St. Ann's Well Gardens, Hove
Encyclopedia
St. Ann's Well Gardens is a park in Hove
, East Sussex
about half a mile from the shore. The park is renowned for its chalybeate
(iron bearing) spring
, which is now named St. Ann's Well.
In this case, the name "St. Ann" does not refer to any saint. Instead, the name was apparently based on a myth of Annafrieda, a Saxon lady whose lover was murdered. Her tears miraculously became the Chalybeate Spring which is now called St. Ann's Well
.
St. Ann's Well Gardens is owned and operated by Brighton and Hove City Council. As well as the scented garden, the park has playgrounds for children, with swings, slides etc. Dogs are forbidden in the children's areas, while the rest of the park is a popular place for local residents to exercise their pets.
In addition there are the following facilities:
.
St. Ann's Well Gardens was part of the Wick Estate in the Middle Ages, which was a strip of land that extended inland to the edge of Preston
manor
. The Wick Estate was owned by the Stapley family from 1573 until 1701 when it was sold to a family of Brighton brewers, the Scutts.
In the 1760s, the Scutts made a number of improvements associated with the spring.
Around 1800 an elaborate "pump room" was built over the spring, housing assorted facilities and accommodating the large numbers who came seeking therapeutic relief at that time. At the pumphouse at the top of the hill in the park, people could drink the brown waters of the spring (at some times of the year, the waters are closer to yellow).
This area became a popular destination, and some of them came to enjoy the Chalybeate Spa at St. Ann's Well. Many people came to the area to enjoy the shore, and other attractions. There were pleasure gardens
at the Georgian and Regency Seaside Resorts in neighboring Brighton at the time.
In the early 19th century, the Reverend Thomas Scutt redesigned the pump room building. Rev. Scutt added a colonnade which was featured in many prints.
In 1825, Rev. Scutt sold off part of the Wick Estate. This land became the Brunswick Estate.
, who moved into the Wick Lodge. Sir Isaac Goldsmid was the first to create the gardens that now exist. When Sir Isaac died in 1859, members of the Goldsmid family that inherited the Goldsmid Estate continued to develop the gardens and surrounding area.
Mrs Fitzherbert wrote that "....the waters have wonderfully improved my health and strength." after a visit to the Spa in 1830. In 1882 the Brighton Gazette wrote that St. Ann's Well was 'one of the finest springs in Europe'. However, the distance of the Spa from Brighton, competition from other facilities, and a slow decline in the flow of the spring lead to the spa's declining popularity, and it eventually closed. The fields around the spring were dug up to use in the local brick-making business. The places where the mud was removed to make bricks are still visible in the park.
(1864–1959), a pioneer in the film industry, leased St Ann's Well Gardens from the Goldsmid family. He was devoted to commercially developing the gardens, which he named "St. Anne's Well Pleasure Gardens". Smith's pleasure gardens included novelties such as demonstrations of hot air ballooning and parachute jumps, a monkey house, a fortune teller and a hermit living in a cave.
In addition, Smith used the pump house as a film laboratory, and produced about 50 short films a year there. Some claim that this was the birthplace of film editing. Later, Smith had a glass house film studio built on the grounds.
In 1904, A. H. Tee took over the lease on St Ann's Well Gardens from G. Albert Smith, as Smith moved his film businesses to another site.
There was a clock in front of the old pumphouse, donated by Mrs Flora Sassoon, widow of wealthy business man Sassoon David Sassoon
of Ashley Park near Walton-on-Thames
, who had relocated to Hove with many other members of the Sassoon family
In 1913 Mrs. Sassoon also bought and donated the grounds which became the Croquet Lawns (now the lawn bowling facility). She also donated turf and croquet equipment.
Because the spring's flow had slowed, the pump room was demolished in 1935, and a mock wellhead was installed in its place. After the local government bought the park, neighboring buildings like the Grasshopper Cottage, near the bowling green, and the Wick Farmhouse were incorporated into the park, but these were demolished after the second World War. A Swiss chalet-style cafe was a bit rustic, and therefore was replaced by a modern building in the 1970s. These changes were met with some local protest, but to no avail.
In the months leading up to the park's centenary, interest in a celebration led to the formation of a Friends group http://stannswellgardens.co.uk for the park. On 24 May 2008 a 100th birthday party was held, and the group continues to celebrate the park and arrange regular events.
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...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
about half a mile from the shore. The park is renowned for its chalybeate
Chalybeate
Chalybeate waters, also known as ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron.-Name:The word "chalybeate" is derived from the Latin word for steel, "chalybs", which follows from the Greek word "khalups"...
(iron bearing) spring
Spring (hydrosphere)
A spring—also known as a rising or resurgence—is a component of the hydrosphere. Specifically, it is any natural situation where water flows to the surface of the earth from underground...
, which is now named St. Ann's Well.
In this case, the name "St. Ann" does not refer to any saint. Instead, the name was apparently based on a myth of Annafrieda, a Saxon lady whose lover was murdered. Her tears miraculously became the Chalybeate Spring which is now called St. Ann's Well
St. Ann's Well
St. Ann's Well or St. Anne's Well may refer to:* St. Ann's Well Gardens, Hove, a public park in Brighton and Hove, the site of a chalybeate spring* St. Ann's Well, Buxton, Derbyshire, a hot spring, and a sacred spot...
.
Description
St. Ann's Well Gardens has many native and exotic trees. It also has a scented garden that allow the visitor to experience many different smells. Here is a quote from visitor Hugh Lavelle :- "You enter the garden through an archway, which opens into a square, with a guide rail around the pathway which goes around the centre lawn. The garden is intended for the partial sighted, hence the touchy/feely plants and the scents. I visit here mainly for the peace and quiet, plus when the flowers are out the garden smells lovely.
St. Ann's Well Gardens is owned and operated by Brighton and Hove City Council. As well as the scented garden, the park has playgrounds for children, with swings, slides etc. Dogs are forbidden in the children's areas, while the rest of the park is a popular place for local residents to exercise their pets.
In addition there are the following facilities:
- eight tennisTennisTennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
courts - a bowling greenBowlsBowls is a sport in which the objective is to roll slightly asymmetric balls so that they stop close to a smaller "jack" or "kitty". It is played on a pitch which may be flat or convex or uneven...
(membership not required) - a popular café
- toilets
- a well-stocked fish pond
- "conservation areas" where the natural flora is left undisturbed.
Early history
The chalybeate spring in St. Ann's Well Gardens might have been known for many years. The City Parks web site notes that the chalybeate spring in St. Ann's Well Gardens was the endpoint of a ley lineLey line
Ley lines are alleged alignments of a number of places of geographical and historical interest, such as ancient monuments and megaliths, natural ridge-tops and water-fords...
.
St. Ann's Well Gardens was part of the Wick Estate in the Middle Ages, which was a strip of land that extended inland to the edge of Preston
Preston Village, Brighton
Preston Village is a suburban area of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex to the north of the centre. Originally a village in its own right, it was eventually absorbed into Brighton with the development of the farmland owned by the local Stanford family, officially becoming a parish of the town in 1928...
manor
Preston Manor, Brighton
Preston Manor is the former manor house of the ancient Sussex village of Preston, now part of the coastal city of Brighton and Hove, England. The present building dates mostly from 1738, when Lord of the manor Thomas Western rebuilt the original 13th-century structure , and 1905 when Charles...
. The Wick Estate was owned by the Stapley family from 1573 until 1701 when it was sold to a family of Brighton brewers, the Scutts.
Health spa established under the Scutts
There was a health spa named the Chalybeate Spa in Hove featuring the St. Ann's Well spring operating as early as the 18th century. At that time, the spring had considerably greater flow than it does at present.In the 1760s, the Scutts made a number of improvements associated with the spring.
Around 1800 an elaborate "pump room" was built over the spring, housing assorted facilities and accommodating the large numbers who came seeking therapeutic relief at that time. At the pumphouse at the top of the hill in the park, people could drink the brown waters of the spring (at some times of the year, the waters are closer to yellow).
This area became a popular destination, and some of them came to enjoy the Chalybeate Spa at St. Ann's Well. Many people came to the area to enjoy the shore, and other attractions. There were pleasure gardens
Pleasure gardens
A pleasure garden is usually a garden that is open to the public for recreation. They differ from other public gardens in that they serve as venues for entertainment, variously featuring concert halls or bandstands, rides, zoos, and menageries.-History:...
at the Georgian and Regency Seaside Resorts in neighboring Brighton at the time.
In the early 19th century, the Reverend Thomas Scutt redesigned the pump room building. Rev. Scutt added a colonnade which was featured in many prints.
In 1825, Rev. Scutt sold off part of the Wick Estate. This land became the Brunswick Estate.
Goldsmid ownership
In 1830 the remaining land in the Wick Estate was sold to financier and philanthropist Sir Isaac Lyon GoldsmidIsaac Lyon Goldsmid
Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, Baronet was a financier and one of the leading figures in the Jewish emancipation in the United Kingdom....
, who moved into the Wick Lodge. Sir Isaac Goldsmid was the first to create the gardens that now exist. When Sir Isaac died in 1859, members of the Goldsmid family that inherited the Goldsmid Estate continued to develop the gardens and surrounding area.
Mrs Fitzherbert wrote that "....the waters have wonderfully improved my health and strength." after a visit to the Spa in 1830. In 1882 the Brighton Gazette wrote that St. Ann's Well was 'one of the finest springs in Europe'. However, the distance of the Spa from Brighton, competition from other facilities, and a slow decline in the flow of the spring lead to the spa's declining popularity, and it eventually closed. The fields around the spring were dug up to use in the local brick-making business. The places where the mud was removed to make bricks are still visible in the park.
Smith's pleasure gardens
In 1894 (some sources give a date of 1892), George Albert SmithGeorge Albert Smith (inventor)
George Albert Smith was a stage hypnotist, psychic, magic lantern lecturer, astronomer, inventor, and one of the pioneers of British cinema, who is best known for his controversial work with Edmund Gurney at the Society for Psychical Research, his short-films from 1897-1903 which pioneered film...
(1864–1959), a pioneer in the film industry, leased St Ann's Well Gardens from the Goldsmid family. He was devoted to commercially developing the gardens, which he named "St. Anne's Well Pleasure Gardens". Smith's pleasure gardens included novelties such as demonstrations of hot air ballooning and parachute jumps, a monkey house, a fortune teller and a hermit living in a cave.
In addition, Smith used the pump house as a film laboratory, and produced about 50 short films a year there. Some claim that this was the birthplace of film editing. Later, Smith had a glass house film studio built on the grounds.
In 1904, A. H. Tee took over the lease on St Ann's Well Gardens from G. Albert Smith, as Smith moved his film businesses to another site.
Public park
In 1908, the local authorities bought the gardens for £10,000 and the park was opened to the public on Empire Day in 1908.There was a clock in front of the old pumphouse, donated by Mrs Flora Sassoon, widow of wealthy business man Sassoon David Sassoon
Sassoon David Sassoon
Sassoon David Sassoon , a British Indian merchant, was born at Bombay , a member of a family settled there since the beginning of the 16th century, and previously in Spain...
of Ashley Park near Walton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames
Walton-on-Thames is a town in the Elmbridge borough of Surrey in South East England. The town is located south west of Charing Cross and is between the towns of Weybridge and Molesey. It is situated on the River Thames between Sunbury Lock and Shepperton Lock.- History :The name "Walton" is...
, who had relocated to Hove with many other members of the Sassoon family
In 1913 Mrs. Sassoon also bought and donated the grounds which became the Croquet Lawns (now the lawn bowling facility). She also donated turf and croquet equipment.
Because the spring's flow had slowed, the pump room was demolished in 1935, and a mock wellhead was installed in its place. After the local government bought the park, neighboring buildings like the Grasshopper Cottage, near the bowling green, and the Wick Farmhouse were incorporated into the park, but these were demolished after the second World War. A Swiss chalet-style cafe was a bit rustic, and therefore was replaced by a modern building in the 1970s. These changes were met with some local protest, but to no avail.
In the months leading up to the park's centenary, interest in a celebration led to the formation of a Friends group http://stannswellgardens.co.uk for the park. On 24 May 2008 a 100th birthday party was held, and the group continues to celebrate the park and arrange regular events.