Summary
Winter Garden (Floral and Pavilion Hall) of 1875 to 1876, by Henry Currey architect to the Devonshire Estate, with alterations and additions of around 1910 by J W Woolnough and further functional alterations throughout the later C20.
Reasons for Designation
The Winter Garden (Floral and Pavilion Hall) of 1875 to 1876, by Henry Currey architect to the Devonshire Estate, with alterations and additions of around 1910 by J W Woolnough and further functional alterations throughout the later C20, is listed at Grade II, for the following reasons:
Architectural Interest:
* for the innovative use of the patented, tubular framed roof by Fletcher and Lowndess, which is clad with etched zinc panels by the Vieille Montague Company of Belgium;
* as a good example of the work of the eminent architect H Currey, who designed a number of other entertainment buildings and seaside infrastructure in Eastbourne as part of the town's planned development by Lord Devonshire;
* although the 1910 alterations by J Woolnough and the 1960s refacing of the entrance block have impacted on the purity of the original design, the Edwardian Baroque park elevation and internal plasterwork are of good quality.
Historic Interest:
* as a rare surviving seaside Victorian winter garden, which falls in between the cast-iron and glass houses of the mid C19 and the more traditionaly constructed buildings of the early C20;
* the winter gardens has been at the forefront of tourist development in Eastboune, since the late C19 and has greatly assisted in making the town one of England's premier south coast, seaside resorts.
Group Value:
* with the Devonshire Park Theatre (NHLE reference 1043618) also by Currey and the former manager's house for the Devonshire Park and Bath Company (NHLE reference 1390565), both listed at Grade II.
History
Winter gardens were introduced to seaside and spa resorts during the later C19, inspired by Decimus Burton’s Palm House at Kew of 1848, and Joseph Paxton’s Great Exhibition building of 1851. They were designed to provide respectable indoor meeting and entertainment spaces where a pleasant and clement environment could be provided for visitors and exotic plants, without recourse to the exigencies of British weather. From 1870, they were realised across English seaside resorts, primarily funded by local 'small stock' companies. Generally, they were not a success, with a number going out of business after only a few years of operation and by the 1930s, most winter gardens had been demolished. Some were elaborate hot-house type buildings consisting of a glass-covered cast iron frame, such as at Great Yarmouth (originally erected at Torquay) of 1881, relocated in 1903, which retains its tiered glass elevations and central lantern, and is listed at Grade II* (NHLE reference 1271608). Others such as at Bournemouth (demolished) were more traditionally constructed and had classical facades.
The winter garden at Eastbourne was designed around 1874, by H Currey (1820-1900). It was funded by Lord Devonshire and is located adjacent to his Devonshire Park, which was created to house a cricket pitch around 1874. The entertainment buildings followed and the first to be built was the winter garden with its northern elevation facing the park. It was formed of two distinct elements back to back; the Floral Hall (1875) and the Pavilion Hall (1876). The plan of the Floral Hall allowed for a double-height skating rink of 50 x 18m with asphalt floor and changing rooms to the park side. The Pavilion Hall was two-storey with a refreshment room, four billiard rooms and toilets to the ground floor and a concert hall to the first floor. The roof structure by Fletcher and Lowndess was formed of of semi-circular tubes, driven together rather than screwed and then infilled with etched or glass panels by the Vieille Montague Company of Belgium. The decorative cast iron frame was designed to be largely exposed. It consisted of cast iron columns and ventilators of varying heights, decorated with cresting and vanes, supplied by Messrs McFarlane and Co. The building contractor was James Hayward and the estimated cost of the building was £12,000-16,000.
H Currey was a prolific and successful architect. He was initially articled to Decimus Burton (1800–1881) and later moved to the office of William Cubitt (1791–1863). Currey was elected an associate of the Institute of British Architects (RIBA) on 20 November 1848, achieving fellowship in 1856. He was a member of Council for many years and served as Vice President on two occasions: 1874–77 and 1889–93. He was also a Fellow of the Surveyors' Institution and an Associate of the Institution of Civil Engineers from 1848. During his early career he specialised in hospital buildings and was a proponent of the pavilion plan. His designs included the well-regarded St Thomas's Hospital, London (built 1868-71), a bold and ambitious architectural set-piece which exploited to the full its riverside setting opposite Westminster Palace in the manner of a series of Venetian palazzi. His practice expanded its scope to include entertainment buildings and alongside the winter garden at Eastbourne, he designed the Buxton thermal baths and pump room of 1875, both of which are classical designs and listed at Grade II (NHLE references 1257910 and 1257920). His parallel work at Eastbourne included the sea walls and terraces, sundry houses, hotels, and the Grade II-listed Park Theatre (NHLE reference 1043618), which along with the winter garden, formed the core of the Devonshire Park entertainment complex.
By 1881 a number of changes had been made to the winter garden at Eastbourne. The road entrance was opened up to either side to create a 'porte cochere' and the flat roof above was replaced with two, pitched roofs. Internally the Floral Hall was reimagined as a theatre space and a proscenium arch and stage were added. The windows to the side elevations of the Pavilion Hall were later infilled.
Around 1910, the local architect J W Woolnough, was commissioned to further develop the building. Externally his design introduced a more 'Beaux-Arts' character to the roofscape with Edwardian baroque detailing for the park elevation, where he added a central projecting dome with a classical portico. Internally this allowed for a larger stage in the Floral Hall with dressing rooms. A grand staircase from the entrance foyer down to the Floral Hall was added and refreshment bars were created at either end of the lower foyer, one for the sale of alcohol and one to be used as a tea room. There was also alterations to the Floral Hall roof where a Woolnough designed mechanism that allowed for the opening of windows situated around around the entire circumference. The motors that drove this mechanism were removed in 2004. A new apse was created to the west end of the Floral Hall, mirroring the 1875 apse to the eastern end. The iron columns that were removed when the new stage was constructed were repurposed in the new apse, augmented by replica wooden pillars. Other cast iron columns were over-clad with plaster ornamentation as part of a new interior scheme by Boenbinder of London. Woolnough worked locally and is known to have also designed the Devonshire Park bandstand. He is represented on the list at Grade II by the former Caffyns motor car garage and showroom in Eastbourne of 1911, an ebullient Free Classical design (NHLE reference 1393288, listed at Grade II).
By 1931 the road-side 'porte cochere' was fitted with doors and the enclosed area became a foyer. Alterations included the rearrangement of the lobby stairs and the addition of partition screens. The road entrance was remodelled again around 1964, when the pitched roofs above the entrance were removed, offices were introduced on the first floor and the fenestration largely replaced with metal framed windows, set into obscured glass walling.
A number of subsidiary fire exits and rooms have since been added to either side of the original Pavilion Hall and to either side of the Floral Hall park entrance. A bar with rooflight has been added to the east side. The Floral Hall is now connected by an atrium at ground floor level to the adjacent theatre to the west. The distinctive hall roofs have been over clad with metal panels to a similar design. The original panels are thought to survive intact, but with some alteration of around 1910.
Details
Winter Garden (Floral and Pavilion Hall) of 1875 to 1876, by Henry Currey architect to the Devonshire Estate, with alterations and additions of around 1910 by J W Woolnough and further alterations throughout the later C20.
MATERIALS: cast iron frame with matchboard infill under roofs clad with zinc panels (covered over by a C20, metal roof). The 1910 park side addition is in stuccoed brick and the later alterations to the road side have metal-framed windows within obscured, glazed walling.
PLAN: the building primarily consists of two, large, back to back halls, fronted by an entrance block, which faces south onto the road.
EXTERIOR: the entrance block is two-storey under a flat roof and projects to the centre either side of stepped wings. The ground floor to the centre, has two sets of multi-pane entrance doors set within a rendered wall with a moulded cornice, above which are, regular casement windows set within glazed walling, under a plain fascia. The ground floor of the left-side wing is clad in horizontal timber cladding and the first floor has casement windows set within glazed walling. To the ground floor of the right-side wing, the cast-iron frame is visible. It has chamfered columns rising to gothic capitals, connected horizontally by a band with circular mouldings. The windows are multi-pane and set within timber panels. The first floor has casement windows set within glazed walling. Further to the right there is a single storey, early C20, brick structure faced with flint panels. It has high-set multi-pane windows under broad segmental arches with moulded keystones, that rise to join a cornice. There are a pair of pedestrian entrances to the west end, which have wrought-iron gates, and round-headed brick arches with moulded keystones.
The curved mansard-type roof of the Pavilion Hall rises above the rear of the entrance block and is clad with coursed metal panels. The top has a squat central tower (ventilator), which is square and timer panelled, with cast iron decorative cresting and flagpoles. The side elevations have a visible cast iron frame with decorative mouldings, infilled with timber boarding.
The rear elevation is fronted by a tri-domed centrepiece, with a backdrop of the curved roof of the Floral Hall. It dates from 1910 and is Edwardian baroque in style with Beaux-Arts influence, particularly to the roof shape and dormers. The centrepiece projects forward of flanking wings, all under a dentil cornice. It has a broken pediment supported by paired Ionic columns flanked by scrolls, with a decorative bracket to the tympanum and a segmental window below. Further below, there are four bays of tall, multi-pane windows, delineated by paired Ionic columns. The flanking wings have multi-pane circular windows, which have a decorative keystone, swags and a frieze. They continue to the return and are delineated by Ionic pilasters. The roof has a large central dome, with smaller domes to each wing. The central dome has a semi-circular ring of lunettes in decorative architraves. The side domes are ribbed, framing button-shaped mouldings, and have central finials. Either side of the centrepiece the ground floor has multi-pane transom windows interspersed with French windows, which follow the curve of the original rear hall. To the right-hand side there is an early C20 porch entrance with multi-pane doors flanked by coupled Ionic columns under a dentil cornice. There are a number of later C20 additions including a garage and fire escape.
The roof of the Floral Hall is clad in coursed metal panels and is hemispherical at each end. The top has two, squat towers (ventilators) which are square and timber panelled, with cast iron decorative cresting and flagpoles.
INTERIOR. the entrance block has a foyer to the ground floor with former offices and ticket booths above. In the centre of the building the Pavilion Hall has a large conference room to the first floor and an open bar area with ancillary rooms below. The Floral Hall is a double-height single-storey space, fitted out as a theatre with a stage to the rear, flanked by dressing rooms.
The entrance block foyer and stairs (altered around 1910) are Edwardian baroque in style, and decorated with Ionic pilasters, swags and egg and dart mouldings. The floor is of tessellated black and white marble, with a black string and buff coloured border. The former offices and ticket booths to the first floor have been removed, leaving one large space across the front of the building at first floor level, where the cast-iron frame of the building is exposed. The office access stairs have moulded timber balusters and newel posts.
Within the foyer, the main stairs are white marble, and descend under a glazed gallery to the level of the Floral Hall. The side stairs rise to the first floor, passing panelled doors with former ticket window openings. The first floor of the Pavilion Hall is entered through four pairs of multi-pane timber doors in round-headed classical doorcases. The hall at this level, is a single open space with classical wall detailing, including regular Ionic pilasters supporting brackets, which are engaged with a cornice. The visible bow girder roof is formed of decorated zinc panels. The flooring is covered in parquet blocks.
Under the Pavilion Hall there are three aisles formed by arcades of cast iron columns with stylised capitals. The middle aisle has a multi-pane, glazed screen, which has Art-Deco glazed doors, with late-C20 handles. Towards the centre of the screen there is a timber plaque commemorating the purchase of the winter garden by the Eastbourne Corporation in 1931. The toilets entrances at this level have classical, round-headed doorcases. To the east end there is a late C20 bar area with a lantern roof.
The Floral Hall has an encircling outer ambulatory aisle of cast-iron columns, which are decorated with lion head mouldings and engaged with a cornice. The floor is timber planked. The roof is open and is supported by iron ribs tensioned by steel rods and cross members. The apses and central bays have Y-girders, the latter supporting a proscenium arch of around 1910. The arch is decorated with swags, lion heads and a central shell cartouche. Behind the stage there are dressing rooms with typical, early C20 fixtures and fittings.
