Medina House

Building in Hove, England

Medina House

Pictured in August 2022

Location within Brighton and Hove

Former names| Medina Baths; Hove Baths
General information
Status| Demolished
Type| Bath-house
Architectural style| Vernacular
Address| Kings Esplanade, Hove BN3 2WA
Town or city| Brighton and Hove
Country| United Kingdom
Coordinates| 50°49′28″N 0°10′35″W﻿ / ﻿50.8245°N 0.1763°W﻿ / 50.8245; -0.1763
Current tenants| None
Construction started| 1893
Completed| 1894
Opened| 13 September 1894
Renovated| 1923
Closed| Mid 1940s
Demolished| 2018
Cost| £2,000 (site)
Renovation cost| £1,279
Owner| Polly Samson, David Gilmour
Technical details
Floor count| 3
Design and construction
Architect(s)| Paul B. Chambers
References
[1]

The original Medina House in Hove, Sussex, was the eastern of two seafront buildings, located on either side of Sussex Road, which together comprised Hove Baths, later to become more popularly known as the Medina Baths.[2] The western building ('Bath House' on the map) housed the men's baths, and the eastern building housed the women's baths ('Medina House' on the map).

Open Map of Hove seafront with Sussex Road

Initially owned by the Hove Baths and Laundry Company Limited,[3] the buildings were designed by local architect Paul B Chambers and built between 1893 and 1894. Medina House opened on 13 September 1894.[4] Inside were the women's slipper and swimming baths. These complemented the larger Men's baths and the laundry, both of which were in the building to the west of Sussex Road.[a] The baths closed in mid 1946 when the King Alfred baths opened for public use.[4] The building fell into disuse, was occupied by squatters, and then partially re-used again, until it was finally demolished in April 2018.[6]

During this period Sirus Taghan, the then owner, agreed that the occupants could remain so long as the property was kept in the same condition as before occupation. The squatters were eventually evicted in September 2006, although the property was re-occupied for a week at the end of January 2007.

Taghan submitted several applications to demolish the building. However, these were all turned down by the council and also opposed by local residents. There was a fire in the building May 2013, and again in December 2014, after which the site became increasingly derelict. The novelist Polly Samson and the guitarist David Gilmour, a couple, purchased the building in late 2015. It was demolished with the plan to build a new home for herself and Gilmour on the site in 2018. The new building on the site was completed in 2021.

## History

[edit]

Medina House was built in 1894 as the women's section of the Hove Baths (later, more popularly known as the Medina Baths). It provided a sea water swimming pool and slipper baths. Although it has been, and continues to be stated that Medina House housed Turkish baths, this is incorrect.[b][original research?] There were no separate Turkish baths for women.[c] However, access was available for women at the men's baths on Tuesdays and Thursdays from August 1908,[8][9] when they opened, until some time around 1913, when they closed.[10]

As part of Kings Esplanade, Medina House became part of the Cliftonville Conservation Area within Hove. Its listing describes it as a "Strange and whimsical building" that "Possesses some charm and character as well as historical significance."[2]: p.5

During the Second World War it saw service as a makeshift hospital.[11]

Previously owned by Hove Borough Council, it was at the end tenanted from the 1940s to 1994 by a firm of diamond cutters, Monnickendam, who tried to buy the premises from the council and were refused. Around the time that Hove Borough Council was merged with Brighton Council to form the Brighton and Hove unitary authority 1997–8, they instead sold it for circa £300,000 to Sirus Taghan.

### 21st century

[edit]

In 2001, the building was occupied by a group of artists known as the Chalk Circle who used the space for artist development, community workshops and exhibitions. Their aim was to create a 'free space' that the local community could use for whatever they thought most appropriate. Though initially the rent paid to the landlord was minimal (£1 per year) this was gradually increased to £20 per tenant per week. In the summer of 2006 the house became divided into drug addicts and non-addicts. Consequently, internal conflicts arose, most of the non-addicts left and the rent ceased to be collected. It was occupied until September 2006, when the residents were evicted due to non-payment of rent. The court ordered the eviction. The residents appealed against the decision but were eventually evicted. City councillors had been campaigning for four years due to local complaints about noise and rubbish.[11]

In 2007, the building was briefly squatted for about two weeks.[12] One morning, Elijah Smith opened the door to the fire brigade and police who escorted them. The police kicked electric sockets inside the building, causing them to become a fire hazard. Under this pretext the squatters were evicted and a fire prohibition order was then placed on the building.[13]

### Development

[edit]

Following purchase in the late 1990s, Sirus Taghan obtained planning consent for a low-rise small development which would have seen Medina House demolished. Whilst the Royal Doulton-tiled main bath house area was part demolished and the pool filled in with concrete along the way, the consent was allowed to lapse and ideas of putting a tall building on the site have instead proliferated ever since (unsuccessfully).

One idea, for a 'spinning plates' tower, appeared on the front page of the local newspaper, The Argus. A local architect recognised it as having been inspired by a development in Scandinavia. No planning application was submitted to BHCC for this proposal.

Sirus Taghan has wanted to demolish Medina House and build a new tower block. He first put in a planning application for an 18-storey building in 2002, but this was rejected. Subsequently, he planned a smaller tower but never put in a formal application. Taghan's 2006 proposal for Sirus Tower, a 12-storey building which would house 25 flats, also failed to gain planning consent.[14] Taghan claimed that the building is structurally unsound.[15]

### Enforcement notices

[edit]

Following receipt of a letter from the Hove MP, Mike Weatherley, in January 2011, Brighton and Hove City Council opened an Enforcement file. A six-months s215 notice was raised in November 2011, a one-month extension granted soon after and the deadline of 1 June 2012 passed without compliance. At the time of writing a 2nd s215 notice was to be raised concerning refuse within the bath area and a letter was to be sent advising the owners of the council's position: prosecution and/or repairs by the council to be recharged to the owners and asking them what their position is.

Medina House, 2010

### Demolition

[edit]

A fire occurred in the afternoon of Friday 31 May 2013.[16] The cause is unclear.[17] Another fire occurred in the evening of Saturday 20 December 2014.[18] The initial assessment by the fire service was that the cause was arson.[19]

The novelist Polly Samson and the guitarist David Gilmour, a couple, purchased the building in late 2015.[20] After the fires, view of the surveyors was that Medina House was damaged beyond repair. A plan to erect a new structure which echoes the old one was approved. The Victorian building was demolished in April 2018.

## Gallery

[edit]

Swimming pool site 2002 Swimming pool decorated wall, 2002 Swimming pool detail showing decoration, 2002 Rebuilding, 2019 With the roof line of the re constructed Medina House now completed, it exposes the new gable.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Although the Medina House Planning Brief states that the laundry was in Medina House,[2]: p.4 this is incorrect. The laundry, the first part of the baths project to be completed, was next to the men's baths, west of Sussex Road, as can clearly be seen in the (copyrighted) photograph of the laundry fire on 21 December 1909.[5]
2. ^ Three (copyrighted) images of the men's building, signed on the front "Hove Baths" show the building before the Turkish baths were added, while they were open, and after they closed, incidentally paralleling the changes in the road name. The first (Medina Parade) has its Sussex Road wall signless, the second (Medina Esplanade) clearly shows the start of 'TUR'[KISH AND] 'MED'[ICAL BATHS], both cards reproduced on one of Judy Middleton's websites,[4] and the final one (King's Esplanade) showing the sign removed after the Turkish baths closed, on another Middleton website.[7]
3. ^ The three images in the gallery clearly indicate that this was far too large an area for a Victorian Turkish bath in the small town that Hove was at that time. Instead, the wall surfaces and decorative tiling match those in the men's swimming baths across Sussex Road, and illustrated on Judy Middleton's website.[4]

## References

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Medina House.

1. ^ Middleton 2003, Vol. 9, pp. 23–26.
2. ^ a b c Planning Projects Team at Brighton & Hove City Council. (2013). Medina House planning brief. p.4
3. ^ Hove Baths and Laundry Company Limited. Victorian Turkish baths: their origin, development & gradual decline.
4. ^ a b c d Middleton, Judy. (2002; rev.2023). Medina Baths & Medina House, Hove. Hove in the past. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
5. ^ SX 1624 - Fire At Hove Baths Laundry, Sussex 1909. JB Archive. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
6. ^ Wadsworth, Jo (19 April 2018). "Medina House demolished as Dave Gilmour's plans to rebuild it progress". Brighton and Hove News. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
7. ^ Middleton, Judy. (2002; rev 2023). Hove Esplanade Hove in the past. Retrieved 13 June 2024.
8. ^ 'The Hove Medical Baths Co Ltd [advertisement]' Worthing Gazette. (19 October 1910) p.4
9. ^ 'New Turkish bath [advertisement]' Brighton Gazette. (1 August 1908). p.1
10. ^ '[The Hove Baths…]' West Sussex Gazette (17 December 1914) p.9
11. ^ a b Squatters are finally evicted, The Argus, 21 October 2006, archived from the original on 4 April 2012, retrieved 20 March 2009
12. ^ Squatters move back into seafront property, The Argus, 23 January 2007, archived from the original on 16 June 2012, retrieved 20 March 2009
13. ^ Seafront squatters evicted, The Argus, 1 February 2007, archived from the original on 16 June 2012, retrieved 20 March 2009
14. ^ Quirky tower plans anger campaigners, The Argus, 16 October 2006, archived from the original on 2 October 2016
15. ^ Vowles, Neil (14 September 2013). "Developer claims it's 'not viable' to keep historic bath house in Brighton". The Argus. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
16. ^ "Medina House in Hove on fire". The Argus. 31 May 2013. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
17. ^ Kiely, Melita (2 June 2013). "Arson not ruled out at historic Medina House baths". The Argus. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 2 June 2013.
18. ^ "Fire takes hold at historic seafront bath house". The Argus. 20 December 2014. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
19. ^ Vowles, Neil (22 December 2014). "Public baths blaze thought to be arson attack". Archived from the original on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
20. ^ Vowles, Neil (30 October 2015). "Multi-millionaire rock star and author wife are new owners of historic former bath house". The Argus. Newsquest Media (Southern) Ltd. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Middleton, Judy (2003). The Encyclopaedia of Hove & Portslade. Brighton: Brighton & Hove Libraries.

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