August 2021

The chandelier above the Bodley font restoredTom Cosgrove Church Warden

Funded by the Friends, the brass chan-delier which hangs above the font in theBodley church has recently been re-paired and restored by metalwork ex-perts Chris Smith Restorations of Hove.

It’s not known when the chandelier wasgifted or bought for the church, but itcould only have been suspended in itscurrent location after the completion ofthe Burges church around 1900, as thearch was previously the side wall of theBodley church.

It is of gothic design, English or possiblyFlemish manufacture, and was made toa mediaeval design in the eighteenthcentury (evidenced in its constructionaccording to the restorer).There are sixteen open workfoliate branches which are numberedand removable, most of which were looseand damaged. The central column de-picts a Bishop, or saint Bishop, indicat-ing that it was intended for ecclesiasticaluse.There were almost forty fractures andmalformations to put right before thewhole was professionally polished. It hasnot been lacquered so that it will ageslowly to an antique patina. As it is rare-ly touched the finish will last many years.

The project was completed in time for the Carol Service,and the Midnight Mass, and was admired by many whowere astonished by its renaissance.

Photo: Cosgrove

At the start of his Zoom lecture to the FriendsDavid Robson invited us to accompany him on apub crawl, to be followed as an act of expiation bya pilgrimage. Well, who could resist! And a fasci-nating and delightful journey it proved to be foranyone interested in the architecture of our area.The subject of David’s talk was the Denman fami-ly, three generations of local architects, whose pro-digious output and versatility spanning nearly 120years has enhanced Brighton and left a legacy ofwhich we can all be proud.The story begins with Samuel Denman (1855-1945)and continues with his son John Leopold (18821975) and his son John Bluett (1914-2002). Samu-el’s origins were in the building trade and he is bestdescribed as a builder/architect and developer. Histwo most prominent buildings are Lewes TownHall (1893) and the Hove Club (1897).However, when we consider the Denman legacy, itis inevitable we look to John Leopold: his was atruly extraordinary record. Under his leadershipthe firm became an example of a provincial prac-tice in the best sense of the word: rooted and activein the community.

The firm acted as architects to the Kemp TownBrewery, as well as architects and advisers to theDiocese of Chichester. John Leopold taught for atime at the Brighton School of Art and was a mem-ber of an informal, but influential group of locallybased artists which included the sculptor JosephCribb and the painters Louis Ginnett and CharlesKnight. Both Ginnett and Cribb were to collabo-rate with John Leopold on several ecclesiasticaland secular projects as we shall see later.

It is with John Leopold that what could be de-scribed as a Denman Style emerges, at least for sec-ular buildings: it is a refined, sensitive, welldetailed neo-Georgian. Two of the best examplescan be seen in the centre of Brighton; the AlliedIrish Bank (formerly the Citizens PermanentBuilding Society) of 1933 in Marlborough Placeand the former Brighton and Hove Herald officesof 1934 in the nearby Pavilion Buildings (now sad-ly unoccupied). But there was also variety and im-agination: look at Barclay’s Bank in North Street(1957-59) and a block of flats in Wilbury Road,Wilbury Court (1956), to see Denman on a moremonumental scale. And let us not forget two utter-ly contrasting works with which all Brightoniansare familiar, even if they are unaware of the archi-tect: The Pylons on the A23 (1928) to mark the ex-tension of the Borough boundaries, and theglorious facade of The Freemasons pub (1928) inWestern Road where the glittering blue and goldmosaics cheer up the dullest of days.It is, however, in David’s memorable words ‘inpubs and pews’ we are most likely to encounter theDenman legacy in our everyday lives; at least 65pubs - around 40 of which are still open, and 12new churches and considerably more restorations.John Leopold’s knowledge of, and sensitivity to,medieval buildings and ornamentation ensuredmuch work involving repair and restoration of thehighest quality, in addition to extensions and pro-vision of furnishings. Excellent examples of the lat-ter are St Simon and St Jude in East Dean(1948-61) where Denman worked with Joseph

Of Pubs and Pews - a talk by David Robson 4 June 2021Ian Crammond

The Freemasons Western Rd Brighton

Photo: Robson

Photo: Robson

St Peters West Blatchington: new nave

Cribb, and St Michael’s Southwick, damaged in thewar, both repaired and extended sensitively andsuccessfully. St Cuthman’s Whitehawk (1951-52),effectively re-built after the war, delights with animaginatively planned interior. The font was de-signed by Cribb.An improbable combination of the Diocese ofChichester and the Kemp Town Brewery ensured asteady supply of commissions for the firm, particu-larly in the inter-war era. The pubs, many in theBrighton area, provide a fascinating insight intochanging attitudes towards alcohol consumptionfrom the late nineteenth to the mid twentieth cen-turies. Typical examples of early pubs by SamuelDenman include The Bugle at Poets Corner andthe nearby Ancient Mariner (originally TheEclipse) in Rutland Road. John Leopold is seen athis most inventive in two extraordinary pubs: TheDuke of Wellington in Shoreham (1929) in a freeneo-Jacobean style and the Tally Ho in East-bourne (1928), both with work by Cribb. But it isin a cluster of later pubs e.g. The Green Jacket inShoreham, the Joyful Whippet in Sompting, TheBlack Lion at Patcham and The Grenadier inHove that we see John Leopold responding to so-cial change. The Victorian ‘boozer’ gives way tothoughtfully planned ‘family friendly’ places ofrecreation, incorporating children’s rooms, gardensand provision of ladies loos. In conclusion, I ampleased to say that, having whetted our appetiteswith such a stimulating talk, David is preparing amuch needed, user friendly and definitive Visitors’Guide to the Denman Legacy in Brighton, conven-iently organised around selected bus routes. We arein his debt.

Photo: Robson

Ye Olde House at Home: WorthingPhoto: Robson

Photo: Robson

The Tally Ho: Eastbourne

St Simon and St Jude: nave extension East Dean

Alexandra treated us to a Christmas lecture on ‘TheMoon in Literature’. This was a novel and fascinat-ing account of the subject, the talk being a rich and

enjoyable sortie into the significance of the Moon asa pivotal plot device in literature.

The talk was made all the more enjoyable by theillustrations and excerpts that Alexandra providedto illuminate her topic, many of which were new tome at least.We do thank Alexandra most sincerely for her gen-erous and loyal support of the Friends during thisperiod. Her contributions have enabled us to under-stand the possibilities of the Zoom platform inkeeping the Friends’ community in touch while atthe same time providing a source of interest andreflection.

The Moon in Literature Dr Alexandra LoskeAn note by Coreen Sears

One of our earliest Friends of St Michael’sZoom lectures took place on Friday 26th

February. It was a lively and informativesession entitled, ‘Designing an EnchantedPalace – from detail to grand design’, dur-ing which our two speakers described dif-ferent aspects of the creation of thefabulous whole that is the Royal Pavilion.

Part 1: French Connections, FalseTrails and ‘folie de grandeur’ – a talkby Dr Patrick ConnerDr Patrick Conner began the evening. Heis a former Keeper of Fine Art at the Roy-al Pavilion, Art Gallery and Museums andis now Director of the Martyn GregoryGallery, London, which specialises in his-torical paintings related to the ChinaTrade. Patrick’s talk took us at a brisk

pace along the various paths that ledGeorge IV, then Prince of Wales, to createhis own private pleasure palace out of the‘superior farmhouse’ he had purchased forhis seaside retreat.In a city that is accustomed to seeing thePrince Regent’s name on the front of localbuses, it is perhaps difficult to think ofGeorge as anything other than a figurewhose life was dedicated to fun. Certainly,his taste was for flamboyance and exotic‘oriental’ architecture, although, as

Patrick pointed out, George was also anestablished patron of the arts who securedvaluable acquisitions for the royal collec-tions.For his Marine Pavilion, George drew on

earlier and more recent crazes for exoticafrom the ‘east’. Perhaps he had seen print-ed images of the enchanting chinoiseriecreations of other European princes whichPatrick showed us. In any case his archi-tects, first Henry Holland and later JohnNash, marvellously fulfilled George’s spec-ification, first in the form of an Indo-Sara-cenic palace and later as the fantasyIndo-Islamic edifice which still takes ourbreath away as we ride past.

These words do not do justice to the wittyand erudite talk we heard from Patrick.After his account of the influences whichproduced the exterior of the Royal Pavil-ion we were more than eager to hear Alex-andra’s talk about the interior.

Part 2: The Dragon’s in the Detail – atalk by Dr Alexandra LoskeDr Alexandra Loske, as many of you willknow, is Curator at the Royal Pavilion,Brighton. Her talk, ‘The Dragon’s in theDetail’, had the same title as the exhibi-tion which Alexandra was curating whenthe pandemic struck. This was to haverun alongside another exhibition entitled,A Prince’s Treasure, which celebrated theloan by her Majesty the Queen of 120 ob-jects originally made for the Pavilion andmoved by Queen Victoria to BuckinghamPalace when she sold the Pavilion. Among these objects are the delightfulpagodas and the extraordinary Kylinclock, all of which are situated in the Mu-sic Room and which are still in place nowthe Pavilion has reopened once again.

The full title of Alexandra’s exhibitionincluded the words: ‘designs for the Roy-al Pavilion by John and Frederick Crace’,and it is the well-documented work of theCrace brothers that was the focus of Al-exandra’s exhibition and of her talk.These upholders, the early term for what

we know as interior design-ers, were already renownedas experts in providing‘Chinese’ style decorationsbefore they became respon-sible for the decorationsand furnishings of George’spavilion. They sourced ordesigned Chinese wallpa-pers and objects and usedtheir expertise in gildingand decorative painting tocarry through their de-signs; it is they who were

responsible for the fantastical dragonsand for the almost crazy profusion ofmultiple ‘Eastern’ influences in the deco-rative schemes. What was fascinating in

Alexandra’s talk was ‘to be able to trackthe development of their design schemesfrom original source via drawings by theCrace brothers to the final ornamentaldetail in the Pavilion’ (as Alexandrawrites in her on-line account of the exhi-bition).

Alexandra continued working on the ex-hibition when possible during this periodand it is still in place now the Pavilionhas reopened. As always with Alexan-dra’s talks, I was bowled over by herknowledge, energy and enthusiasm forher topic – she is always a delight to lis-ten to.

On 25 June 2021, Sue Berry gave a talk on thehistory of Brighton and Hove covering the period1815-30; this followed her first talk on the subject,which she gave on 26 March covering the periodc.1750-1815. Both talks were by Zoom but this didnot detract from their clarity and interest. Thepopulation of Brighton in 1794 was 5,699, whichgrew to 46,661 in 1841. Even between 1821 and1831 there was a growth in population of some18,000 persons from all over the country, with theconcomitant health and sanitation problems.

The period 1815-30 saw the transformation ofBrighton and the smaller, Hove, from a formerpoor small town into a developed seaside resort.Indeed, sea bathing continued from earlier years asits main selling point with advertisements claiminghow great sea bathing made one look. Fromaround 1800, garments were required for the seaand so with this came bathing machines.Wealthy locals, from country houses such as Up-park and Goodwood, and rich Londoners, as well asfolk interested in horse racing, all supported thefinancial investment in Brighton. In fact, Brightonbecame ‘London by the sea’ with investment incapital projects also by small businessmen andlandowners. Part of the reason for this was theparallel major investment in coaches, turnpikesetc., which reduced the journey from London toBrighton to four hours and also the cost of thetravel.Furthermore, the Napoleonic Wars had led to thestationing of a very large number of troops on theDowns, in case of invasion, and these soldiers nowwanted better accommodation. Open arable landwas therefore enclosed and many big private houseswere built, e.g. Regency Square by William Mackieand villas in the Montpelier area by Kemp, but alsohouses to rent. Kemptown dates from this period

although Kemp did not make money out of it andthe Steine was by now developed.

Clearly, the increasing population demanded enter-tainments. Although the Prince Regent/George IVand his Pavilion were not particularly popular, theChain Pier was a major attraction as shown in theTurner painting at Petworth. There was a call forart galleries and libraries offering also music facili-ties, causing the expansion of libraries into sub-urbs. Ireland’s Gardens was developed as a cricket

pitch, maze etc. but did not makemoney and is now Park Crescent.Queen’s Park also struggled as a lei-sure garden although developed byThomas Kemp. A public garden wasopened to attract visitors in the NorthSteine and there were spas in Queen’sPark and St. Ann’s Well GardensTamplins built a brewery in Brightonand a workhouse for the poor wasconstructed. Folk wanted gas lightingin their houses so gas works were built

in Rottingdean and Hove. Finally, a road andpromenade were built by public subscription link-ing the east and west sides of the town, whichpromoted development in the 1820s.Various important institutions were commissionedin this period e.g. a hospital for the poor by the Earlof Egremont, the National School in Church Streetto educate servants, and the School of Industry bythe architect, Henry Wilds. There was also a boomin church building, with twelve Anglican churchesconstructed between 1790 and 1840, including St.Peter’s in the Steine, as well as various non-Con-formist chapels.From 1820s-30s a depression stalled many buildingprojects, such as Palmeira Square and Furze Hill.However, once a road to Hove had been built andthe railway developed, building took off again.Nevertheless, people were more cautious in theirinvestments.In conclusion, it was clear that Brighton and Hovedeveloped between 1815 and 1830 through a seriesof largely unplanned, individual, privately fi-nanced initiatives, which responded to the de-mands of the time and have given us the city thatwe know today.Chris Dawes thanked Sue Berry on behalf of TheFriends of St. Michael’s for her fascinating talk andpointed out that articles she had written could beaccessed through the Georgian Society.

A resort transformed – a talk by Sue BerryHelen Morris

The Chain Pier