The Clarence Hotel and Attached Railings

Details

BRIGHTON

TQ3104SW NORTH STREET
577-1/40/601 (South side)
20/08/71 Nos.30 AND 31
The Clarence Hotel and attached
railings

II

Inn, now offices. 1785, extended in 1811; restored c1990, when
Georgian Revival shop front inserted at left party wall.
Painted mathematical tiles simulating Flemish bond; stucco
cement dressings. Hipped roof of tile.
EXTERIOR: 4 storeys over basement. 8-window range. Steps up to
a broad, round-arched entrance, its fanlight filled with
decorative glazing bars and its jambs treated as Tuscan
pilasters. The stairs, landing and entrance are set under a
prostyle porch consisting of a pair of Tuscan columns,
responds, and entablature with deep projecting cornice. The
top of the porch is enclosed by cast-iron railings to form a
balcony. The entrance is set in the 4th-window range. To the
left of it late C20 shop front set behind distyle in antis
aedicule; the location and scale of the shop balances the
carriageway on the other side of the entrance porch. A single
window between the entrance and shop; like the rest it is
camber arched with a projecting sill. 2 windows to the right
of the entrance. Although the window ranges and features align
vertically, window ranges one to 5 are more widely spaced than
the rest, an irregularity which marks the original and 1785
building from the addition of 1811. In addition the heights of
the second and third floors gradually diminish, the latter
approaching the proportions of an attic storey. A modillioned
cornice runs across the entire elevation and supports shallow,
guttered eaves. Brick stacks to party walls and another
between the 6th- and 7th-window ranges. Areas to either side
of the entrance are enclosed by cast-iron railings. Repair
plate to upper left of carriageway.
INTERIOR: not inspected.
HISTORICAL NOTE: this structure is the only remaining example
of the inns which lined North Street. First called the New
Inn, it was built and run by Mr. Wichelo, a brewer, and by
1812 had a coffee room, a billiard room along with sitting
rooms, kitchens and 26 bedrooms. Model dwellings were erected
in the rear court in the 1850s, by which point the area had
become Brighton's most notorious slum. The magistrates court
was established here in 1808 and returned in 1821-23. In 1830
the name was changed to The Clarence in honour of William IV,
formerly Duke of Clarence. The hotel closed only in 1972.
After lying empty it was reopened in 1979 as the headquarters
of a building society. In the late 1980s it was restored and
converted into offices.
(Carder T: The Encyclopaedia of Brighton: Lewes: 1990-: 112C;
School of Architecture and Interior Design, Brighton
Polytechnic: A Guide to the Buildings of Brighton:
Macclesfield, Chester: 1987-: 5Q).

Listing NGR: TQ3105104234

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

480941

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
School of Architecture, , Interior Design, Brighton Polytechnic, A Guide to the Buildings of Brighton, (1987), 5Q
Carder, T, Encyclopaedia of Brighton, (1990), 112C

End of official list entry

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