Churchill Square
Churchill Square is a shopping centre in central Brighton built to replace a crowded area of small streets demolished in the 1960s. The James Gray Collection contains several images of these disappeared streets. Each historic street in the Churchill Square area has its own ‘historic streets’ page (see below).(Please note that general practice in this website is to name streets using their current name. Historic streets are included only in areas of exceptionally complex development where it is impossible to locate images using a current street name. )
Comparison map: Historic streets alongside 2020 layout.
Churchill Square historic street links:
General images of Churchill Square
James Gray: Progress of this vast development, February 1968. Still a great deal to be done, the office blocks to be finished and the tower block (right foreground) just being started. jgc_29_210
2018: On the left (west) of both images is the ramp leading to the roof car parking area of Churchill Square. The offices of the Post Office service (the reverse L-shaped structure in the 1965 image) have disappeared and the whole of the shopping area has been roofed over.
James Gray: Two photographs [jgc_29_208 and jgc_29_209] of March 1967, showing, from the north, the clearance in Western Road at the corner of Clarence Street. jgc_29_208
2019: The sign of the Prince of Wales public house can be seen to the west (right) of each image. To the east, virtually nothing remains of the ‘first’ Churchill Square (late 1960s – late 1990s).
James Gray: My collection would be incomplete without including at least one photograph of Churchill Square which covered the mass of small streets, courts and alleys which were formerly here and which can be seen in the West Brighton album. I do not know when this photograph was taken but most of these buildings will disappear during the complete rebuilding of the square now in progress. jgc_19_042
2018: Churchill Square was first opened in 1967. It was heavily redeveloped in the late 1990s and the facade has been revamped more than once since then. (Photographer: Nick Eastham)
James Gray: On the south side of the road and nearer the Clock Tower. This is the site now occupied by Barratt’s boot and shoe shop, erected here in 1924. jgc_19_044
2019: Barrett’s at No 17 Western Road would have been almost in the centre of the shops between North Street and Clarence Street. They occupied the area where the pavement and bus layby is now. See jgc_19_154 on the Western Road (1) page for a clear picture of the shops, including Barratts shoe shop, just before demolition. The 2019 image shows the frontage of Churchill Square directly behind where No 17 stood. (Photographer: Nick Eastham)
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James Gray: Another of the many photographs showing the progress of this extensive rebuilding of this former densely populated area. Possibly taken from high up on the flats being built here, the year is most probably 1965 or 1966. Many of the landmarks can be picked out. Marks and Spencer in Western Road, the Union Church in Queens Square, Regent Cinema and Dance Hall and many others.