| Note* | William GILLAM
Notes on Pimlico, Brighton
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ORANGE ROW
Orange Row is all that is left of an area that once included Orange Row,
Pym's Gardens and Pimlico.
Some of the worst housing in Brighton could be found here, an area that
housed over a thousand inhabitants. Many of the houses were described as
mere huts with small gardens in front. The inhabitants were mostly fisherman
and it was not uncommon in the 1850's to see girls of 10-12 walking naked in
front of the houses because of the poverty of their families. The gardens in
front of the houses were full of the skins and intestines of fish. Yet
rather extraordinarily the area was quite free from the diseases that other
such areas suffered from. Perhaps this could be put down to the ventilation
of the houses for with the many cracks in the houses there was an abundant
supply of fresh air.
An area like Pimlico would have been full of animals in the yards for when
farm labourers moved to the town, not being able to find work in the
country, they would bring with them animals like pigs and chickens. Imagine
the smells and the condition of the ground. It is no wonder that the area
was infested with rats and that there were often epidemics of whooping
cough, smallpox, scarlet fever. With rubbish in the streets, poor guttering.
open cesspools and imperfect sewers it was no wonder that contagious
diseases were a daily hazard.
Writing in the 1840's Jenks maintained that Pym's Gardens was the worst of
the three streets in the area. It was a very narrow, badly ventilated court
lined with very poor, cramped buildings. When it rained many of the ground
floors were flooded forcing many of the families to retreat upstairs if they
could. The houses had little furniture and the residents often had to resort
to sleeping on the floor. If they had beds the whole family might have to
sleep top to tail together.
It was in this area that the Brighton Boy - Tom Sayers - was brought up.
When the town council began it's first slum clearance scheme it was this
area that was to be pulled down and replaced by what is now Tichborne
Street.
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DISCOVER THE NORTH LAINE ON FOOT
Our tour begins at the station, whose opening gave the impetus to a massive
increase in development in Brighton and in North Laine in particular. The
station opened at the same time as the railway in May 1840, and when the
London line had opened by September 1841, a much larger and altogether more
elegant building was in place. David Mocatta designed this new building in
Italianate style. Unfortunately his front is now largely obscured by a
canopy, which was added in 1882-3. At the time of the opening of the station
there was no direct link to the town of Brighton, however this was rectified
in 1845 with the construction of a bridge over Trafalgar Street. The opening
up of the railway so close to North Laine meant that the area would develop
as an area of artisan housing for the railway workers and industries
associated with the railway or able to develop with the goods that the
railway brought in to the town. The area was regarded until quite recently
as one of Brighton's less celebrious areas existing hidden behind the
grandeur of Brighton's more acceptable seafront. The North Laine was a
dangerous place to live in during the 19th century, not so much because of
the level of crime but because of the squalor. You are entering an area that
has been seedy and squalid.
From the entrance to the station under the 1882 canopy walk down TRAFALGAR
STREET, underneath the archway passing The Prince Albert public house on
your right. This is a popular music venue featuring live bands on many
nights of the week in an attractive, listed building of the 1840's. On your
left is Trafalgar Place, a huge project recently completed and dwarfing the
North Laine. In the courtyard there is an interesting sculpture of dolphins.
Trafalgar Street has always been a main pedestrian route to the station. In
the early part of the century many different groups from Brighton would be
seen walking up the street on their way to a Sunday outing in the country at
Burgess Hill or Bramber.
Going back further to the mid-19th Century you might have seen thousands of
Volunteer Soldiers on their way to the yearly military exercises on
Whitehawk Down. Or indeed seen sheep being herded down to the slaughterhouse
at the bottom of the road.
Just past Over Street turn into TRAFALGAR TERACE, an interesting twitten of
small houses built in the late 1830's with their gardens on the other side
of the path. The area is a haven for cats and an area of tranquillity hard
to imagine so close to the station. At the end of the twitten turn left into
GLOUCESTER ROAD, a road now line with a number of antique shops, collector
shops and workshops which together with residential housing is the mix that
gives North Laine it's very special character. The closure of the road to
through traffic in 1986 has helped to make the area a far more congenial one
to amble around in.
As you walk down Gloucester Road notice on your left KEMP STREET, scene of
the famous Brighton trunk murder in 1934, when police discovered the body of
a 41 year old woman at number 52. Tony Mancini, a London gangster was
arrested but acquitted after being brilliantly defended by Mr Norman
Birkett. In 1976 Mancini confessed to the killing but no further action was
taken.
Continue down the road passing Trafalgar lane and KENSINGTON PLACE on your
left. This is an attractive street with small terraced cottages on the west
side dating from the 1820's and a terrace of white houses from the late
1830's, decorated with Ionic pilasters and stucco to copy the far more
expensive Portland Stone. The street is included on the council's list of
houses of special interest. Over the years many people from the world of the
arts have made their homes in the North Laine and several have resided in
Kensington Place. These include Joe Orton's agent, Pam Ramsey .
Continue down Gloucester Road, noticing the 'percent for art' mosaic before
turning into SYDNEY STREET, now a busy shopping street containing the mix of
shops for which the North Laine is famous. Amble along the street now full
of specialist shops, second hand record shops and interesting cafes.
At the end of the street turn right into Trafalgar Street and walk down the
road until you come to an unusual feature of the North Laine, what looks
like a Regency Terrace, PELHAM SQUARE. In fact the houses on the southern
and western side were built in the 1840's as a terrace whilst the houses on
the eastern side were added in about 1860. Underneath the square is an
air-raid shelter constructed for the York Place schools opposite and now
part of Brighton College of Technology. The schools used the gardens as a
football pitch. In 1980 the garden was re-named the Queen Mother's Garden
after the area had been landscaped.
As you leave Pelham Square look back up towards the station and you can see
how badly the area has been served by developers. Much of the northern side
of Trafalgar Street has been demolished, opening up a vista of ugly tower
blocks hemming in the North Laine. From the square turn first right into
ST.GEORGES MEWS, recently developed with new terraced houses. Some of the
original bricks, used for the surface of the road, have been used for the
pavement on the left at the end of the road. At end of the road turn left
and then right. Follow the road round and you will find yourself at the
bottom of GLOUCESTER ROAD near to two of the many public houses in the area.
The George Beard takes it's name from the founder of one of Sussex's most
famous independent breweries based in Lewes. The pub was formerly known as
the Eagle Hotel, the only indication of the former Iron Foundry which was
sited just up the hill on your right. The large building you see on your
right, now converted into flats, was once the Eagle Iron Foundry. In 1869 it
was refurbished as a drill hall for The Brighton Corps of the Sussex
Volunteer Artillery who used it for many years until it became a warehouse
for newspapers.
On your left notice ROBERT STREET, now dominated by the now defunct Argus
building, but containing on the eastern side an interesting terrace. In the
middle of the terrace is a former Calvinist chapel.
Continue up Gloucester Road and turn into KENSINGTON GARDENS. This narrow
and busy pedestrian street was developed from 1808 and contains many
original facades such as those to be seen at nos. 7-11 on your right No. 5
. once the Kensington Gardens Institute for Working Men, still retains it's
original early 19th Century bowed front window. No. 22, on the left was once
the first ever Body Shop and was given six months by Anita Roddick to make
£300 a week. Had she failed she would have gone to Peru. She didn't and the
rest is history! A browse around Snoopy's Paradise, a warren of antique
stalls, is well worth a visit.
At the end of Kensington Gardens you will see opposite you one of the
favourite shops of the North Laine- Infinity foods. Established as a
wholefood restaurant in 1970 at Sussex University, it set up business here
in North Road in 1973 and now has it's own bakery and wholesale business.
The business is now a co-operative and set to take advantage of the boom in
production and consumption of organic foods.
Proceed down NORTH ROAD. The neglected buildings you see are typical of the
way the area has been treated over the years. Despite the fact that the area
is now marketed as the Bohemian Quarter of Brighton too many buildings are
left to decay until they become dangerous and are pulled down. It seems that
this is almost a deliberate policy. North Road was first developed on the
edge of town in the 1810's and became in the decades following a thriving
commercial centre for the North Laine.
Near the bottom of North Road, on your left, there is CHELTENHAM PLACE. On
the eastern side of the road, behind the new housing development, can still
be seen the shell of the former malthouse. On the corner of Cheltenham Place
and North Road you can see Redhill Motors, unfortunately now closed
following the downturn in business for motorbikes. Part of the building was
formerly the Coronation Cinema, one of two cinemas in the road(the other
being the Grand at the top of the road, see below). You can still see the
outline of the former cinema which was a favourite in the area. The Saturday
morning show was a particular favourite for the local children who for 2d
could be entertained whilst eating unshelled peanuts and sitting on benches
ankle deep in peanut shells.
Just opposite the former Coronation Cinema there is an archway leading to
the Prince Regent Swimming Pool. Proceed through the archway and you will
see the only remains of what was once the Church Street Infantry Barracks
which existed on this site between 1796 and 1869 by which time an almost
lack of maintenance had turned them into a public slum. The only reminder of
what was once an extensive military presence in the area is the sign
'Barrack Yard' at the entrance to the former barracks which stretched as far
as Church Street.
In 1869 the barrack buildings were demolished and the council took over
the southern area for the storage of their highways equipment whilst the
North Road Slipper Baths were constructed on the northern side. These baths
were like the domestic baths of today and served the poor of the area who
lacking their own bath could keep themselves clean at little cost. The
Slipper Baths closed in the 1970's and are now use as a fitness centre and
nursery (notice the council cannot even get the name on its sign correct,
putting an 's' on laine ).
Continue south past the front of the Swimming Pool with the eyesore that is
the Jubilee Site on your right. You will arrive on the north side of CHURCH
STREET.
Cross over the road (there is a crossing point at the bottom of the road to
your left) and enter the museum. *Here take a breather from the tour and
spend some time in the excellent museum. If you need a break from history
enjoy tea and cake at the café on the first floor. Take a seat by the
balcony and admire the Dali kiss sofa below. Make sure you see the local
history galleries adjacent to the café and in particular the My Brighton
multi -media experience on the computer. There are some excellent pieces on
the North Laine. Notice Beals Cork Shop, formerly at no.51 Gardner Street
where you will be visiting later. The Abrahams family who moved to Brighton
from London during the First World War to escape the Zeppelins owned the
shop.
Turn left out of the museum and walk up CHURCH STREET. On your right you can
see a building used as a County Court between 1869 and 1967. On your left
you pass the Corn Exchange, completed in 1803 as a riding school for the
Prince of Wales. Further up on the corner on your right you can see the
Wagon and Horse public house. This building was built in 1848 as a gymnasium
by Frederick Mahomed (son of the more famous Sake Mahomed who was Shampooing
Surgeon to George VI).
The vacant site on the other side of the road to the Wagon and Horses is
testimony to the sometimes negligent administration of the council. In 1971
the site was occupied by the former Central National School, one of the
towns earliest schools and built in the Gothic style. Whilst a protection
order was in the post the building was demolished. As you see the site has
yet to be developed.
Continue up Church Street past the Corn Exchange and the Mash Tun public
house(once named the Volunteer after the Sussex Volunteers who occupied the
Church St barracks site before moving to their Drill Hall in Gloucester
Street.).
Cross New Road (containing Brighton's Theatre Royal) looking up at the
building on the corner of New Road. This building dating from about 1807 was
constructed with cobbles that were covered with tar to protect the building
against the sea salt. Cross Bond Street (developed in the early 1800's) and
stop at Jew Street. On the west side of the street are the model Dwellings,
a five storey block of flats originally built as housing for the poor of the
town in about 1852. Jew Street itself was named after the synagogue which
was probably sited at the southern end of the street until 1808. At nos
21-22 Church Street are to be found some of the oldest buildings in the area
dating from the late 18th Century.
At the top of the street before the major road that is Queens Road can be
found one of the oldest businesses in the North Laine, Rosens. On the other
side of the road is the remains of the Hanover Chapel burial grounds. In
1845 Queens Road was constructed over the western edge of the cemetery
however the boundary wall and railings remain as part of the raised pavement
on the western side of Queens Road. In 1849 the gravestones were moved to
line the walls of the grounds which were then laid out as a public garden.
Start walking down Church Street.
On the western side of Spring Gardens is a large building that was until
recently used by the Royal Mail but was formerly the Drill Hall for The
Sussex Volunteers. On the other side of Spring Gardens once stood a power
station which provided electricity for the town from 1891.
As you continue down Church Street take a brief diversion into an area that
once contained some of the worst slum housing in the town and where a
thousand inhabitants lived in appallingly filthy conditions. Turn into
TICHBORNE STREET and then first right into ORANGE ROW. This area once
included such streets as Pimlico, Orange Row and Pym's Gardens and was one
of the first areas to be cleared by the Corporation in the 1870's. Tichborne
Street was built to replace Pimlico. It was in this area that one of the
North Laine's favourite son's, Tom Sayers, was born. Sayers was a bricklayer
who worked on the London Road viaduct and became champion of England between
1858 and 1860 before the introduction of Queensbury rules. In 1860 Sayers
fought the American John Heenan in the first international contest.
Return the same way to Church Street and then take the first left into
GARDNER STREET developed on the site of John Furner's market garden in the
early 19th Century. This used to be one of the main commercial streets
serving the inhabitants of the North Laine and although there is still some
evidence of this the street is now mainly given over to boutiques and cafes.
No 51 was where Beall's cork shop, that you saw in the museum, was situated.
The Komedia on the right hand side is a recent addition t the street, having
moved from it's former home in Manchester Street.
At the end of the street, cross over and walk up North Road. You pass on
your rightUPPER GARDNER STREET,which on Saturday mornings is home to a
street market that has been here since the turn of the century when Harry
Cowley fought for the right of barrow boys to have somewhere to ply their
wares. Harry Cowley also fought for the rights of the homeless by starting
squats in empty houses.
FOUNDRY STREET, on your right, as it's name suggest, was once the home of
one of the areas many foundries, Regent Foundry. This foundry once produced
the iron for many of Brighton' s main projects like the Chain Pier and
Volk's Railway. The site is now occupied by the main Brighton sorting office
and the street is perhaps the finest example of the mix between residential,
commercial and manufacturing that is very much the character of the North
Laine. You can still see houses, workshops and warehouses alongside one
another.
Past Foundry Street turn into FREDERICK GARDENS, a very narrow twitten of
small bow-widowed cottages with attractive gardens built in the 1820's. At
the end of the path carry straight on along Over Street with it's three
storey houses from the 1850's. Turn left and you are back on Trafalgar
Street. If you have time and energy before you depart the tour you might
want to spend some time in Toy and Model museum at the beginning of the
archway that leads to the station.
For any suggestions or additions to this guide or if you would like to add
information about your street, please contact: Peter Crowhurst e-mail.
pjcrowhurst@nasuwt.net
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HEALTH AND SQUALOR IN THE 19TH CENTURY
The North Laine in the mid-19th Century was not a particularly healthy place
to be. In fact living in the area exposed its inhabitants to most of the
country's diseases. There were frequent epidemics of whooping cough,
smallpox, scarlet fever, and consumption. In his report in 1848 Dr William
Kebbell found that 5% of the population suffered from contagious diseases.
The reason for this was the general condition of the houses and the streets.
North Laine at this time was a warren of narrow streets and courtyards. They
were poorly ventilated, badly drained and grossly overcrowded. Rubbish was
left on the street and gutters were not repaired. The sewage was deposited
into open cesspits emptied at night by scavengers employed by the council.
The houses were often built with inferior brick and the mortar often was
made from sea sand. The walls were green- covered with lichen.
Water was often contaminated. It was ordinarily fetched from pipes in the
street but these were often contaminated by nearby cesspits which in bad
weather leaked into them. The cesspits were bored into porous chalk often
too near drinking wells.
Although Brighton had some sewers at this time no houses in the North Laine
would have been linked up to them. There were drains for rainwater although
people often used the rainwater drains to dispose of their sewage which was
then deposited onto the beach.
All this was made even worse when you consider that the North Laine had many
of the town's slaughter houses. Animals would be brought by train to
Brighton Station and then driven down Trafalgar Street to one of the many
slaughter houses in the area. Vine Street alone accounted for seven of these
and the former house at no 34 can still be seen. The main problem for these
houses was the disposal of the waste. The universal practice was to get rid
of the dung and refuse into the nearest cesspit and to give the blood to the
pigs.
Another reason for the noxious smells of the area was the number of farm
animals kept in the area. Many of the inhabitants were former farmhands hit
badly by the depression of the 1830's or descendants of the same. These
people brought with them into the town the animals they had in the country
so in any of the backyards you had chickens and pigs being kept.
The Pimlico, Pym's Gardens, Orange Row area was inhabited by many of the
town's fishing families and was regarded as one of the worst slums in the
town. In 1849 Orange Row had nineteen houses in a court twelve feet square
with 130 residents residing in just 17 properties. This was an average of
7.6 per house, although no 9 contained 20 residents. The buildings in this
area were no better than wooden huts with small gardens attached. The
pathways in front of the houses were littered with the skins and intestines
of fish and must have stank in the middle of summer as must have the many
outdoor toilets.
In the 1860's the Pimlico area was demolished and new, better housing was
erected but at a higher rent that the inhabitants could not afford. Much of
the area's population moved away to the remaining overcrowded slums in other
parts of town.
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