Montpelier Crescent
Montpelier Crescent is a mid 19th-century crescent of 38 houses in the Montpelier suburb of Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Built in five parts as a set-piece residential development in the rapidly growing seaside resort, the main part of the crescent was designed between 1843 and 1847 by prominent local architect Amon Henry Wilds and is one of his most distinctive compositions. Extra houses were added at both ends of the crescent in the mid-1850s. Unlike most other squares, terraces and crescents in Brighton, it does not face the sea—and the view it originally had towards the South Downs was blocked within a few years by a tall terrace of houses opposite. Montpelier was an exclusive and "salubrious" area of Brighton, and Montpelier Crescent has been called its "great showpiece". Wilds's central section has been protected as Grade II* listed, with the later additions listed separately at the lower Grade II. The crescent is in one of the city's 34 conservation areas, and forms one of several "outstanding examples of late Regency architecture" within it.
History
Brighton developed as a large fishing and agricultural village on the English Channel coast. Despite intermittent periods of decline and destitution, it was the largest town in the county of Sussex by 1600. In the mid-18th century, the damaging economic effects of a terminal decline in the fishing industry were reversed by the new fashion for sea-bathing, and the town's new role as a seaside resort began. Northwest of the old town, around the parish church and the road leading to Devil's Dyke and on to London, was an expanse of gently sloping downland known as Church Hill. It was given over to sheep-grazing and was owned by two prominent locals: MP Thomas Kemp and John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset.Helped by royal patronage and good transport links to London and other important towns, Brighton grew rapidly in the early 19th century, and high-class suburbs were laid out. The completion in 1841 of the main railway line from London provided a further stimulus. By this time, Church Hill—ideally situated close to the sea and the town's main attractions, largely undeveloped and with a pleasant southwesterly aspect—was developing as a high-class residential area called Montpelier. Montpelier Road was laid out from 1820 as a major road running from the seafront to the Ditchling Road, past the house built in 1819 for the late Thomas Kemp's son Thomas Read Kemp. Prominent local architect Amon Henry Wilds is believed to have designed it, although his father Amon Wilds may have been involved.
Thomas Read Kemp's finances were overstretched by his involvement with the Kemp Town estate east of Brighton, and by the time he fled to France in 1837 he had sold or given away most of his landholding in the Montpelier area. Parcels of land were bought by builders and speculators, and a series of carefully planned "set-piece" residential developments were laid out. Work on Montpelier Crescent started in 1843, on and behind a stretch of Kemp's land previously occupied by a cricket pitch. The Lillywhite's Ground was in use between 1831 and 1844 and was one of Brighton Cricket Club's venues. Amon Henry Wilds was commissioned to design the first set of houses; in view of the vast scale he worked to, which was unusual on a site so far inland from the coast, the crescent has been called "the grandest of his many works". The houses lacked a sea view, as they faced northwest towards the open land of the South Downs. The crescent was completed in 1847; within ten years, the downland vista had been obscured by the construction of Vernon Terrace opposite. This "impressive" set of four-storey terraced houses, dating from between 1856 and the mid-1860s, lined the west side of the former Montpelier Road, which by this stage had been renamed except for the stretch south of Denmark Villas. Between the east side of Vernon Terrace and the crescent, a curved area of green space was retained.
The section completed in 1847, consisting of paired and tripartite groups of linked villas, comprised house numbers 7 to 31 inclusive. Two wings flanking the original crescent were added in the mid-1850s, taking the number of houses to 38. They had a different, slightly less elaborate design: for example, they lacked the tall Classical-style pilasters and Wilds's characteristic ammonite capitals, as seen on the earlier houses. All houses were comparatively plain inside: features included characteristic Victorian decorative mouldings and wooden staircases.
The crescent has changed little since its construction, although some buildings at the north end were demolished in the late 19th century to allow Seven Dials, a major road junction, to be built. The buildings are shown in a steel engraving dated approximately 1856, which also suggests that the crescent was closed at one end with railings which also continued around the gardens.
Heritage
The older central section of Montpelier Crescent was listed at Grade II* on 13 October 1952. The mid-1850s section were separately listed at the lower Grade II in four parts, covering numbers 1–3, 4–6, 32–33 and 34–38.Montpelier Crescent forms part of the Montpelier & Clifton Hill Conservation Area, one of 34 conservation areas in the city of Brighton and Hove. This area was designated by the council in 1973. Describing the crescent as "one of the architectural set-pieces for which is rightly renowned" and "probably one of Brighton's most famous landmarks", the council has identified several features by which Montpelier Crescent contributes to the character of the conservation area. Good tree cover, both in the back gardens and in front of the crescent on the "very pleasant" green, the use of pale cream-coloured paint to improve the architectural harmony of the façades, the existence of a rare "Edward VII"-style pillar box, and the relationship with the "imposing" Vernon Terrace opposite, create "a townscape of outstanding quality".
Architecture
Work took place over the course of more than 10 years, and the differences in design make the crescent "difficult to appreciate as a single composition". Despite this lack of coherence, the overall effect is of a "magnificent sweeping crescent". Each unit was designed as a villa-style mansion and was linked to its neighbours under large pediments. The development took place at the point in Brighton's development when Regency architecture was evolving into the Victorians' interpretation of the Italianate style. Amon Henry Wilds designed four landmark residential crescents, of which Montpelier Crescent was the third; the others were Hanover Crescent, Park Crescent and Park Crescent. Architectural historians have noted that Montpelier Crescent's inland-facing orientation "surprises": most squares and crescents in Brighton and Hove were built facing the sea, and its layout was accordingly unusual. Hanover Crescent was another example of a west/northwest-facing development, which may have encouraged Wilds to try the layout again.1–3 Montpelier Crescent
These three houses rise to three storeys and form a slightly outward-curving nine-bay composition whose outermost bays are recessed. The curved effect is much less pronounced than in the centre of the crescent. At first-floor level, a cast iron balcony supported on brackets spans the other seven bays. The houses are topped by a parapet which is supported on a cornice and which continues round the side elevation of number 1, which faces Clifton Hill. Each house has a three-window range; those at first-floor level have architraves of various styles, while at the top floor original sash windows survive. The doors, which are four-panelled and have decorative fanlights, are set in porches flanked by pilasters and topped by an entablature. The ground-floor walls are heavily rusticated. The roof has chimneys at the sides and is hidden behind the continuous parapet.4–6 Montpelier Crescent
Similar to their neighbours at the end of the crescent, these three houses have three windows to each of three storeys and have stuccoed, partly rusticated façades which curve outwards slightly. There are differences as well: the outer bays of the outermost houses are not recessed, every window is set in a moulded surround with pedimental architraves and "unusual" wreath-shaped decoration, and the slate-tiled roof is visible behind the low parapet and cornice. The roof also has dormer windows.7–31 Montpelier Crescent
The 25 houses in the original section of the crescent form a northwest-facing concave curve. The composition consists of ten "blocks", each linked to the next by a recessed one- or two-storey wing and each with either two or three houses. From north to south the pattern is 3–3–3–2–2–2–2–2–3–3. Each house is clad with stucco and painted pale cream. The crescent rises to three storeys throughout, except for the smaller linking bays, and most houses have parapets which hide their tiled roofs. Amon Henry Wilds did not use a consistent design for each building, and he used various decorative elements such as moulded wreaths and his characteristic ammonite capital design. Invented by George Dance the Younger but popularised by Wilds, the shell-shaped volutes of the capitals recall ammonite fossils. Other Wilds-built houses in Castle Place, Western Terrace, Oriental Place, Hanover Crescent, Old Steine and Montpelier Road display them.Each house has three windows to each storey ; in some cases, original sash windows survive, and window surrounds vary between straight-headed and round-arched. Many are flanked by small pilasters supporting an entablature. Each block is capped by a large pediment supported on full-height fluted Corinthian pilasters. Many of these pilasters are topped with ammonite capitals, and there are some slight differences: the pilasters at number 29 lack fluting, and those at number 30 have a panelled pattern. The stucco is rusticated at ground-floor level. Some houses have cast iron balconies at either first- or ground-floor level; the latter are more intricate and are later additions.