11 Dyke Road, Brighton
Encyclopedia
The building at 11 Dyke Road in Brighton
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove, is now a nightclub operating under the name "New Hero", but was originally the Swan Downer School for poor girls, for whom it was designed and built in 1867 by prolific architect George Somers Leigh Clarke
. The highly ornate brick structure, in a "freely inventive" European Gothic style, has also served as a chapel and an office since it was vacated by the school, whose pupils were recognisable around Brighton in their blue and white uniform. English Heritage
has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
"seawater cure"
and better transport links. The population rose from about 2,000 in 1751, at the start of this growth period, to 65,569 in 1851, by which time it was the 15th largest town in England and Wales. By 1871, another 25,000 people had moved to the town.
The speed of development caused problems: many people lived in poverty, and access to schools was inadequate. Poor people from across the mostly rural county of Sussex
moved to Brighton, by far its largest town, in search of employment; but service jobs were not secure and were mostly seasonal. Poor urban planning and the lack of piped water and sewage disposal made living conditions dangerous. Education for poor people was also substandard: until the Elementary Education Act 1870
was passed, there was no centralised provision of schooling for children below secondary level
. Churches, private individuals and charitable institutions provided what they could.
One such person was Dr Swan Downer, a rich trader from London, who founded the Swan Downer School for poor girls in 1816 or 1819 at 12 Gardner Street in the North Laine
area. In his will, he left £7,100 (£ as of ) for the continuation of his work, and another £5,000 (£ as of ) to provide a clothing fund for poor adults. Part of this endowment was used to build a Swan Downer school on land at the bottom of the road leading from central Brighton to Devil's Dyke
on the South Downs
. (Its address was originally given as 91 North Street, but the building faced Dyke Road and was later redesignated 13 Dyke Road and later still 11 Dyke Road.)
Rev. Henry Michell Wagner, the Vicar of Brighton for much of the 19th century, laid the school's first stone in June 1867. He spent much of his time and money helping Brighton's poor people, commissioning and paying for six churches where sittings were free (not subject to "pew rents"—an expensive 19th-century tradition in the Church of England
) and getting involved in the provision of schools, houses and other institutions. The architect commissioned was George Somers Leigh Clarke
; he was not local, but both he and his son (also George) designed several buildings in Brighton, and another relative was the Clerk of the Vestry in Brighton for about 60 years. Somers Clarke senior's other works in Brighton were the School for the Blind (1861–1865)—built in a Venetian Gothic style
and considered "one of the most interesting Victorian buildings in Brighton", but demolished in 1958—and the new façade, tower and timber-framed
roof of the former Holy Trinity Church
.
The school catered for working-class girls for more than 70 years, until about 1939. They were provided with a uniform of blue frock
s with white cuffs and collars. Changes to the provision of elementary education, brought about by the Education Act 1902
and the local education authority's opening of many new schools in the first decades of the 20th century, reduced the school's importance, and by 1939 it had become a chapel under the name Refuge Church. This use was brief; soon after World War II, the building was converted for commercial use, and several companies used it as offices. Since 1969, when it became "Sloopy's Nitespot and Discotheque", the building has been used as a nightclub. By 1990 it was operating as "Fozzie's Club"; it later became "The Sanctuary", "The Shrine", "Club New York" and "The Church" before being renamed "New Hero"—the name it bears as of 2010.
The former school was listed at Grade II by English Heritage
on 5 July 1973. This status is given to "nationally important buildings of special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove.
, Flemish or German Gothic Revival
. Somers Clarke's "freely inventive" interpretation of that design was executed in brown brick with some red brickwork and stone dressings (now painted white). The steeply pitched roof is mostly tiled.
The building has two storeys and two bays
facing east towards Dyke Road. The southern (entrance) bay is narrower, shorter and has a very steep hipped roof
; a drawing in the architects' journal Building News in 1873 showed a tall flèche
on top of this roof. The door is set into an ogee
-headed white-painted arch; the tympanum
formed by the space between the arch and the door is decorated with carved scrolls and a shield. Around the door, columns terminate in intricate foliated capitals. A first-floor window with three lights has similar decoration above. In front of the roof is a cornice
and parapet
with some decorative scrollwork. The main bay has two pairs of lancet window
s on the ground floor and a large, four-light oriel window
above. This projects from the surrounding brickwork and also has tall, extremely narrow windows on each side. Above each pane is a panel with tracery
described as "highly original" and "of great inventiveness". The cornice above this has gargoyle
s at the corners, and the roof has a prominent crow-stepped gable
.
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove, is now a nightclub operating under the name "New Hero", but was originally the Swan Downer School for poor girls, for whom it was designed and built in 1867 by prolific architect George Somers Leigh Clarke
George Somers Leigh Clarke
George Somers Clarke was an English architect. He became a RIBA Associate in March 1845 and a Fellow in June 1859. He sat on RIBA Council. In 1868 he had offices at 20 Cockspur Street, London...
. The highly ornate brick structure, in a "freely inventive" European Gothic style, has also served as a chapel and an office since it was vacated by the school, whose pupils were recognisable around Brighton in their blue and white uniform. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
History
Brighton's rapid growth from small fishing village to high-class seaside resort was set in motion in the late 18th century by factors such as royal patronage, the popularity (especially among the upper classes) of local doctor Richard Russell'sRichard Russell (doctor)
Richard Russell was an 18th century British Physician who encouraged his patients to use a form of water therapy that involved the submersion or bathing in, and drinking of, seawater...
"seawater cure"
Water cure (therapy)
A water cure in the therapeutic sense is a course of medical treatment by hydrotherapy.-Overview:In the mid-19th century there was a popular revival of the water cure in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States...
and better transport links. The population rose from about 2,000 in 1751, at the start of this growth period, to 65,569 in 1851, by which time it was the 15th largest town in England and Wales. By 1871, another 25,000 people had moved to the town.
The speed of development caused problems: many people lived in poverty, and access to schools was inadequate. Poor people from across the mostly rural county of Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
moved to Brighton, by far its largest town, in search of employment; but service jobs were not secure and were mostly seasonal. Poor urban planning and the lack of piped water and sewage disposal made living conditions dangerous. Education for poor people was also substandard: until the Elementary Education Act 1870
Elementary Education Act 1870
The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between ages 5 and 12 in England and Wales...
was passed, there was no centralised provision of schooling for children below secondary level
Secondary education
Secondary education is the stage of education following primary education. Secondary education includes the final stage of compulsory education and in many countries it is entirely compulsory. The next stage of education is usually college or university...
. Churches, private individuals and charitable institutions provided what they could.
One such person was Dr Swan Downer, a rich trader from London, who founded the Swan Downer School for poor girls in 1816 or 1819 at 12 Gardner Street in the North Laine
North Laine
North Laine is a shopping and residential district of Brighton, on the English south coast immediately adjacent to the Royal Pavilion. Once a slum area, nowadays with its many pubs and cafés, theatres and museums, it is seen as Brighton's bohemian and cultural quarter.-History:Due to its...
area. In his will, he left £7,100 (£ as of ) for the continuation of his work, and another £5,000 (£ as of ) to provide a clothing fund for poor adults. Part of this endowment was used to build a Swan Downer school on land at the bottom of the road leading from central Brighton to Devil's Dyke
Devil's Dyke, Sussex
Devil's Dyke is a V-shaped valley on the South Downs Way in southern England, near Brighton and Hove. It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation.Devil's Dyke is on the way to Brighton and is a big hill at the side of the road.-Geological history:...
on the South Downs
South Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
. (Its address was originally given as 91 North Street, but the building faced Dyke Road and was later redesignated 13 Dyke Road and later still 11 Dyke Road.)
Rev. Henry Michell Wagner, the Vicar of Brighton for much of the 19th century, laid the school's first stone in June 1867. He spent much of his time and money helping Brighton's poor people, commissioning and paying for six churches where sittings were free (not subject to "pew rents"—an expensive 19th-century tradition in the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
) and getting involved in the provision of schools, houses and other institutions. The architect commissioned was George Somers Leigh Clarke
George Somers Leigh Clarke
George Somers Clarke was an English architect. He became a RIBA Associate in March 1845 and a Fellow in June 1859. He sat on RIBA Council. In 1868 he had offices at 20 Cockspur Street, London...
; he was not local, but both he and his son (also George) designed several buildings in Brighton, and another relative was the Clerk of the Vestry in Brighton for about 60 years. Somers Clarke senior's other works in Brighton were the School for the Blind (1861–1865)—built in a Venetian Gothic style
Venetian Gothic architecture
Venetian Gothic is a term given to an architectural style combining use of the Gothic lancet arch with Byzantine and Moorish architecture influences. The style originated in 14th century Venice with the confluence of Byzantine styles from Constantinople, Arab influences from Moorish Spain and early...
and considered "one of the most interesting Victorian buildings in Brighton", but demolished in 1958—and the new façade, tower and timber-framed
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
roof of the former Holy Trinity Church
Holy Trinity Church, Brighton
The former Holy Trinity Church is a closed Anglican church in the centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Established in the early 19th century by Thomas Read Kemp, an important figure in Brighton's early political and religious life, it was originally an independent...
.
The school catered for working-class girls for more than 70 years, until about 1939. They were provided with a uniform of blue frock
Frock
Frock has been used since Middle English as the name for an article of clothing for men and women .- History of the frock :...
s with white cuffs and collars. Changes to the provision of elementary education, brought about by the Education Act 1902
Education Act 1902
The Education Act 1902 , also known as Balfour's Act, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom affecting education in England and Wales. At the time of passage of the Act, the Conservative Party was in power...
and the local education authority's opening of many new schools in the first decades of the 20th century, reduced the school's importance, and by 1939 it had become a chapel under the name Refuge Church. This use was brief; soon after World War II, the building was converted for commercial use, and several companies used it as offices. Since 1969, when it became "Sloopy's Nitespot and Discotheque", the building has been used as a nightclub. By 1990 it was operating as "Fozzie's Club"; it later became "The Sanctuary", "The Shrine", "Club New York" and "The Church" before being renamed "New Hero"—the name it bears as of 2010.
The former school was listed at Grade II by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 5 July 1973. This status is given to "nationally important buildings of special interest". As of February 2001, it was one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove.
Architecture
The distinctive style of 11 Dyke Road has been described as FrenchFrench Gothic architecture
French Gothic architecture is a style of architecture prevalent in France from 1140 until about 1500.-Sequence of Gothic styles: France:The designations of styles in French Gothic architecture are as follows:* Early Gothic* High Gothic...
, Flemish or German Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
. Somers Clarke's "freely inventive" interpretation of that design was executed in brown brick with some red brickwork and stone dressings (now painted white). The steeply pitched roof is mostly tiled.
The building has two storeys and two bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
facing east towards Dyke Road. The southern (entrance) bay is narrower, shorter and has a very steep hipped roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
; a drawing in the architects' journal Building News in 1873 showed a tall flèche
Flèche
A flèche is used in French architecture to refer to a spire and in English to refer to a lead-covered timber spire, or spirelet. These are placed on the ridges of church or cathedral roofs and are usually relatively small...
on top of this roof. The door is set into an ogee
Ogee
An ogee is a curve , shaped somewhat like an S, consisting of two arcs that curve in opposite senses, so that the ends are parallel....
-headed white-painted arch; the tympanum
Tympanum (architecture)
In architecture, a tympanum is the semi-circular or triangular decorative wall surface over an entrance, bounded by a lintel and arch. It often contains sculpture or other imagery or ornaments. Most architectural styles include this element....
formed by the space between the arch and the door is decorated with carved scrolls and a shield. Around the door, columns terminate in intricate foliated capitals. A first-floor window with three lights has similar decoration above. In front of the roof is a cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
and parapet
Parapet
A parapet is a wall-like barrier at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony or other structure. Where extending above a roof, it may simply be the portion of an exterior wall that continues above the line of the roof surface, or may be a continuation of a vertical feature beneath the roof such as a...
with some decorative scrollwork. The main bay has two pairs of lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
s on the ground floor and a large, four-light oriel window
Oriel window
Oriel windows are a form of bay window commonly found in Gothic architecture, which project from the main wall of the building but do not reach to the ground. Corbels or brackets are often used to support this kind of window. They are seen in combination with the Tudor arch. This type of window was...
above. This projects from the surrounding brickwork and also has tall, extremely narrow windows on each side. Above each pane is a panel with tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
described as "highly original" and "of great inventiveness". The cornice above this has gargoyle
Gargoyle
In architecture, a gargoyle is a carved stone grotesque, usually made of granite, with a spout designed to convey water from a roof and away from the side of a building thereby preventing rainwater from running down masonry walls and eroding the mortar between...
s at the corners, and the roof has a prominent crow-stepped gable
Crow-stepped gable
A Stepped gable, Crow-stepped gable, or Corbie step is a stair-step type of design at the top of the triangular gable-end of a building...
.