Notes and queries

Original query:
My partner and I both live at Wick Hall and very beautiful it is too. We are both interested in history and have heard that a Victorian country house once stood on the site where the present day Wick Hall now stands,and a Victorian boys prep school stood on the site where Furze Croft now stands.

Does anyone know where we could get pictures of these or does anyone have pictures? If anyone is interested in old country houses that are no longer extant, there is a wonderful book called The Destruction of the Country House, 1875-1975, produced by Sir Roy Strong, Marcus Binney and John Harris, published by Thames and Hudson.

Quite sad and heartbreaking to think how many lovely houses have been demolished over the years.

From Kenneth A. Skinner
Sent to website by e-mail on 20-08-03

Response 1:
I have been researching the history of Wick Hall and have found some great photos of this magnificent Victorian House built by a famous architect called Decimus Burton – who built the ornate Kew Palmhouse. This was commissioned by the entrepreneur Goldsmid (whose family and associates most of the local roads are named after) and stood on the site from 1840 until the early 1930’s before the current Wick Hall was built (1936 – the same year the Queen Mary liner was launched).

The house was demolished because the local council could not find a use for it – after considering using it for a museum when the owner sold the property to them.

I found this information at Hove Local History library and also the Encyclopedia of Hove (from City Books or Pavilion shop) – which has lots of detail on the farm and school buildings – the school stood close to the pond at St Anne’s Well gardens. The farm stood closer to Somerhill Road. There are some early prints at Brighton Museum showing the land around the ‘Temple’ (where Thomas Kemp lived, now the girls school) looking over the rough farm land where Wick Hall stands looking towards the newly built Brunswick Square.

Aerial photographs and old maps from Brighton Local History Library are also great sources – particularly for tracing the development of Wick Farm and the Chalybeate Spa.

From Lois Ellett
Sent to website by e-mail on 09-02-04

Comments about this page

  • What of the tales of a roof garden, ladies hairdresser and tea room in Wick Hall? I have lived there since 1999 and have heard these from many sources, but none that have been substantiated.

    By David Lilly (27/02/2004)
  • I have just found your information about Wick Hall. My Grandparents came to the old Wick Hall in about 1898 as coachman to Mrs Colman who was part of the Colman’s Mustard Family. I believe they lived over the stable, until the family bought a motor car in the early 1900s. They then sent my Grandparents to live along the seafront and eventually to live in No 3 Cowper Street. My Grandfather was considerd too old to drive a car. I would be interested in seeing a photo of the original buildings of Wick Hall

    By Frank Blake (17/11/2008)
  • How fascinating! Photos for old Wick Hall are on the Wick Hall website at http://www.wickhall.org.uk and photos for the Wick Farm buildings can be found at Hove Library local history section or at the truly amazing James Gray photographic website http://www.regencysociety-jamesgray.com/?

    By Lois Ellett (14/10/2009)
  • When my grandmother was three years old in 1923, her family moved into the Head Gardeners cottage in the grounds of Wick Hall Lodge in Furze Hill. The house had huge gardens, it was only used in the summer and, as long as they kept out of sight my nan and her brothers and sisters had the run of the gardens. I’m pretty sure that they may still have some old pictures.

    By Juliette Kirby (19/05/2011)
  • In the early 1960s I did the maintenance of all the Hoover cleaners in Wick Hall and Furze Croft. One of the peculiarities of the location was that many residents preferred to just use the power point in the hall so it became necessary to remove the standard 24 foot cable on the cleaners and replace it with a 36 foot length.

    By Roy Grant (30/08/2012)
  • My Grandfather was chauffeur to Miss Mary Melissa Hoadley Dodge of Wick Hall Hove.
    Miss Mary was a very generous soul and a kind person. Perhaps she was the last in residence before its final demise and sale.
    I don’t know how long he drove for her but it was to the end of her days, I believe I have comments in his diaries and pictures.

    By David Walker (26/09/2019)
  • My father was a uniformed porter at Wick Hall,in the fifties.

    By alan nitsche (25/07/2021)
  • My Grandmother was residing at ‘Wick Hall Garage’ in the 1921 Census, as was my Father, Uncle and Great Grandmother (Visitor). My Grandfather, who was not mentioned on the Census, was the
    chauffeur for Mr Colman (mustard), which may explain the residence there of his family. Does anyone have a photo or reference of the Garage, and would it have been the original stable ?

    By Doug Banks (06/01/2022)

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