Summary
Commercial building, built as part of a terrace between 1850 and 1859 to the designs of CF Reeks and AJ Humbert for Patrick Robertson, MP, of Hastings and provided with an Art Deco shopfront and interior around 1924.
Reasons for Designation
21 Robertson Street, a commercial building built as part of a terrace between 1850 and 1859 to the designs of CF Reeks and AJ Humbert for Patrick Robertson, MP, of Hastings and provided with an Art Deco shopfront and interior around 1924, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a good example of a commercial building dating from the mid-C19;
* for the quality of the 1924, Art-Nouveau shop front and interior, which is little altered.
Historic interest:
* as part of the grand scheme of terraces and municipal buildings by CF Reeks and AJ Humbert, located across Robertson Street, Carlisle Parade and Robertson Terrace, developed by Patrick Robertson and collectively known as Trinity Triangle.
Group value:
* as one of the listed buildings within Trinity Triangle which contribute to the character of this part of Hastings.
History
The town of Hastings has been a strategic point of defence from invasion since the medieval period and a protective wall was erected in the early 1300s. In 1337 the town was twice attacked by the French and badly damaged. Up until around 1800, there were two main streets (High Street and All Saints Street), both of which were inside the defences. The threat from France continued throughout the early 1800s and the Duke of Wellington commanded a garrison of around 12,000 troops from a headquarters in the High Street. Nevertheless, by around 1794, Hastings began to develop as a seaside resort with the publication of a printed guidebook and the development of Marine Parade.
In the mid-C19, Patrick Robertson (1807-1885) leased the crown lands of the town for 99 years at a rate of £500 per year. In 1850 he commenced construction of a grand scheme of terraces and municipal buildings, located across Robertson Street, Carlisle Parade and Robertson Terrace, collectively known as Trinity Triangle. The railway arrived in the same year and during the C19, the population of Hastings grew from around 3,000 to 65,000.
Robertson employed Charles Frederick Reeks (1821-1908) and Albert Jenkins Humbert (1821-1877), Crown architects, to design the new shopping parades. Today, most of the buildings within the Trinity Triangle date from this initial phase of development carried out between 1850 and the early 1860s with some later infill and replacements. The terrace on the south side of Robertson Street, of which number 21 forms a part, was constructed during the initial phase of development, between 1850 and 1859. Around 1924 the building was given a new timber and glazed shopfront and interior decoration in the Art-Nouveau style.
During the Second World War, Hastings was bombed several times resulting in the death of around 154 people and the damage or total destruction of some 15,000 buildings. Post-war, the town remained a popular holiday destination until the advent of cheap foreign travel in the later C20. Falling visitor numbers were exacerbated by the decline of the town’s small trades and industries.
The upper floors of 21 Robertson Street were converted into separate flats in the late 1980s. The ground floor retail unit has been in use as a bar and restaurant since approximately 1996.
Details
Commercial building, built as part of a terrace between 1850 and 1859 to the designs of CF Reeks and AJ Humbert for Patrick Robertson, MP, of Hastings and provided with an Art Deco shopfront and interior around 1924.
PLAN: shop to the ground floor with accommodation on the three upper floors.
MATERIALS: stuccoed principal elevation with a timber and glazed shopfront. Brown brick to the rear elevation, all under a tile roof.
EXTERIOR: the shopfront is designed in the Art Nouveau style and has a moulded fascia above a curved window with sinuous wooden pilasters to the left side. To the right side, there is a narrow, curved shopfront containing shelving. Both sides of the shopfront have marble stall risers. The setback doorcase has rococo-style floral motifs to the door and a square fanlight. There is a mosaic floor to the entrance porch, consisting of a turquoise plain tile within a chequered boundary. At the top of the shopfront, there is a roller shutter.
The upper floors each have two, four-pane sash windows with enriched window surrounds. The windows at the first- and second-floor levels carry cornices. There is a modillioned cornice at eaves level.
INTERIOR: the ceiling of the ground-floor shop unit has a sunburst design and ovolo moulding. There are two curved shelves with anthemion motifs on the right side wall.
