R S JOURNAL2 016 BRIGHTON HIPPODROME PAST - AND FUTURE? INNOVATION ON DIFFICULT SITES FOR COUNCIL HOMES THE STORY OF MADEIRA DRIVE IN THIS ISSUE Wel com e to the R S Jour nal , produced built her e is of the best quality to meet by the Regency Society of Br ighton and our City?s changing needs. Like much of Hove. We hope you enjoy it. A fir st issue the South East, Br ighton and Hove has appear ed in 2011. We hope to publish an acute housing shor tage, especially for r ather mor e fr equently from now on. social housing. Schemes like the RIBA The Jour nal plans to put a bit of flesh on competition as par t of the Council?s New the bones of our monthly new s updates Homes for Neighbour hoods Progr amme to member s, and to provide in depth (page 6) ar e an inter esting attempt by cover age of cur r ent issues of inter est to our City to br ing innovative design to the Society. difficult sites to help meet this need. Under standing the histor ical The R S is a char ity; no member has significance of places w e ar e concer ned been paid for their contr ibution to this about enr iches our ability to think about issue and no member pays to r eceive it. them and to imagine their futur es. This We want the R S Jour nal to belong to issue contains tw o histor ical pieces by member s. If you have an idea for an member s of the RS committee w ith a ar ticle or w ould like to contr ibute to a passion for their subject. David Fisher futur e issue, or if you w ould like to talk tells the stor y of the Hippodrome?s to us mor e gener ally about the Jour nal colour ful chequer ed past (page 4), and contact me at new s@r egencysociety.org. Rober t Edwar ds' stor y of Madeir a Dr ive The R S Jour nal is not just for member s. (page 3) tr aces the significant role this It show cases our inter ests and w e hope ar ea has played in Br ighton?s it w ill encour age new member s. If you development as the unique place it now w ould like to become a member or lear n is. Both of these sites ar e ver y much in mor e about us, contact Suzanne Hinton the new s at the moment, and both ar e (details below ). We w ould ver y much ver y much at r isk. like to hear from you. The R S is not just concer ned about the Mar y McKean, Editor. past. We want to contr ibute to the futur e too and help ensur e that w hatever is Views expressed by individual authors are their own and do not necessarily The R S Jour nal is published by the Regency Soci ety of reflect the view of the Society. Br i ghton and Hove fr ee of charge to member s.If you car e about our her itage and if our city?s futur e matter s to you, you Images in this issue of R S Journal are ar e w elcome at Regency Society lectur es, discussions, tour s reproduced with kind permission as follows: and social events, w hich ar e open to the public and most ar e fr ee of charge. To find out mor e see our w ebsite: Front cover: The Theatres Trust w w w.r egencysociety.org. Page 3: The Society of Brighton Prints If you w ould like to join, dow nload a member ship for m from Collectors our w ebsite or contact Suzanne Hinton: [email protected] a.net. Page 4: Frontage image : Frank For new s enquir ies contact Mar y McKean on Matcham Society, theatre box: Ian new s@r egencysociety.org. If you w ould pr efer to send a letter Grundy/the Theatres Trust w r ite to The Regency Society at 12 Abbotts, 129 Kings Road, Page 6: John McKean and the Regency Br ighton BN1 2FA. Society's photographic archive, the The Regency Society is the oldest amenity and conser vation James Gray Collection society in Br ighton and Hove and a r egister ed char ity: no (www.regencysociety-jamesgray.com) 210194. Page 7: Brighton and Hove City Council. w w w.r egencysoci ety.or g 2 RS J 2016 I?m very pleased to welcome you to this issue of the Regency Society Journal. From now on it will appear in addition to our monthly news update for members. It will give us a chance to publish fuller discussions of issues that the Society has taken an interest in. Many thanks to all those who have contributed, and particularly to Mary McKean who has taken on the job of editor. Please let me know what you think of the first issue, or any other views you have about the society?s activities (email: [email protected]). Roger Hinton, Chair of the Regency Society MADEIRA DRIVE Madeir a Dr ive and the Easter n seaside in Br ighton ar e set to change consider ably if cur r ent proposals by Br ighton and by Robert Edwards Hove City Council ar e r ealised. This account of its past demonstr ates its key role in the development of the City over 200 year s. Brighton and Pier from Kemptown, aquatint by Dean Wolstonholme Jnr (1830s) and Marine Parade , aquatint by George Jones, c.1827 The seaside east of the tow n is pictur ed in 1785 groynes, the fir st in 1723, gave r ise to the as a gr ass bank sloping from undeveloped land pr esence of shingle beaches along the str aight to a broad pale car r iageway and nar row gr ass mile. In the 1830s the major ity of the cliff was cliff edge dropping str aight to the sea. tr ansfor med, fabr icated into an angled flat Br ighthelmstone was not favour ed as cement wall. Kemp?s adaptation of slopes pictur esque mater ial by author ities like fur ther east (see page 7)) overlooked the William Gilpin, w ho in 1774 complained that adjacent bar e gr een mound and the bathing the sea was ?ador ned w ith no rocky shor e, no huts and fishing boats at the spacious shor e. At w inding coast ... Natur e, contr ar y to her usual the w ester n end, the Chain Pier constr uction in pr actice, has her e laid out the coast by a 1823 involved a shor t broad cur ved lane from str aight line.? the Steine for access and ser vices. Follow ing Tur ner and Constable, imager y of the east In an 1820s image, the easter n cliff face seafront in ar t then photogr aphy is dominated appear s concave and uneven. To alleviate by the Chain Pier for most of the nineteenth stor m depletion of the for eshor e, timber centur y. continued on page 6 3 R S J 2016 BRIGHTON HIPPODROME 'One of the most handsome places of amusement' The Brighton Hippodrome is very much in the news recently as plans for its rescue as a performance venue have caught the public imagination. David Fisher recounts its history In 1900 R Ellis and Humphrey Bramall had to find a new use for the large building they owned in Middle Street, Brighton. The Real Ice Skating Rink, that architect Lewis Karslake had designed for them in 1897, had closed in March. The reality was that indoor ice skating no longer appealed. Ellis and Bramall thought a 98ft (30 m) diameter circular arena would make a good indoor circus, so they commissioned another architect, Frank Matcham, to reconfigure the building. Frank Matcham (1854-1920) was already far and away the leading theatre architect of his era. He had already built two theatres in Brighton: the Alhambra Opera House and Music Hall on King?s Road (1888), which later became the Palladium Cinema, and the Grand Theatre in North Road (1894). He also designed circuses, the first being Hengler?s Grand Cirque in Glasgow (1885) and at the time of Bramall?s commission his London Hippodrome was newly built. Matcham retained the tent-like structure of the auditorium: a segmented dome supported on 16 pillars, beneath which two tiers of seats formed a horseshoe shape around a 42ft (13m) diameter performance ring opposite the foyer, with a stage framed by a proscenium on the side. On either side of the proscenium were curtained animal entrances. An name HIPPODROME in large relief letters between the equestrian ramp (still there) led in from the stables to the two towers. north of the site. Kerslake?s façade remained largely unaltered? Matcham?s principal interest was in creating The Brighton Hippodrome Theatre and Circus opened on 28 August 1901. However, the circus business survived for only one week short of a year and the mortgagees foreclosed. ?One of the most handsome places of amusement? was offered at auction on 7 October 1902. The lot also included a ?commodious double-fronted residence ' at no.52 Middle Street and a small cottage at no 50. The buyer was Thomas Barrasford, a Jarrow man who had built up a chain of music halls in the north of England, pioneering twice-nightly variety.