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Retaining wall at north end of the street

I was going to include these drawings under the heading of Richmond Street but the engineers plans are marked ‘Claremont Place, north end’.

The Plans are dated April 1883 and are of the unique retaining wall & railings spanning the width of Richmond Street, the only other place in this area that I can recall this kind of structure was at the south end of Claremont Place by the Blue House pub (The Lion & Unicorn) at Sussex Street although that structure was not as impressive as the Richmond Street end.

You can see that the engineers drawings give a gradient of 1 in 5 to the upper part of Richmond Street.

View of structure from lower half of Richmond Street looking east
C. West via Brighton engineers dept.
Bird's eye view & elevation view
C. West via Brighton engineers dept.
Side view of the wall and gas lamp
C. West via Brighton engineers dept.

Comments about this page

  • I remember this structure well. I always assumed it was there to trap runaway carts. I also remember the one in Sussex Street because it was close to the Local Authority Dental Clinic where unmentionable things were done to my laughing tackle in my early (pre-fluoride) years.

    By Len Liechti (06/02/2011)
  • The wall you are thinking of was just outside the blue house. I remember a friend of mine coming down Sussex St in a four wheeler and missing the turn. and shooting over the top of the wall through the railings. How he never got killed I do not know.

    By john eaton (22/02/2011)

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