Regency Square conservation area

Please note that this text is an extract from a reference work written in 1990.  As a result, some of the content may not reflect recent research, changes and events.

This outstanding conservation area, which stretches westwards from the Grand Hotel to the borough boundary, was developed principally in the 1810s and ’20s, and contains some of the finest examples of Brighton’s famous Regency architecture. However, the district of around 2,500 people now has many housing problems with its many multiply-occupied houses and bed-sits. The streets of particular interest in the area are detailed below, but see also “Bedford Hotel“, “Grand Hotel“, “King’s Road“, “Lower Esplanade“, “Metropole“, “Norfolk Hotel“, “West Pier“, and “Western Road“.

t) WESTERN STREET: A wide road where the bow-fronted and verandahed no.5, and no.31 with its original shop-front, are listed buildings of about 1820. Embassy Court was the first modern high-rise block of flats in the town and is listed for its architectural interest; see “King’s Road“. The large vacant area on the Hove side of Western Street was the site of Golden Lane and is scheduled for a mixed redevelopment. It was once a densely populated area of tenements and beer shops, with the inhabitants involved principally in brick making.

Any numerical cross-references in the text above refer to resources in the Sources and Bibliography section of the Encyclopaedia of Brighton by Tim Carder.

Comments about this page

  • My GGGG Grandfather John Private and his wife Jane and two of his sons, Philip and James were recorded as living in 1 Western Street in 1841. The family were in the brick making trade

    By Mike Strudwick (13/01/2008)
  • In the 1880s my great great grandfather (Thomas Petherick Allen), his wife (Mary Jane) and their children lived in 5 Western Street (the first picture above). He was a jobmaster and had several stables in the area but the closest was Norfolk Mews.

    By Maggie Kane (19/07/2009)
  • My father owned the Norfolk café in Western Street [no.23] in the 1940s. There was a brewery opposite it. I remember there was a blacksmiths at the top of street where they shoed horses.

    By D Hannaford (26/12/2013)
  • My mother and father, were landlords of the Western Star, 16 Western Street, from the 40s to the 70s, bringing up four boys.

    By Dudley Templeman (18/01/2017)
  • To Dudley. My husband Ray and I used to drink in the Western Star during the ’60s and Ray played darts for the pub too. We both knew your mum and dad, your dad’s name was Bert if my memory is correct and your mum Sally? I loved your jukebox and never saw another like it anywhere else, I’d love to see any photos of the Western Star but can’t find any so far.

    By Marion Goodwin (17/09/2017)

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