Brighton Forum
Encyclopedia
The Brighton Forum is a complex of serviced offices on a prominent elevated position in the Round Hill
area of Brighton
, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The large Gothic Revival
building, by two architect brothers from London, has had three greatly different uses since its construction at the edge of Brighton parish in 1854: for its first 85 years, it trained Anglican
schoolmistresses; then it became a military base and records office; and in 1988 it opened as a multipurpose business centre and office complex. The elaborate flint
exterior is finely detailed in the Gothic style, especially around the windows. English Heritage
has listed it at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
fishing village of Brighthelmston, which in the 18th and 19th centuries developed into the fashionable seaside resort
of Brighton, lay within the Anglican
Diocese
of Chichester
. In the 19th century, before the Elementary Education Act 1870
centralised the provision of primary-level education and established school boards, most 5- to 12-year-olds were taught (if at all) at schools founded and sponsored by charities, private benefactors or churches. There were many such church schools in Brighton: Anglican churches with their own schools included Christ Church, St Bartholomew's
, St John the Evangelist's
, St Mark's
, St Martin's
, St Paul's
and St Stephen's
.
The Diocese established an institute to train female schoolteachers for the Anglican schools in Brighton and the rest of Sussex in Black Lion Street in The Lanes (the ancient heart of the town) in April 1842. This was done in association with the National Society for the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church. More space was soon needed, so in 1854 it found a site on the west side of Ditchling Road on which to built a larger college. Ditchling Road, which ran across Ditchling Beacon
to Ditchling
village and then on to Cuckfield
and eventually London, became a turnpike
in 1770 and was thereafter one of the main north–south routes into and out of Brighton. The chosen site was on the north side of Viaduct Road, which was built to link Ditchling and London Roads
and which formed the northern edge of Brighton's ecclesiastical parish and municipal borough until 1873.
The architects William and Edward Habershon were commissioned to design the new building. They were based in London but worked extensively in Sussex; buildings they designed separately or together in the county include St Leonards-on-Sea Congregational Church
, St John the Baptist's Church
in Hove
, St Helen's Church in Ore and St Augustine's Church at Scaynes Hill
. They started work at the large corner site in 1854, and the building was ready later that year. The local firm of Edmund Scott and F.T. Cawthorn extended the building to the rear (north side) in 1886.
Teachers continued to be trained at the college (officially called the Chichester Diocesan Training College for Schoolmistresses) until 1939. As World War II approached, the institution closed and the building was auctioned; but before it could be sold, the Royal Engineers requisitioned
it for their use during wartime. They used it as a base for their operations, then after the war it became their archives and records office. In 1987, they moved out, and the vacant building was threatened with demolition. A local campaign helped it receive listed status, offering a degree of protection, and the building's future was secured when it was bought and converted into a complex of serviced offices. It opened in November 1988 as the Brighton Business Centre, and was later renamed the Brighton Forum.
The Brighton Forum was listed at Grade II by English Heritage
on 22 March 1988. 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.
. The roof is laid with tiles.
The two-storey façade to Viaduct Road is E-shaped and regular, with a symmetrical seven-bay
plan. The first and seventh bays project further forward than the centre (fourth) bay, which is formed by an elevated entrance porch. This has lancet window
s on the sides, grouped under single hood mould
s and with a string course. The doorway is under a segmental arch which is topped by a gable
. The rest of the ground floor has larger lancets arranged in pairs and with a small trefoil above. The south-facing walls have two pairs together, while on the inward-facing walls of the first and seventh bays there are two sets of paired windows placed some distance apart. At first-floor level, similar paired lancets and trefoils rise as gabled dormers above the roofline. The south walls of the first and seventh bays have prominent five-light oriel window
s, canted
to form a 1–3–1 pattern of trefoil-headed panes. These oriel windows are supported on ornate corbel
s. Above these at first-floor level, and also above the entrance porch, there are three-light trefoil-headed windows set under a segmental arch-shaped hood mould. Many of the windows on the south side have plate tracery.
The eastern face (to Ditchling Road) has eight bays and a carriage arch at the north end. The first four bays have trefoil-headed lancet window
s, while the next four have simpler straight-headed windows. The carriage arch is segmental-headed. The first floor has eight dormers. On the west side, the roof is cross-gabled: the gables are parallel to, rather than perpendicular to, the ridge.
Round Hill, Brighton
Round Hill is an inner suburban area of Brighton, part of the coastal city of Brighton and Hove in England. The area contains a mix of privately owned and privately rented terraced housing, much of which has been converted for multiple occupancy, and small-scale commercial development...
area of Brighton
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. The large Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
building, by two architect brothers from London, has had three greatly different uses since its construction at the edge of Brighton parish in 1854: for its first 85 years, it trained Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
schoolmistresses; then it became a military base and records office; and in 1988 it opened as a multipurpose business centre and office complex. The elaborate flint
Flint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
exterior is finely detailed in the Gothic style, especially around the windows. 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 it at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
History
The ancient SussexSussex
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...
fishing village of Brighthelmston, which in the 18th and 19th centuries developed into the fashionable seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
of Brighton, lay within the Anglican
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...
Diocese
Diocese
A diocese is the district or see under the supervision of a bishop. It is divided into parishes.An archdiocese is more significant than a diocese. An archdiocese is presided over by an archbishop whose see may have or had importance due to size or historical significance...
of Chichester
Diocese of Chichester
The Diocese of Chichester is a Church of England diocese based in Chichester, covering Sussex. It was created in 1075 to replace the old Diocese of Selsey, which was based at Selsey Abbey from 681. The cathedral is Chichester Cathedral and the bishop is the Bishop of Chichester...
. In the 19th century, before 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...
centralised the provision of primary-level education and established school boards, most 5- to 12-year-olds were taught (if at all) at schools founded and sponsored by charities, private benefactors or churches. There were many such church schools in Brighton: Anglican churches with their own schools included Christ Church, St Bartholomew's
St Bartholomew's Church, Brighton
St Bartholomew's Church, dedicated to the apostle Bartholomew, is an Anglican church in Brighton, England. The neo-gothic building is located on Ann Street, on a sloping site between Brighton railway station and the A23 London Road, adjacent to the New England Quarter development...
, St John the Evangelist's
Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity, Brighton
The Church of the Holy Trinity is a Greek Orthodox church in Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built in 1838 in one of Brighton's most notorious slum districts, Carlton Hill, it was an Anglican church for most of its life: dedicated to St John the Evangelist, it was used by...
, St Mark's
St Mark's Church, Brighton
St Mark's Church is a former Anglican church in the Kemptown area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Originally intended as the private chapel of the adjacent St Mary's Hall school, it was partly built in 1838 at the request of Frederick Hervey, 1st Marquess of Bristol;...
, St Martin's
St Martin's Church, Brighton
St Martin's Church is an Anglican church in Brighton, England, dating from the mid-Victorian era. It is located on the Lewes Road in the Round Hill area of the city, northeast of the city centre and approximately north of the seafront...
, St Paul's
St Paul's Church, Brighton
St Paul's Church, dedicated to the missionary and Apostle to the Gentiles Paul of Tarsus, is a Church of England parish church in Brighton in the English county of Sussex. It is located on West Street in the city centre, close to the seafront and the main shopping areas.-History and...
and St Stephen's
St Stephen's Church, Brighton
St Stephen's Church is a former Anglican church in the Montpelier area of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. The building, which dates from 1766 in its original incarnation as the ballroom of Brighton's most fashionable Georgian-era inn, has been used for many purposes since...
.
The Diocese established an institute to train female schoolteachers for the Anglican schools in Brighton and the rest of Sussex in Black Lion Street in The Lanes (the ancient heart of the town) in April 1842. This was done in association with the National Society for the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church. More space was soon needed, so in 1854 it found a site on the west side of Ditchling Road on which to built a larger college. Ditchling Road, which ran across Ditchling Beacon
Ditchling Beacon
Ditchling Beacon is the third-highest point on the South Downs in south-east England, behind Butser Hill and Crown Tegleaze . It consists of a large chalk hill with a particularly steep northern face, covered with open grassland and sheep-grazing areas...
to Ditchling
Ditchling
Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling....
village and then on to Cuckfield
Cuckfield
Cuckfield is a large village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, on the southern slopes of the Weald. It lies south of London, north of Brighton, and east northeast of the county town of Chichester. Nearby towns include Haywards Heath to the southeast and Burgess...
and eventually London, became a turnpike
Turnpike trust
Turnpike trusts in the United Kingdom were bodies set up by individual Acts of Parliament, with powers to collect road tolls for maintaining the principal highways in Britain from the 17th but especially during the 18th and 19th centuries...
in 1770 and was thereafter one of the main north–south routes into and out of Brighton. The chosen site was on the north side of Viaduct Road, which was built to link Ditchling and London Roads
A23 road
The A23 road is a major road in the United Kingdom between London and Brighton, East Sussex. It became an arterial route following the construction of Westminster Bridge in 1750 and the consequent improvement of roads leading to the bridge south of the river by the Turnpike Trusts...
and which formed the northern edge of Brighton's ecclesiastical parish and municipal borough until 1873.
The architects William and Edward Habershon were commissioned to design the new building. They were based in London but worked extensively in Sussex; buildings they designed separately or together in the county include St Leonards-on-Sea Congregational Church
St Leonards-on-Sea United Reformed Church
St Leonards-on-Sea United Reformed Church is a former United Reformed church in St Leonards-on-Sea, part of the town and borough of Hastings in East Sussex, England...
, St John the Baptist's Church
St John the Baptist's Church, Hove
St John the Baptist's Church is an Anglican church in Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. It was built between 1852 and 1854 to serve the community of the Brunswick area of Hove, which had originally been established in the 1830s.-History:...
in Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
, St Helen's Church in Ore and St Augustine's Church at Scaynes Hill
Scaynes Hill
Scaynes Hill is a village in the civil parish of Lindfield Rural in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A272 road 2.2 miles east of Haywards Heath.-Landmarks:...
. They started work at the large corner site in 1854, and the building was ready later that year. The local firm of Edmund Scott and F.T. Cawthorn extended the building to the rear (north side) in 1886.
Teachers continued to be trained at the college (officially called the Chichester Diocesan Training College for Schoolmistresses) until 1939. As World War II approached, the institution closed and the building was auctioned; but before it could be sold, the Royal Engineers requisitioned
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
it for their use during wartime. They used it as a base for their operations, then after the war it became their archives and records office. In 1987, they moved out, and the vacant building was threatened with demolition. A local campaign helped it receive listed status, offering a degree of protection, and the building's future was secured when it was bought and converted into a complex of serviced offices. It opened in November 1988 as the Brighton Business Centre, and was later renamed the Brighton Forum.
The Brighton Forum 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 22 March 1988. 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
Brighton Forum is built on a high, prominent corner position, giving it good visibility from the west and south and long southward views. Knapped flint is the main building material, augmented by stone dressings and some yellow brickwork to the quoinsQuoin (architecture)
Quoins are the cornerstones of brick or stone walls. Quoins may be either structural or decorative. Architects and builders use quoins to give the impression of strength and firmness to the outline of a building...
. The roof is laid with tiles.
The two-storey façade to Viaduct Road is E-shaped and regular, with a symmetrical seven-bay
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:...
plan. The first and seventh bays project further forward than the centre (fourth) bay, which is formed by an elevated entrance porch. This has 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 sides, grouped under single hood mould
Hood mould
In architecture, a hood mould, also called a label mould or dripstone, is an external moulded projection from a wall over an opening to throw off rainwater...
s and with a string course. The doorway is under a segmental arch which is topped by a gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
. The rest of the ground floor has larger lancets arranged in pairs and with a small trefoil above. The south-facing walls have two pairs together, while on the inward-facing walls of the first and seventh bays there are two sets of paired windows placed some distance apart. At first-floor level, similar paired lancets and trefoils rise as gabled dormers above the roofline. The south walls of the first and seventh bays have prominent five-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...
s, canted
Cant (architecture)
Cant is the architectural term describing part, or segment, of a facade which is at an angle to another part of the same facade. The angle breaking the facade is less than a right angle thus enabling a canted facade to be viewed as, and remain, one composition.Canted facades are a typical of, but...
to form a 1–3–1 pattern of trefoil-headed panes. These oriel windows are supported on ornate corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s. Above these at first-floor level, and also above the entrance porch, there are three-light trefoil-headed windows set under a segmental arch-shaped hood mould. Many of the windows on the south side have plate tracery.
The eastern face (to Ditchling Road) has eight bays and a carriage arch at the north end. The first four bays have trefoil-headed 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, while the next four have simpler straight-headed windows. The carriage arch is segmental-headed. The first floor has eight dormers. On the west side, the roof is cross-gabled: the gables are parallel to, rather than perpendicular to, the ridge.