Adelaide Mansions

Historic site in Brighton and Hove , United Kingdom

Adelaide Mansions

The building from the south

Location| 1–4 Kingsway, Hove, Brighton and Hove BN3 2FD, United Kingdom
Coordinates| 50°49′28″N 0°09′57″W﻿ / ﻿50.8244°N 0.1658°W﻿ / 50.8244; -0.1658
Built| 1873
Architect| Thomas Lainson
Architectural style(s)| Classical/Italianate

Listed Building – Grade II

Official name| Adelaide Mansions, 1–4 Kingsway
Designated| 2 November 1992
Reference no.| 1205849

Location within Brighton and Hove

Adelaide Mansions is a residential building on the seafront in Hove, part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England. The "handsome block", decorated with ornate details, was erected in 1873 to the design of local architect Thomas Lainson. English Heritage has listed the building at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.

## Location[edit]

Adelaide Mansions is located at the junction of St John's Road and Kingsway in Hove. Kingsway is the seafront road in this part of Hove; renamed several times, it took its present name in February 1910 to commemorate King Edward VII (1841-1910).[1] St John's Road leads northwards from the seafront to Palmeira Square and St John the Baptist's Church, from which it took its name in 1907 (previously it was called Palmeira Mews Road).[2] Adelaide Crescent, an architectural set-piece dating from the mid-19th century, lies to the east; both the crescent and the mansions were named after Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen (1792–1849); landowner and developer Isaac Lyon Goldsmid (1778–1859) asked King William IV (1765–1837) for permission to use his queen's name.[3]

## History[edit]

Prolific Brighton-based architect Thomas Lainson (1825–1898) designed the block in 1873[4] on land that was part of the Wick estate—a large area of agricultural land between the growing town of Brighton and the village of Hove. This land was owned by Isaac Lyon Goldsmid by the 1830s, and he set about developing it with high-class housing. His Adelaide Crescent scheme, intended to be a rival to Brighton's Kemp Town development, was built between the 1830s and 1860s. Financial problems and the spectacular destruction of the crescent's principal feature, the Anthaeum indoor garden and conservatory, delayed the scheme's progress.[3] By 1873, there was still open land to the west fronting Kingsway, and it was on this site adjoining the southwest corner of the crescent that the mansions were built.[5] The builder was Jabez Reynolds senior who built about 1,000 houses in Brighton and Hove including other landmark and listed buildings such as Palmeira Mansions, Medina Terrace and the workhouse on Elm Grove, now Brighton General Hospital.

Until 1918, the building was in residential use.[6] In that year numbers 3 and 4 were turned into the Lawns Hotel, a luxury hotel "noted for its quiet comfort and excellent cuisine".[6] Rates were four guineas per week at first.[6] By the 1970s its character had changed from a conventional hotel to more of a long-stay residence: there were 47 bedrooms, over half of which were occupied by (mostly elderly) residents.[6] Its fortunes declined in the 1980s: the building suffered £100,000 of damage in the Great Storm of 1987, and months later a faulty heating system caused fumes to escape and led to the closure of part of the hotel.[6] In 1990 the Zipadeedoodah Bar and First Avenue Restaurant were established on the ground floor, but by 2001 all had closed down and numbers 3 and 4 were converted back into flats.[6]

Adelaide Mansions was listed at Grade II by English Heritage on 2 November 1992.[4] This status is awarded to "nationally important" buildings of "special interest".[7] 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.[8]

## Notable residents[edit]

* Hilton Philipson (1892-1941), National Liberal Party Member of Parliament for Berwick-upon-Tweed in 1922, lived at 1 Adelaide Mansions in 1903.[9]
* Vere Fane Benett-Stanford, Conservative Member of Parliament for Shaftesbury from 1873 to 1880.[10]
* Woolf Barnato (1895-1948), financier and racing driver.[11]

## Architecture[edit]

It has a terrace of four-storey, three-bay houses with Classical touches such as Doric-columned porches.[4] There are ground-floor sash windows and iron balconies, and a parapet with a balustrade runs along the top of the building.[4]

## See also[edit]

* Grade II listed buildings in Brighton and Hove: A–B
* Media related to Adelaide Mansions at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Buildings and architecture of Brighton and Hove

Heritage|

* Conservation areas
* Listed buildings: Grade I
* Grade II*
* Grade II: A–B
* C–D
* E–H
* I–L
* M
* N–O
* P–R
* S
* T–V
* W–Z

Places of worship|

* List of places of worship (see list for links to individual articles)
* List of demolished places of worship

Houses, flats
and mansions|

* Adelaide Mansions
* Chartwell Court
* Courtenay Gate
* Embassy Court
* Fife House
* French Convalescent Home
* Grand Ocean, Saltdean
* Gwydyr Mansions
* 75 Holland Road
* Marine Gate
* Marlborough House
* Moulsecoomb Place
* New England Quarter
* Ovingdean Grange
* Ovingdean Rectory
* Patcham Place
* Pelham Institute
* Percy and Wagner Almshouses
* Portslade Manor (ruined)
* Preston Manor
* Regency Town House
* Southdown House
* Stanmer House
* Sussex Heights
* Tower House
* Van Alen Building
* Western Pavilion

Crescents,
squares and
terraces|

* Adelaide Crescent
* Arundel Terrace
* Bedford Square
* Belgrave Place
* Bloomsbury Place
* Brunswick Town
* Eastern Terrace
* Hanover Crescent
* Kemp Town
* Lansdowne Square
* Marine Square
* Montpelier Crescent
* New Steine
* Norfolk Square
* Norfolk Terrace
* Old Steine
* Oriental Place
* Palmeira Square
* Park Crescent
* Pelham Square
* Powis Square
* Regency Square
* Roundhill Crescent
* Royal Crescent
* Russell Square
* Vernon Terrace
* Wykeham Terrace

Commercial
buildings|

* Amex House
* Churchill Square
* Citibase Brighton, 95 Ditchling Road
* Gothic House, 95–96 Western Road
* Hanningtons
* 20–22 Marlborough Place
* 155–158 North Street
* 163 North Street
* 2–3 Pavilion Buildings
* Princes House, 166–169 North Street
* 9 Pool Valley

Institutional and
civic buildings|

* BHASVIC
* Brighton General Hospital
* Brighton Law Courts
* Brighton Town Hall
* Hove Library
* Hove Town Hall
* Hove Trial Centre
* Jubilee Library
* Kings House
* Ovingdean Hall School
* Police Convalescent Seaside Home (former)
* Preston Barracks
* Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital
* Royal Sussex County Hospital
* The Keep
* The Montefiore Hospital
* University of Brighton
* University of Sussex
* Varndean College
* Schools: List of former board schools
* Blatchington Mill School
* Brighton Aldridge Community Academy
* Brighton and Hove High School
* Brighton College
* Brighton College Preparatory School
* Cardinal Newman RC School
* Deepdene School
* Dorothy Stringer School
* Hove Park School
* King's School
* Longhill High School
* Ovingdean Hall School
* Patcham High School
* Portslade Aldridge Community Academy
* Roedean School
* St Aubyns School
* Varndean School

Hotels and inns|

* Hotels: Bedford
* Clarence
* Grand (1984 bombing)
* Metropole
* Norfolk
* Old Ship
* Royal Albion
* Royal York
* Inns and pubs: The Cricketers
* Freemasons Tavern
* Hangleton Manor Inn
* King and Queen
* Prince Albert
* Royal Pavilion Tavern

Entertainment
and leisure|

* The Arch
* Astoria (demolished)
* Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts
* Blind Tiger Club (former)
* Brighton Centre
* Brighton Dome and Studio (Pavilion) Theatre
* Brighton Hippodrome (former)
* Brighton Marina
* Brighton Wheel
* Duke of York's Picture House
* Falmer Stadium
* Komedia
* King Alfred Centre
* Marlborough Pub and Theatre
* Medina House (demolished)
* Old Market
* Open Air Theatre
* Pryzm
* Revenge
* Regent Cinema (demolished)
* Royal Pavilion
* Saltdean Lido
* Theatre Royal
* Withdean Stadium
* Museums: Booth Museum
* Brighton Fishing Museum
* Brighton Museum and Art Gallery
* Brighton Toy and Model Museum
* British Engineerium
* Hove Museum and Art Gallery

Piers|

* Brighton Palace Pier
* Royal Suspension Chain Pier (demolished)
* West Pier

Windmills|

* Beacon Mill, Rottingdean
* Waterhall Mill, Patcham
* West Blatchington Windmill

Miscellaneous|

* Anthaeum (demolished)
* Barford Court
* Chattri
* Church Street Drill Hall (former)
* Clock Tower
* 11 Dyke Road
* Foredown Tower
* Hove War Memorial
* i360
* Madeira Terrace
* North Gate of the Royal Pavilion
* Patcham Pylons
* Peace Statue
* Pepper Pot
* Ralli Hall
* St Dunstan's
* Sassoon Mausoleum
* Statue of Queen Victoria, Hove
* Steine House (YMCA)
* Waste House
* Whitehawk Hill transmitting station

Related topics|

* Ammonite order
* Bungaroosh
* Cemeteries and crematoria
* Landmarks
* Mathematical tiles
* Regency architecture
* Tallest buildings and structures

Architects|

* Charles Busby
* Clayton & Black
* John Leopold Denman
* Thomas Lainson
* John Nash
* Gilbert Murray Simpson
* Thomas Simpson
* Basil Spence
* Amon Henry Wilds
* Amon Wilds

## References[edit]

### Notes[edit]

1. ^ Middleton 2002, Vol. 8, pp. 42–43.
2. ^ Middleton 2002, Vol. 12, p. 91.
3. ^ a b Middleton 2002, Vol. 1, p. 10.
4. ^ a b c d Historic England. "Adelaide Mansions 1–4, Kingsway, BN3 2FD, Brighton (Grade II) (1205849)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 2 October 2013.
5. ^ Middleton 2002, Vol. 8, p. 46.
6. ^ a b c d e f Middleton 2002, Vol. 8, pp. 77–78.
7. ^ "Listed Buildings". English Heritage. 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2013.
8. ^ "Images of England — Statistics by County (East Sussex)". Images of England. English Heritage. 2007. Archived from the original on 23 October 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012.
9. ^ Royal Blue Book: Fashionable Directory and Parliamentary Guide, 1903, p. 1239 [1]
10. ^ J.R.Somers Vine, The County companion,diary,statistical chronicle, and magisterial and official directory for 1884, p. 293 [2]
11. ^ Charterhouse Register, 1872-1910, Chiswick Press, 1911, Volume 2, p. 837 [3]

### Bibliography[edit]

* Middleton, Judy (2002). The Encyclopaedia of Hove & Portslade. Brighton: Brighton & Hove Libraries.

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