Squaring Up For Another Moan!
The following article appeared in the Property Supplement of the Brighton Evening Argus of Thursday March 24th 1983...
By Ken Hamer
It has been said that the residents and hoteliers of Regency Square - the only Brighton seafront square with a green - are not happy unless they are complaining.
But to be fair, they have had a lot to complain about since the development 160 years ago created what is considered by some to be one of the foremost examples of Regency architecture in the country.
Regency Square today, though, is a rather sad, faded version of the original concept, most of the buildings taken up as small hotels or converted into bedsitters and small flats.
Originally, it was open land, known as Belle Vue Field - a popular site for fairs, shows and military reviews.
At the beginning of the last century, the land was bought by Joshua Flesher Hanson who embarked upon the development as a purely speculative venture.
He commissioned the well known architects, the Wilds for the work and intended originally to call It Waterloo Square, but later changed his mind.
The terraced houses were built to appeal to the wealthy, but when they saw them they complained they were too small and most went elsewhere.
They were attractive though, with the ground floors only being stuccoed, the upper parts of the buildings being left as yellow brickwork.
The effect today has been spoiled by the brickwork being painted over in a multitude of shades and colours, which mars the uniformity of the buildings themselves.
Seasonal
One of the corner buildings by the seafront was bought in 1830 by the Duke and Duchess of St. Albans, who used it for several years as their seasonal residence.
The duchess was the former actress Harriot Mellon, a woman twice the duke's age, who at that time was reputedly the richest woman in England, having been left a widow by a wealthy banker.
She and the 21-year-old duke held huge parties at the house, which had large stables and an indoor riding school attached.
The riding school was said to be the second largest room in England whose roof was not supported by pillars. It's dome rivalled St. Paul's in size.
The buildings were demolished some years ago. Another famous resident of the square was Dr William King. It was he who, in 1849, led the fight to persuade the town to buy the Royal Pavilion - a decision taken by public poll.
It was largely his persuasiveness that convinced 1,343 residents to vote in favour of purchase - but it was carried by only 19 votes.
Dr King was a strong supporter of the Cooperative movement, and some years ago the Cooperative Society erected a plaque in his memory on the house where he lived in the square.
The square was one of the first places in Brighton to be lit by gas. In 1822, the town's commissioners promised to pay for gas lighting throughout the town it residents paid for the lamp posts. The residents of Regency Square were first to take up the offer.
Doubled
Forty years after the building of Regency Square was completed the residents were up in arms about the building of the West Pier opposite their homes.
The pier, which took three years to build at a cost of £30,000, had two large toll houses on either side and residents complained they were unsightly and obstructed their views of the sea.
They complained, too, about the large numbers of people who thronged to the pier - 10,000 paid to go on the pier on an average summer Sunday and a total of 600,000 in 1875 alone.
No doubt the residents moaned again 20 years later when the pier was doubled in size and became a site for side shows.
At that time they had to put up with the sound of a cannon being tired at noon each day from the pier - or at least on sunny days. The gun was fired by an ingenious device which used a magnifying glass to focus the sun's heat on the gun's touch-hole.
The people of Regency Square did not complain, though, about the activities of the quaint Dr Edward Mackey.
In 1881, after a period of research, he sub-divided the town into climatic districts and announced that Regency Square was one of the healthy places to live - more so than The Drive, Sussex Square and Grand Parade.
Domestic
As the 20th century progressed, more and more of the houses in the square were taken over as small hotels, but with the change in holiday patterns over the last ten years their heyday seems to have passed.
There are a great many people, though, who are anxious to preserve what is left of the fading dignity of Regency Square.
In 1950, the Government supported Brighton Council in banning neon signs from hotels, and a few years later Whitehall banned further office development, on the grounds that the square's domestic atmosphere should be retained as far as possible.
Residents and hoteliers were complaining in 1956 about the poor state of the roads and green and threatened to withhold rates unless action was taken to tidy the area up. The council did tidy it up.
Headlines
A major project to build the underground car park in the square was proposed in the 1960s. The work caused considerable disruption to the lives of residents as the central green was excavated and 10,000 tons of reinforced concrete used to construct the park for 520 cars.
The park was opened in 1969 and did much to improve the appearance of the square once the greens had been relaid.
Just over two years ago, following numerous complaints about the filth left by dogs on the greens, the council fenced off the top third.
The square was in the headlines again last year when the council introduced echelon car parking. Residents complain this directs car exhaust fumes into the buildings, but the council has refused to change the system.
The residents, it seems, will have to go on complaining.