Summary
Former carriage lift shaft and winding mechanism built around 1875 to 1899 for Rock and Sons Carriage Manufacturers.
Reasons for Designation
The former carriage lift shaft and winding mechanism built around 1875 to 1899 for Rock and Sons Carriage Manufacturers, Hastings, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a rare, late-C19 lift shaft built for the vertical transport of horse-drawn carriages;
* for the retention of the cast iron winding gear to the upper storey including two, eight-spoke, cast iron gear wheels, a cranking shaft and a brake wheel.
Historic interest:
* along with former workshops of Rock and Sons Carriage Manufacturers at 40 and 41 White Rock, for which it was built, the carriage lift is illustrative of the way in which carriages were built, maintained and transported, during the later C19.
Group value:
* with the adjacent 40 and 41 White Rock, a former carriage works (NHLE entry 1043381; Grade II).
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.
St Michael’s Place, at the top of the White Rock cliffs, was developed in the early to mid-C19, primarily as mews with stabling facilities. The carriage lift was erected sometime between 1875 and 1899 to hoist carriages up and down between St Michael’s Place and the showroom and workshops of Rock and Sons Carriage Manufacturers at 40 and 41 White Rock, which was built in 1872 to designs by Jeffrey and Skiller.
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.
During the Second World War, the town 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.
By 1996, the lift areas (the uppermost and lowermost parts of the carriage lift) were in use as a garage with an internal timber staircase having been constructed within the lift shaft to connect St Michael’s Place with the rear yard of 40 and 41 White Rock, which had been developed as housing known as Carriage Court. The staircase was renovated in 2000 and again between 2007 and 2008, at which time a doorway and new external metal staircase were added on the eastern elevation of the lift shaft. The wall attached to the upper part of the structure carries a plaque describing the origins of the lift.
Details
Former carriage lift shaft and winding mechanism built around 1875 to 1899 for Rock and Sons Carriage Manufacturers.
MATERIALS: red brick below render, under a slate roof.
PLAN: the carriage shaft has access to the south side from the rear of White Rock at the ground floor level and from the north side onto St James Place, to the top storey.
EXTERIOR: the shaft is a rectangular structure that rises three storeys. The lower section is of brick laid in English bond and the middle and upper sections are rendered. The middle section has a flat finish and the upper is scored to imitate ashlar and is also flared at the base to carry away rainwater. The roof is hipped.
There are timber double doors at the base of the shaft to the south side and a corresponding set at the upper level facing north. A later C20 metal staircase is attached to the east elevation. It descends from St Michael’s Place to a C20, timber door.
INTERIOR: the building contains surviving machinery including a cast iron winding gear to the upper storey which is comprised of two, eight-spoke, 1.2m diameter cast iron gear wheels, a cranking shaft and a 0.6m diameter brake wheel. Beneath this upper level, a timber staircase leads down to the rear area of 40 and 41 White Rock.
