecoomb station train every 16 minutes main bus route accommodates cycle lanes, the percentage of people using the to Brighton station bus every 3 minutes to city centre bike to travel to work is comparatively low (see appendix 2). bus every 9 minutes to universities However the cycle routes do appear to be well used by students to access the different university campuses. commercial use • The route accommodates a range of uses: large and small civic/community use scale retail space, industrial and business parks and large residential use and small educational institutions. Many of these services not bus routes to open space only serve surrounding neighbourhoods but also a wider city surrounding neighbourhoods community making the route itself an economic driver. economic centre • Lewes Road is also known as the ‘Academic Corridor’ because Brighton & Sussex the two universities, Brighton and Sussex, are largely located university buildings along, or adjacent to, this route. paler colours denote adjacent neighbourhoods • The route passes though some of the most deprived wards in Brighton as well as more affluent ones. The area attracts a large number of students living in privately rented accommodation. The high provision of purpose built flats and terraced housing owned by the local authority and located along the route also attracts a high proportion of low income families and single parents (see appendix 3). • The quality of street life and pedestrian accessibility is severely impeded by the level of traffic along the route. Streets are open space character designed for fast moving traffic creating severance and barriers to pedestrian and cycle movement. areas 1. Outer Suburban • Although the route is experienced as a whole while travelling along it, the Lewes Road passes through seven different neighbourhoods. This has a profound effect on the changes in scale, use, and activity along the route helping to define it into three clear sections. These are: 1. Outer Suburban: a mix of mainly 20th century residential, commercial and educational buildings separated from the road by substantial grass verges and green spaces. Architecturally 2. Inner Suburban mixed but with many large scale, tall buildings. park 2. Inner Suburban: dominated by large scale educational and amenity grassland commercial uses interspersed with vacant land and small scale a residential and retail uses. No consistency or cohesion, and allotments hostile to pedestrians. 3. Central Fringe open space not accessible 3. Central Fringe: an architecturally mixed retail and residential to the public conservation area designation area of two to four storey buildings hard onto the street. Mainly woodland late Victorian but with poor quality 20th century infill. An a. Round Hill C.A. b b. Valley Gardens C.A. uncoordinated urban realm. mature street city gateway tree planting 60 11 lewes roadouter suburban settlement analysis • Scale and density: Predominately residential, • Open space: The carriageway is bounded by wide grass educational and industrial uses are located along the verges and small greens that open out from the housing outer suburban section of the Lewes Road. This has a estates. These contain some mature tree planting, but bearing on the scale and density along this part of the regular cutting means that these grassed areas have little route. This section appears less dense even though it A27 to contribute to local bio-diversity. At the northern end is contains tall buildings (see section a-a’ below). The the Moulsecoomb Wild Park Local Nature Reserve that gross density along the route is approximately 21 rises up the side of the valley. This creates the overall dwellings per hectare. impression of a very green approach into the city. • Architecture: The route contains large high rise buildings within the university campuses against low rise terraced housing. Much of the local authority housing that faces the carriageway appears in good repair, however the low rise appears uncared for and in a state of poor repair. Moulsecoomb Place, which is Grade II listed, and the viaduct provide strong prominent • Socio-economic characteristics: The landmarks along the route. route passes though some of the most deprived areas of Brighton and Hove in terms of income, employment and health, (see LR2 Issues, Scoping Report, August 2005, p.18). Residential accommodation is predominately rented from the local authority or housing associations attracting low income families. • Movement: The four lane carriageway accommodates cycle lanes, and a frequent bus service runs between the city 1. Outer Suburban centre and the universities, and on to surrounding towns and villages. Buses to Brighton station are not so frequent (see a appendix 2). The carriage way is designed for fast moving traffic restricting pedestrian movement especially access to Moulsecoomb Station and Moulsecoomb Wild Park for those living in the Moulsecoomb Estate. Moulescoomb Station provides rail links from Brighton to Lewes and Hastings. a’ 2. Inner Suburban landmark severance significant views section a-a’ 28m 2 8.5m 4 8.5m 2 19m 61 11 lewes roadinner suburban settlement analysis • Scale and density: This section of the Lewes Road is dominated by large • Open space: Pedestrians and trees compete for space with scale educational buildings, retail sheds and derelict land which overshadow on-street parking, cycle routes and the four lane carriageway. For the two storey retail and residential uses. This creates a lack of continuity much of its length the route is bounded by high walls and hedges in scale and density along the route. The gross density of residential creating an inactive street frontage that is not overlooked. In accommodation along the route is low at 15 dwellings per hectare. places buildings are set back from the street behind large car parks. These tend to attract crime. Saunders Park is the only green space along the route but is underused by small children. This is probably due to the location on a busy road and to the lack of informal surveillance. It is severed from most surrounding residential development and is not overlooked. a formal crossing a’ informal crossing • Movement: The four lane carriageway, with cycle lanes, continues through this section of the Lewes poor street frontage Road. There are few pedestrian crossings meaning that there are more informal crossings across the road for people wishing to access bus stops and crime hotspot shops and Brighton University’s Mithras House.