History of Brighthelmston; or, Brighton as I View it and Others Knew It / With a Chronological Table of Local Events

by John Ackerson Erredge

The chief modern features on the Old Steine are the statue of George IV., the Fountain, and the Russian guns. The first was put up on the 11th of October, 1828. The idea of its erection originated with a party of tradesmen, who were accustomed to assemble nightly at the King’s Arms, George Street; but a subscription which remained open for more than eight years and a half did not provide the sum, £3,000, agreed to be paid Chantry for his artistic skill. The Fountain, known as the Victoria Fountain, was also erected by subscription, procured through the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Cordy Burrows, to whom also the credit is due for the planting of the Steines with flowers and trees. The Fountain was inaugurated on the 25th of May, 1846. The design of the structure was furnished by Mr. Henry Wilds, the model of the dolphins by Mr. William Pepper, and the ironwork was cast at the Eagle Foundry. The rock-work upon which the dolphins rest is formed of huge sand-stones, called in Wiltshire and Berkshire, “Grey Weathers,” and breccia, or pudding-stone, which for lengthened periods had lain in Goldstone Bottom, on the Dyke Road, and fields adjacent, by many persons considered to be the remains of Druidical temples or altars. But such a notion must be fallacious, as, at a very recent date, similar accumulations of sand-stone have been dug up about the western part of Brighton, where the soil exhibits many irregularities which geologists are unable to account for. An instance of this occurred in digging out the ground for the foundation of the tower of All Saints’ Church, Buckingham Place, the soil to a considerable depth at one particular spot, being so loose and treacherous that great ingenuity and care had to be observed—attended with great expense,—by Messrs. Cheesman and Son, the builders, to make the foundation secure. A stone also, of the character termed Druidical cromlech, was dug out while preparing for the foundation of the present Brighton Workhouse, and was used for the corner stone of the building. In excavating the ground likewise, in 1823, for laying in the gas-pipes across the Steine, from Castle Square to the corner of the Marine Parade, huge unshapen blocks of a like character were turned up. The last memento on the Steine, the Russian guns, are relics of the siege of Sebastopol.

The old maps shew a piece of water on the Steine, between the Castle Tavern and the Pavilion, formed by the spring which rose at Patcham and used to flow by the Pool—Pool Valley. In the year 1793, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Marlborough, whose house stood at the north end of the Marine Pavilion, made an arched sewer along the Steine, to carry away this water into the sea, and, in consideration of the expense and improvement, the Lords of the Manor, with consent of the homage, gave his Royal Highness and the Duke permission to rail in or enclose a certain portion of the Steine, adjoining their houses respectively, but never to build on or encumber it with any thing that might obstruct the prospect, or in any other way be a nuisance to the Steine. A barn which stood at this spot, the property of Mr. Howell, as shewn in the view of the Steine, 1765, was moved, at the request of the Prince of Wales, to the top of Church Street, into the field whereon also stood the Infantry Barracks Hospital, a wooden building that occupied the site of the Hanover Chapel Burial Ground. There were two main entrances to the sewer. One was about the centre of the road,—along which the water channel ran,—opposite the Pavilion Parade; and the other was in the roadway immediately to the east of the entrance to Castle Square from the Steine. Each was protected by a wooden railing in a triangular form. The sewer discharged itself by means of a square wooden trunk at the back of Williams’s Baths, now the south front of the Lion Mansion.

In 1785–6, the first houses on the South Parade, the east side of the Steine south of St. James’s Street, began to be erected, and in a few years the whole of them, as well as the extensive range of buildings which forms the North Parade, were completed.

Mrs. Fitzherbert’s mansion, now the residence of W. Furner, Esq., the Judge of the County Court of this district, adjoining the present mansion of Captain Thellusson, was built in 1804. On the site now occupied by the square block of buildings that form the north-east corner of Castle Square, about forty years since, stood the Castle Tavern, which had been one of the chief rendezvous of royalty, the nobility, and the gentry. It was originally a very small house, but being considered the best in the town for a tavern, it was purchased by Mr. Shergold, who opened it under the sign of the Castle, in 1755. Such was its success, in consequence of the increase of visitors to the town, that, in 1776, Messrs. Tilt and Best joined him in partnership, and the premises were greatly extended. In 1790, the other parties having given up the business, Mr. Tilt carried on the undertaking, and he was succeeded by his widow. In 1814, Messrs. Gilburd and Harryett became the proprietors. It attained the acme of its celebrity when in the hands of Mr. Tilt, who attached to the establishment an elegant suite of Assembly and Concert Rooms, built with great taste and judgment by Mr. Crunden, of Park Street, London, in 1776. The Ball Room was rectangular, 80 feet by 40 feet, with recesses at each end and side, 16 feet by 4 feet, decorated with columns corresponding with the pilasters which were continued round the room, dividing the sides and ends into a variety of compartments, ornamented with paintings from the Admirander and the Vatican, representing a portion of the story of Cupid and Psyche, and the Aldrobrandini marriage; with air-nymphs and divers other figures, in the ancient grotesque style. The ceiling was curved, and formed an arch of one fifth of the height of the room, which was 35 feet. Over the entablature, at each end of the room, was a large painting; the one a representation of Aurora, and the other a figure of Nox. In 1814, a beautifully toned organ by Flight and Robson was erected at the north end of the room.

In the season, from August to March, Assemblies were held every Monday. These were under the management of Masters of the Ceremonies, the first of whom were, in 1805, Mr. Yart at the Old Ship, and Mr. William Wade at the Castle. They were succeeded by Mr. J. S. Forth, in 1808. He acted in the same capacity at the Old Ship and the Castle Assemblies. Lieut.-Col. Eld succeeded Mr. Forth, and at his decease, December 22nd, 1855, the office fell into disuse; in fact, for some years previous to the decease of the Colonel his services were rarely required, the progress of the age having rendered such an office null and void. The duties of the Masters of the Ceremonies consisted in watching minutely the arrival of the nobility and gentry. For this purpose he attended the Libraries and Hotels regularly once or more a-day to copy the lists of the latest visitors, at whose addresses he then called and left his card, a hint that they should enter their names in his book, which lay at the principal places of fashionable resort, and with each entry deposit a guinea with the custodian of the M.C.’s book, who received a per centage for his trouble and attention. The payment of the fee ensured a mutual recognition upon all occasions of meeting between the giver and the receiver during that visit of the donor at Brighton, and, on the occasions of balls and assemblies, he was expected to make all the necessary arrangements, and for dances provide all unprovided ladies and gentlemen with partners. Masters of the Ceremonies originated at a period when balls and routs terminated at ten o’clock in the evening, when “We won’t go home till morning,” had not come into vogue, but the sedan chair of “my lady” was in punctual attendance, and the fair burden was wafted home to admit of repose before midnight, and to give the sterner sex an opportunity for a carouse or a spree.

The following is an extract from a private diary:—“July 30th, 1805. This evening, at nine o’clock, the first assembly of the season, the Grand Rose Ball, was held at the Castle Inn, under the patronage of the Prince of Wales. The Ball Room is large, lofty, and noble, and commands a full view of the Steyne; looks, also, into the Pavilion Gardens, the beautiful shrubberies of which are worthy of the Royal resident. The ceiling forms an arch, and is painted to represent the rising sun. Every part of the room is ornamented with various masterly paintings of classical antiquity. It was lighted up in a superior style, suited to the dignity of the guests, with three cut-glass chandeliers, 100 lights, and forty lustres and side-lights. The Prince entered the room at half-past nine, and at ten o’clock the Ball opened.”

During the erection of the Royal Stables, in Church Street, in 1809, a carpenter, who lived in Jew Street, named John Butcher, uncle to Mr. Butcher, of the present firm, Messrs. Cheesman and Butcher, chinamen, North Street, accidentally fell and injured himself. Upon his recovery, not being able to resume the heavy work of his trade, he constructed a machine of a similar make to the sedan chair, and placed it upon four wheels. It was drawn by hand, in the same manner as Bath chairs, while an assistant, when the person being conveyed was heavy, pushed behind. Its introduction was quite a favourite feature amongst the nobility, and a second fly, in consequence, was soon constructed. These two vehicles were extensively patronized by the Prince of Wales and his noble companions; and from being employed by them on special occasions of a midnight “lark,” they received the name of “Fly-by-nights,” and soon entirely superseded sedan-chairs, except for invalids on their conveyance to and from the Baths. Butcher, from the great success which attended his project, being desirous that his flys should have a more elegant appearance than his ability in the ornamental could effect, sent one of them, for the purpose of being repainted and varnished, to Mr. Blaker, coach-maker, Regent Street, and he, having an eye to business, purloined the design, and improved upon it by making two or three to be drawn by horses. The most remarkable vehicle of this description, for the conveyance of one passenger only, was that made for Mr. George Battcock, surgeon, who died on the 3rd of February last. It was called Dr. Battcock’s “Pill Box.”

When George IV. expressed a desire of converting the Castle Assembly Room into a Chapel to be attached to the Royal Pavilion, the fee simple of it was transferred to his Majesty, and as a tavern attached to a place of divine worship would be a great incongruity, the transfer of the license of the Castle was made to premises in Steine Place, the Royal York Hotel, so designated in reference to the Royal Duke, Frederick, whose permission for the name was applied for and obtained from his Royal Highness. The house was opened by Mr. Sheppard.

The Royal Albion Hotel, which has so conspicuous a position to the south of the Steine, occupies the spot whereon formerly stood Russell House, once the residence of Dr. Russell, and afterwards of the Duke of Cumberland. In 1805, it was the residence of Miss Johnson. It stood abruptly to the sea, the waves in stormy weather laving the brick boundary wall to the south. Immediately under its east wall was Haines’s Repository for toys, where, too, was also an apartment in which were exhibited the wonders of the Camera Obscura. The Junction Road now occupies the site; it was a favourite lounge with visitors. The latter years of Russell House were of a remarkable character, some portion of it being devoted by its owner, Mr. John Colbatch, to copper-plate printing; while in the largest apartment the wonders of Khia Khan Khruse, the chief of the Indian Jugglers, were exhibited, in the Autumn of 1822. The building eventually had a most neglected appearance, and was pulled down. The purchase of the space then was contemplated by the town, in order to keep open the southern extremity of the Steine to the sea. Mr. Colbatch required £6,000 for it, a sum which the Town Commissioners assented to give; but after numerous delays the bargain was off, and soon the present noble building rose to shut out the southern aspect from the Steine.

In 1792, during the Revolution which deluged France in its own blood, there was a great influx of refugees from Dieppe to Brighton, to escape the savage and unrelenting fury of their persecutors. On the 29th of August, that year, the Marchioness of Beaule landed at the bottom of the Steine, having paid two hundred guineas at Dieppe, for her passage across, and even then she was under the necessity of appearing in the dress of a sailor, and as such she assisted the crew during the whole voyage, not only to disguise herself, but in order to bring with her, undiscovered, a favourite female, whom she conveyed on board in a trunk, in which holes were bored to give her air. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, with Mrs. Fitzherbert and Miss Isabella Pigot, received them on landing, and the Prince escorted them to the Earl of Clermont’s, where tea was provided for His Royal Highness and twenty of his friends. On the 20th of September, two packets landed several persons of distinction, amongst whom were the Archbishop of Aix, and Count Bridges, one of the household of the hapless Louis XVI. Many priests were amongst the refugees, for the relief of whom subscriptions to a considerable amount were made, for the purpose of relieving their immediate necessities, and to enable them to pursue their journey to London. On Wednesday, October 20th, thirty-seven nuns, in the habit of their order, were landed near Shoreham from the Prince of Wales packet, commanded by Captain Burton. Their destination was Brussels, where a convent was being prepared for them. It had been intended that they should disembark at Brighton, but the roughness of the sea prevented it. Captain Burton’s daughter was married to Mr. William Wigney, a north countryman, who had then recently settled in Brighton, in North Street, where he kept a linen-draper’s shop. The house,—which he purchased of Lord Leslie, afterwards Lord Rother, who married Henrietta Ann, daughter of the first Earl of Chichester,—he paid for in French money, which he had received in exchange for English coin from the refugees brought over by his father-in-law. It is related of him that he was not over scrupulous in the way of business, of passing half-franc pieces for sixpences to the unwary. He was afterwards the head of the firm of Messrs. Wigney, Rickman, and Co., bankers, Steine Lane.