Details
BRIGHTON
TQ3303NW LEWES CRESCENT
577-1/50/372 (West side)
13/10/52 Nos.1-14 (Consecutive)
and attached railings
I
Terraced houses. Facades completed between 1823 and 1828.
Designed by Amon Wilds and Charles Augustin Busby for the
developer Thomas Read Kemp; the builder Thomas Cubitt is known
to have erected 10 houses of the total number in Lewes
Crescent. Stucco and painted brick or mathematical tiles in
Flemish bond. The roof of Nos 5-9 and 14 of slate, the rest
obscured by blocking course.
EXTERIOR: 3 storeys and attic over basement except for No.7
which has an extra storey added in the C20 and for Nos 5, 6
and 9 which are 3 storeys with 3 segmental-arched dormers
each. 3 windows each, except for Nos 1 and 14, the end units,
which have 6 windows each. On the west and east (qv) the 2
halves of Lewes Crescent are laid out as arcs forming the
debouchment of Sussex Square (qv) to the north, and acting as
transitions to Chichester and Arundel Places (qv) to the
south; to accommodate the transition to the adjacent terraces
the end units, Nos 1 and 14, are quite noticeably curved and
larger than the rest.
Beginning with No.1 every third unit (that is, Nos 1, 4, 7, 10
and 13) projects and is treated as a giant tetrastyle
pilastrade of the Composite order applied to the first and
second floors; there is a plain pilastrade to attic storey on
axis with that below. The bay units are wider and taller than
those without pilasters. Common features help to give the
group a unified appearance. Among these are: ground floor of
banded rustication; French doors opening onto a first-floor
balcony with cast-iron brackets and railings; storey bands,
interrupted by pilasters, between first and second floor;
entablature with projecting cornice, the upper fascia of which
is level with the sill of the attic windows; diminutive
entablature and blocking course to attic; all openings flat
arched, those to ground and second floors with projecting
sills; stucco to ground floor.
Entrances reached by stairs up to a broad landing on Nos 2-4,
7, 8, 10, 11 and 13. The rest are entered by a landing which
is level with the street. The entrances to Nos 3-4, 7-8 and
10-11 are, in addition, paired. All entrances have overlights;
those to Nos 7-10 are set in a rusticated aedicule which is a
continuation of the ground floor of the adjacent unit. The
long elevation has many broken joins to negotiate the level
change. The entrances to the end units, Nos 1 and 14, are more
elaborate than the rest. The door of No.1 has side- and
overlights and is set under a prostyle porch consisting of
fluted Doric columns and an entablature; its sides are filled
with a wall that stops just short of each column and
terminates in antae; each wall is pierced by a window; on top
is a verandah with a metal roof with dripboards supported by
cast-iron railings and stanchions. Porch to No.14 is of nearly
the same design except that the side walls are not pierced and
are without responds. 4-panel, studded double doors to Nos 1
and 12, a 4-panel door to No.2 and 6-panel, studded double
doors to Nos 13 and 14, all of original design.
Sashes of original design to basement of Nos 1-4, 6-8, 12 and
13, 3 x 6; to basement of Nos 9 and 11, 6 x 6; to ground floor
of No.1, first- and third-window range, 4 x 4; to second floor
of No.9, 6 x 6; to attic of Nos 10 and 13, 3 x 3. Composite
capitals are missing from the pilasters of No.7, where the
section of cornice below each attic window has been removed to
increase the window size; the latter alteration was also made
to the attic windows of No.2.
INTERIOR: not inspected.
HISTORICAL NOTE: the terrace has been home to many notable
figures. Thomas Cubitt, the noted builder who worked on the
development of Kemp Town, lived at No.13 from 1846 to 1853.
His residence is commemorated by a blue plaque to the left of
the entrance. Fife House, No.1 Lewes Crescent, together with
14 Chichester Terrace was the residence of the 6th Duke of
Devonshire from 1828 to 1858. Between 1896 and 1924, No.1 was
also the home of Princess Louise, daughter of Edward VII, and
her husband, the Duke of Fife. Edward VII stayed here during
his convalescence in 1908.
Kemp Town constitutes a most important group comprising
Arundel Terrace, Chichester Terrace, Lewes Crescent, Sussex
Square and related structures.
(Carder T: The Encyclopaedia of Brighton: Lewes: 1990-: 81D).
Listing NGR: TQ3306103555
