Royal Crescent, Brighton
Encyclopedia
Royal Crescent is a crescent-shaped
terrace
of houses on the seafront in Brighton
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built in the late 18th and early 19th century as a speculative development on cliffs east of Brighton by a wealthy merchant, the 14 lodging houses formed the town's eastern boundary until about 1820. It was the seaside resort's first planned architectural composition
, and the first built intentionally to face the sea. The variety of building materials used include black glazed mathematical tile
s—a characteristic feature of Brighton's 18th-century architecture. English Heritage
has listed the crescent at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance. An adjacent five-storey building, formerly the Royal Crescent Hotel but now converted into flats with the name Royal Crescent Mansions, is listed separately at Grade II.
and resort happened in the second half of the 18th century and was prompted by several factors. Sea-bathing and drinking seawater
became an upper-class fad, encouraged by the publication in 1750 of local doctor Richard Russell's
book on the subject. The good climate—sunny, mild and breezy—also became widely known when Brighton's first guidebook was published by Anthony Relhan
in 1761. Road improvements encouraged visitors from London
and elsewhere: the road from London
to Brighton, notorious for its poor (sometimes impassable) condition, was turnpiked
throughout its length in 1770. The arrival of royalty and the effects of their patronage
then gave the town such prestige that it became Britain's largest and most important seaside resort. The Duke of Cumberland lived in the town from 1779; the Prince of Wales
first visited him in 1783 (although he may also have come in search of Brighton's reputed health benefits); and he liked it so much that he came back every year and eventually took up residence at the Royal Pavilion
.
Late 18th-century Brighton became popular with speculative developers and builders: either professional builders who bought some land, started erecting houses themselves or using their own men, and tried to sell the remaining land at a profit as construction work continued—this was more common; or rich speculators from other industries who bought land (sometimes from a builder in the circumstances just described) and commissioned them to build houses to their specifications. J.B. Otto, a merchant
who owned plantation
s in the West Indies
, was an example of the latter. In 1798, he bought a wide east–west strip of land on the clifftop beyond the eastern edge of the built-up area, about 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) east of the Royal Pavilion, and hired an architect (whose identity is not known) and builders to create a crescent of houses which could be let to long-term visitors.
Work started in the same year; the ends of the crescent were started first. The project was then delayed when Otto ran out of money; he returned to the West Indies to secure more funds, then came back to Brighton and supervised the completion of the crescent, which happened in 1807. Unlike many contemporary and later developments in Brighton, Otto was able to take his time to complete it because he was not wholly dependent on it for his financial success: his plantations were still his main source of income.
The crescent of 14 houses was the first to be built facing the sea
and to be designed in harmony with it. Brighton's 18th-century development had been haphazard and unplanned, and Royal Crescent also represented the first unified architectural design, planned as a set-piece and overseen from start to finish by one man. The grand scale was intended to attract middle- and upper-class residents, both permanent and seasonal, and it was immediately successful: early tenants included the Rice family, a brewing dynasty from London.
In 1802, Otto attempted to impress the Prince of Wales—probably with a view to obtaining an invitation to dine with him at the Royal Pavilion, which was the pinnacle of social achievement in Brighton—by erecting a statue of him at Royal Crescent. He commissioned a sculptor
called Rossi
to do the work; he used Coade stone
, ceramic
stoneware
manufactured by Eleanor Coade
in London. The statue was reportedly unable to withstand the weathering
effects of sea-spray and strong wind: by 1807, the fingers on the sculpture's left hand had been destroyed, and soon afterwards the whole right arm dropped off. The statue began to be mistaken for Lord Nelson
, and the Prince was reportedly so displeased that he forbade Otto's name to be mentioned in his presence. The dilapidated statue—7 feet (2.1 m) tall on a 10 feet (3 m) plinth—was removed in 1819. The gardens in front of the crescent, in which the statue stood, passed into the ownership of the Brighton Corporation after the 1884 Brighton Improvement Act
was passed.
Royal Crescent was listed at Grade II* on 13 October 1952. Such buildings are defined as being "particularly important ... [and] of more than special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 70 Grade II*-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove.
Notable residents of Royal Crescent have included actor Sir John Clements
—who lived at number 7—and Sir Laurence Olivier
, who lived at number 4 with his third wife Joan Plowright
and also owned number 5.
of 14 terraced house
s on a generally east–west layout behind Marine Parade. Numbers 1 and 14, the houses at each end, stand parallel to that road. Each four-storey house has common stylistic themes. There is a first-floor veranda on every house except number 1, the westernmost house, which has a balcony instead. Each veranda has curved metal roofs (with either cyma recta or cyma reversa mouldings
), cast iron
railings and bracketed
supports. The whole terrace has a timber-framed
façade with brick nogging (infilling) and covered with black glazed mathematical tile
s. These were laid in an interlocking pattern to mimic brick, and were frequently used in Brighton in the late 18th century. The glazing produced an iridescent effect which reflected sunlight in a visually pleasing way, and also coped better than bricks with sea-spray and other weathering effects. The houses were originally built with bow window
s, but after critics argued that this spoilt the visual effect of the concave curve of the crescent, they were replaced (except at numbers 12 and 14) by canted
bay window
s with three sides. A parapet
, running above numbers 7–10, has the painted legend . When the painter of the lettering, a Mr Leggatt, leant back to check his work, he fell off his ladder and was fatally impaled on the metal railings below.
The entrance porches and doorways to each house are considered particularly impressive. The details differ slightly from house to house, but most have open-topped pediment
s, entablature
s, semicircular fanlight
s and Tuscan-style
pilaster
s.
George Canning
once lived there; this is commemorated by a heritage plaque designed by Eric Gill
in the 1920s. Extension to five storeys and conversion into a hotel began in 1848, and it opened in its new form in 1857. Some remodelling took place later in the 19th century. The sea-facing façade has a three-window range: from left to right, canted, bowed and canted. Iron balconies span the second, third and fourth floors. The building has nine windows on each floor on its west façade, next to Royal Crescent, and eleven to the east (facing Burlington Street). After many years as a hotel, it was converted to flats.
The building was listed at Grade II on 20 August 1971. As of February 2001, it was one of 1,124 buildings listed at that grade in Brighton and Hove; the status indicates that the building is considered "nationally important and of special interest".
Crescent (architecture)
A crescent is an architectural structure where a number of houses, normally terraced houses, are laid out in an arc to form of a crescent shape. A famous historic crescent is the Royal Crescent in Bath, England.-See also:* Lansdown Crescent, Bath...
terrace
Terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
of houses on the seafront in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built in the late 18th and early 19th century as a speculative development on cliffs east of Brighton by a wealthy merchant, the 14 lodging houses formed the town's eastern boundary until about 1820. It was the seaside resort's first planned architectural composition
Composition (visual arts)
In the visual arts – in particular painting, graphic design, photography and sculpture – composition is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art or a photograph, as distinct from the subject of a work...
, and the first built intentionally to face the sea. The variety of building materials used include black glazed mathematical tile
Mathematical tile
Mathematical tiles are a building material used extensively in the southeastern counties of England—especially East Sussex and Kent—in the 18th and early 19th centuries. They were laid on the exterior of timber-framed buildings as an alternative to brickwork, which their appearance closely resembled...
s—a characteristic feature of Brighton's 18th-century architecture. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
has listed the crescent at Grade II* for its architectural and historical importance. An adjacent five-storey building, formerly the Royal Crescent Hotel but now converted into flats with the name Royal Crescent Mansions, is listed separately at Grade II.
History
Brighton's transformation from fishing village to high-class, fashionable spa townSpa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
and resort happened in the second half of the 18th century and was prompted by several factors. Sea-bathing and drinking seawater
Water cure (therapy)
A water cure in the therapeutic sense is a course of medical treatment by hydrotherapy.-Overview:In the mid-19th century there was a popular revival of the water cure in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
became an upper-class fad, encouraged by the publication in 1750 of local doctor Richard Russell's
Richard Russell (doctor)
Richard Russell was an 18th century British Physician who encouraged his patients to use a form of water therapy that involved the submersion or bathing in, and drinking of, seawater...
book on the subject. The good climate—sunny, mild and breezy—also became widely known when Brighton's first guidebook was published by Anthony Relhan
Anthony Relhan
Dr. Anthony Relhan was a medical doctor and fellow of the King and Queen's College of Physicians of Ireland, notable for writing a history of Brighton, and for promoting the drinking of mineral water.-Life:...
in 1761. Road improvements encouraged visitors from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and elsewhere: the road from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to Brighton, notorious for its poor (sometimes impassable) condition, was turnpiked
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
throughout its length in 1770. The arrival of royalty and the effects of their patronage
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
then gave the town such prestige that it became Britain's largest and most important seaside resort. The Duke of Cumberland lived in the town from 1779; the Prince of Wales
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
first visited him in 1783 (although he may also have come in search of Brighton's reputed health benefits); and he liked it so much that he came back every year and eventually took up residence at the Royal Pavilion
Royal Pavilion
The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, England. It was built in three campaigns, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, from 1811 Prince Regent. It is often referred to as the Brighton Pavilion...
.
Late 18th-century Brighton became popular with speculative developers and builders: either professional builders who bought some land, started erecting houses themselves or using their own men, and tried to sell the remaining land at a profit as construction work continued—this was more common; or rich speculators from other industries who bought land (sometimes from a builder in the circumstances just described) and commissioned them to build houses to their specifications. J.B. Otto, a merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
who owned plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
s in the West Indies
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, was an example of the latter. In 1798, he bought a wide east–west strip of land on the clifftop beyond the eastern edge of the built-up area, about 0.5 mile (0.80467 km) east of the Royal Pavilion, and hired an architect (whose identity is not known) and builders to create a crescent of houses which could be let to long-term visitors.
Work started in the same year; the ends of the crescent were started first. The project was then delayed when Otto ran out of money; he returned to the West Indies to secure more funds, then came back to Brighton and supervised the completion of the crescent, which happened in 1807. Unlike many contemporary and later developments in Brighton, Otto was able to take his time to complete it because he was not wholly dependent on it for his financial success: his plantations were still his main source of income.
The crescent of 14 houses was the first to be built facing the sea
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and to be designed in harmony with it. Brighton's 18th-century development had been haphazard and unplanned, and Royal Crescent also represented the first unified architectural design, planned as a set-piece and overseen from start to finish by one man. The grand scale was intended to attract middle- and upper-class residents, both permanent and seasonal, and it was immediately successful: early tenants included the Rice family, a brewing dynasty from London.
In 1802, Otto attempted to impress the Prince of Wales—probably with a view to obtaining an invitation to dine with him at the Royal Pavilion, which was the pinnacle of social achievement in Brighton—by erecting a statue of him at Royal Crescent. He commissioned a sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
called Rossi
John Charles Felix Rossi
-Life:John Charles Felix Rossi was born at Nottingham on 8 March 1762. His father, an Italian from Siena, was a quack doctor at Nottingham, and afterwards at Mountsorrell, Leicestershire. Rossi was sent to the studio of Giovanni Battista Locatelli, an Italian sculptor working in London...
to do the work; he used Coade stone
Coade stone
Lithodipyra , or Coade stone, was ceramic stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding Neoclassical statues, architectural decorations and garden ornaments that were both of the highest quality and remain virtually...
, ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
stoneware
Stoneware
Stoneware is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic ware with a fine texture. Stoneware is made from clay that is then fired in a kiln, whether by an artisan to make homeware, or in an industrial kiln for mass-produced or specialty products...
manufactured by Eleanor Coade
Eleanor Coade
Eleanor Coade was a devout Baptist and remained unmarried until her death on 16 November 1821 in Camberwell Grove, Camberwell, London. Her obituary notice was published in The Gentleman's Magazine which declared her ‘the sole inventor and proprietor of an art which deserves considerable notice’...
in London. The statue was reportedly unable to withstand the weathering
Weathering
Weathering is the breaking down of rocks, soils and minerals as well as artificial materials through contact with the Earth's atmosphere, biota and waters...
effects of sea-spray and strong wind: by 1807, the fingers on the sculpture's left hand had been destroyed, and soon afterwards the whole right arm dropped off. The statue began to be mistaken for Lord Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson
Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronté, KB was a flag officer famous for his service in the Royal Navy, particularly during the Napoleonic Wars. He was noted for his inspirational leadership and superb grasp of strategy and unconventional tactics, which resulted in a number of...
, and the Prince was reportedly so displeased that he forbade Otto's name to be mentioned in his presence. The dilapidated statue—7 feet (2.1 m) tall on a 10 feet (3 m) plinth—was removed in 1819. The gardens in front of the crescent, in which the statue stood, passed into the ownership of the Brighton Corporation after the 1884 Brighton Improvement Act
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
was passed.
Royal Crescent was listed at Grade II* on 13 October 1952. Such buildings are defined as being "particularly important ... [and] of more than special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 70 Grade II*-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove.
Notable residents of Royal Crescent have included actor Sir John Clements
John Clements
Sir John Selby Clements, CBE was an English actor and producer who worked in theatre, television and film.Clements attended St Paul's School and St John's College, Cambridge University then worked with Nigel Playfair and afterwards spent a few years in Ben Greet's Shakespearean Company. He made...
—who lived at number 7—and Sir Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, who lived at number 4 with his third wife Joan Plowright
Joan Plowright
Joan Ann Plowright, Baroness Olivier, DBE , better known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English actress, whose career has spanned over sixty years. Throughout her career she has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award and has been nominated for an Academy Award, an Emmy, and two BAFTA Awards...
and also owned number 5.
Architecture
Royal Crescent forms a shallow crescent-shapedCrescent (architecture)
A crescent is an architectural structure where a number of houses, normally terraced houses, are laid out in an arc to form of a crescent shape. A famous historic crescent is the Royal Crescent in Bath, England.-See also:* Lansdown Crescent, Bath...
of 14 terraced house
Terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
s on a generally east–west layout behind Marine Parade. Numbers 1 and 14, the houses at each end, stand parallel to that road. Each four-storey house has common stylistic themes. There is a first-floor veranda on every house except number 1, the westernmost house, which has a balcony instead. Each veranda has curved metal roofs (with either cyma recta or cyma reversa mouldings
Molding (decorative)
Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
), cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
railings and bracketed
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
supports. The whole terrace has a timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
façade with brick nogging (infilling) and covered with black glazed mathematical tile
Mathematical tile
Mathematical tiles are a building material used extensively in the southeastern counties of England—especially East Sussex and Kent—in the 18th and early 19th centuries. They were laid on the exterior of timber-framed buildings as an alternative to brickwork, which their appearance closely resembled...
s. These were laid in an interlocking pattern to mimic brick, and were frequently used in Brighton in the late 18th century. The glazing produced an iridescent effect which reflected sunlight in a visually pleasing way, and also coped better than bricks with sea-spray and other weathering effects. The houses were originally built with bow window
Bow window
A bow window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more casement windows, which join together to form an arch.Bow windows first...
s, but after critics argued that this spoilt the visual effect of the concave curve of the crescent, they were replaced (except at numbers 12 and 14) by canted
Cant (architecture)
Cant is the architectural term describing part, or segment, of a facade which is at an angle to another part of the same facade. The angle breaking the facade is less than a right angle thus enabling a canted facade to be viewed as, and remain, one composition.Canted facades are a typical of, but...
bay window
Bay window
A bay window is a window space projecting outward from the main walls of a building and forming a bay in a room, either square or polygonal in plan. The angles most commonly used on the inside corners of the bay are 90, 135 and 150 degrees. Bay windows are often associated with Victorian architecture...
s with three sides. A parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
, running above numbers 7–10, has the painted legend . When the painter of the lettering, a Mr Leggatt, leant back to check his work, he fell off his ladder and was fatally impaled on the metal railings below.
The entrance porches and doorways to each house are considered particularly impressive. The details differ slightly from house to house, but most have open-topped pediment
Pediment
A pediment is a classical architectural element consisting of the triangular section found above the horizontal structure , typically supported by columns. The gable end of the pediment is surrounded by the cornice moulding...
s, entablature
Entablature
An entablature refers to the superstructure of moldings and bands which lie horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and are commonly divided into the architrave , the frieze ,...
s, semicircular fanlight
Fanlight
A fanlight is a window, semicircular or semi-elliptical in shape, with glazing bars or tracery sets radiating out like an open fan, It is placed over another window or a doorway. and is sometimes hinged to a transom. The bars in the fixed glazed window spread out in the manner a sunburst...
s and Tuscan-style
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s.
Royal Crescent Mansions
Standing slightly forward of Royal Crescent immediately to the east, the building now known as Royal Crescent Mansions was originally built as a two-storey house in the early 19th century. Former Foreign Secretary and Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
George Canning
George Canning
George Canning PC, FRS was a British statesman and politician who served as Foreign Secretary and briefly Prime Minister.-Early life: 1770–1793:...
once lived there; this is commemorated by a heritage plaque designed by Eric Gill
Eric Gill
Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
in the 1920s. Extension to five storeys and conversion into a hotel began in 1848, and it opened in its new form in 1857. Some remodelling took place later in the 19th century. The sea-facing façade has a three-window range: from left to right, canted, bowed and canted. Iron balconies span the second, third and fourth floors. The building has nine windows on each floor on its west façade, next to Royal Crescent, and eleven to the east (facing Burlington Street). After many years as a hotel, it was converted to flats.
The building was listed at Grade II on 20 August 1971. As of February 2001, it was one of 1,124 buildings listed at that grade in Brighton and Hove; the status indicates that the building is considered "nationally important and of special interest".