The Brunswick Estate - comprising Brunswick Square, Brunswick Terrace and Brunswick Place, and the…read moreimmediately surrounding streets, is one of the finest set-pieces of Regency architecture in Britain.
This huge development came about largely through just two men: the landowner, the Reverend Thomas Scutt, and the ambitious young architect Charles Augustin Busby. The estate was built largely as a speculative development, reaping the rewards of the European peace of 1815, which had revived the economy and led especially to investment in property.
Busby's plans for the new estate were not just about houses; he planned a complete Regency town, with different types of housing for different social classes, a church, market hall, town hall, two pubs (separate ones for the workers and the gentry, naturally) and public baths. It even had its own police and fire service.
Busby set out the design and specifications for the individual houses, including the building materials to be used, and it was then for the speculators to complete their construction. As well as its location close to the sea, it was close to the iron-rich springs in what is now St Ann's Well Gardens, which became a small but fashionable Spa. The main streets were named in honour of Caroline of Brunswick, wife of the Prince Regent, (later George IV).
As the landowner, Scutt's role was largely passive, since he stood to profit only from the sale of leases. But he cooperated with Busby in releasing the land in packets as required, helping to make the whole venture a great success. Built between 1826 and 1840, it helped Hove to develop as a fashionable counter-point to Brighton, being close enough for its inhabitants to enjoy its pleasures, while living in quieter and more select surroundings, which were then largely rural. This undoubtedly helped start the social rivalry between Brighton and Hove! Many were second home owners from London - starting another trend still evident today.
The architecture comprises three main set-pieces. The estate is centred on Brunswick Square, which runs from Western Road as a short avenue before broadening out into a rectangular square, the centre of which forms a small public park with flower beds, trees and lawns. On the sea front, it is flanked on either side by Brunswick Terrace, which has been extended on the west beyond the original symmetrical form, but in a sympathetic style. Brunswick Place, north of Western Road, was just outside the original estate, and added later in the same style.
Many of the houses have distinct rounded façades, with the terraces often grouped either side of a row of more formally classical designs, incorporating Corinithian and Ionic columns and pilasters. Shell and ammonite decoration is also used throughout. The western extension of Brunswick Terrace is more severe in its classical style, but still impressive. Many of the houses have balconies with cast-iron balustrades and all have matching cast-iron railings at street level.
Over the years, the houses have mostly been redeveloped into flats, many of which became run down. To preserve the architectural unity in 1976 an Act of Parliament was passed, which requires the owners to paint the houses every 5 years, and specifies the exact paint which they are to use! The warm, yellow colour is officially known as 'Hove Cream'.
One of the houses in Brunswick Square is now a museum: The Regency Town House is a grade 1 Listed terraced home of the mid-1820s, and is being developed as a heritage centre and museum to focus on the architecture and social history of Brighton & Hove between the 1780s and 1840s. (Advanced booking is required.)
Despite this, the interiors of many of the buildings are rather shabby, reflecting the difficulty of maintaining such buildings in good order. Another modern problem is the need for parking, and the streets are rather overwhelmed with parked cars (the UK having not yet adopted the rather clever continental practice of building underground car parks).
Nevertheless, this remains one of the most impressive pieces of early 19th century architecture in Britain.
