Brunswick Town R-EX data

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The area where Brunswick Town was built had originally been part of Wick Farm. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, nearby Brighton had become very fashionable. The Kemp Town estate in Brighton had been a success, and in 1824 architect Charles Busby entered into an agreement to build a similar development on land lying at the extreme east of Hove, adjacent to Brighton.

It was financial speculation which made the Brunswick Town scheme possible, that is buying land and developing it and then hoping that will become more valuable at a future date. Financial speculation was not unique to Brighton, it was used throughout Britain to fund rapidly developing urban growth. People believed that with the peace of 1815 and the coming of political stability across Europe the financial 'good times' had arrived. Everyone wanted to cash in and make money. The great strength of the speculative process was that vast sums of money could be raised. A huge sum, more than £500,000, was needed to build Brunswick Town. It could not have been found locally. Both the building and the speculative processes for such a complex scheme involved a large number of people at different stages.

Building the Brunswick Estate in the parish of Hove offered many advantages. The land there was still open and undeveloped. The poor rates were lower than those of Brighton and extra levies, such as the tax on coal, were not charged. The seafront toll road led directly from Shoreham harbour. This helped to reduce the cost of transporting heavy building materials, such as Baltic timber, Welsh slate and Cornish stone. The site's convenient, semi-rural location had easy access to Brighton. It had views of the downs and was close to the popular Chalybeate Spa offered. The location was useful in marketing the project. It is not surprising that Brunswick Town proved to be one of the most successful of projects of its time. The first houses in Brunswick Terrace were ready in 1826 and much of the Terrace and Square was completed by 1834.

The architect Charles Busby produced drawings for the layout of the estate and the design and facades of the individual properties. Busby also produced the written building conditions. These specified the dimensions of all the timber, types of render, thickness of walls and types of materials. Busby insisted that only the highest quality materials could be used. For instance in his building conditions Busby stipulated "No timber to be used except Memel, Riga, Danzig, Red Pine or Oak." The new owner would be responsible for completing the building work. This cost represents his own financial investment in the scheme.

Charles Elliott was a speculator who bought 16, 17 and 19 Brunswick Square. There are annotations on the plan. These show that George William Sawyer agreed to build the house for him "for £3000 to be finished complete, prepared, painted with all drains, stores and pavements, the fixtures to be set at Mr Sawyer's expense." The final cost of many properties could be much higher than this. This depended on the choice of decorative features inside the house. For example, the amount of ornamental plasterwork, expensive paint, gilded finishings or wallpaper.

The name "Brunswick" was taken from House of Brunswick, a term sometimes used for the House of Hanover, the name of the British royal family at the time.

Brunswick Town was built as a collaborative project between the architect Charles Busby and the landowner, the Reverend Thomas Scutt. Construction started in 1824. The first houses were completed by 1826. Busby designed Brunswick Town as a long row of terraced houses facing the sea. In the middle point of this sea-facing terrace was a central square, which stretched back. This square was named Brunswick Square. The terraced houses, in Brunswick Terrace and in Brunswick Square, were built for the upper classes. They were designed as 'first-class' housing. Beyond these houses were 'second-class' houses in streets such as Waterloo Street.

The architect Charles Busby's grand scheme was not only housing, but a carefully planned Regency new-town. It had all the necessary infrastructure for the different social groups who would live there. Brunswick Square and Terrace were to be the focal point of the town, providing elegant, luxury houses with mews to the rear. Middle class housing was located in Waterloo Street and the Wick Road. The service streets, such as Brunswick Streets East and West provided working class accommodation. Shops were built in Market Street and Western Road. A large market building was also constructed. Social amenities were not overlooked and were part of the grand design. There were public baths and a chapel. There were public houses too. The Star of Brunswick public house for the working class and the Kerrison Arms Inn for the better-off.

The early 20th century saw the area of Brunswick Town enter decline. At the extreme eastern edge of Brunswick Terrace, on the border of Hove and Brighton, the modernist Embassy Court apartment block was completed in the 1930s, envisaged by local politicians as the beginning of a transformation of the entire seafront, which would have entailed the obliteration of Brunswick Terrace. By the late 1940s Brunswick Square itself had become so run-down that the Council was considering wholesale demolition and redevelopment with modern housing. These plans encountered strong local opposition, in particular through the founding of the Regency Society which fought successfully against the plans.

Brunswick Square and Brunswick Terrace have had a large number of prominent residents: Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, James Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan, the composer Roger Quilter, historian John Horace Round, writer Robin Maugham, artist Robert Bevan, financier Philip Salomons who built a Roof-top synagogue at 26 Brunswick Terrace, Admiral Sir George Augustus Westphal who served in over 100 actions and was wounded at Trafalgar on HMS Victory lived at No 2 Brunswick Square, Sir Winston Churchill was schooled in Hove in the Brunswick area between 1883 and 1885, Edward Carpenter the socialist poet, philosopher, anthologist and early gay activist.