historic street on the site of Churchill Square
Comparison map: Historic streets alongside 2019 layout of Churchill Square
James Gray: Looking north to the steps passing under the houses of Upper Russell Street, the backs of which are shown. See previous page for a front view of these houses [jgc_29_110 on the Upper Russell Street (1) page]. They were demolished in 1938. Note the relative positions of the telegraph post and lamp post in both photographs (see following). jgc_29_111
James Gray: Looking up the Court to the steps giving access to Upper Russell Street, 24 April 1954. Compare these photographs with those on the previous page. jgc_29_116
2018: Kents Court disappeared under the Churchill Square shopping centre. The site was approximately under the red zone of the Churchill Square car park. (Photographer: Suzanne Hinton)
James Gray: The derelict 3-4 Kents Court in 1946. They are still standing and are now in use as the vestry of the Tabernacle Chapel. jgc_29_112
2018: The casual observer would be excused for thinking the building central in the 2018 image replaced 3-4 Kents Court seen in the 1946 photograph. As noted elsewhere on this page, Kents Court disappeared under the Churchill Square shopping centre and adjacent car parks, the massive wall of which can just be seen on the left (north) of the later image, which was taken further south than the location of Kents Court. The building in the centre of this photograph is the multi-purpose Wagner Hall in Russell Place. The tall building on the right houses the registered office of the Family Assurance Friendly Society Ltd which has its entrance at 17 West Street. The spire of St Paul’s Church, also in West Street, is seen in both images. (Photographer: Suzanne Hinton)
James Gray: No comment. jgc_29_124
2018: Kents Court has disappeared under the east extension (grey roof) of the Churchill Square shopping centre. (Photographer: Google Images)
James Gray: 10 and 11 Kents Court, two very good examples of early Brighton cottages. They were built of flints gathered from the beach, cemented with mortar, with brick-work around the doors and windows. The attic windows and roof of 12-14 remain, but the three houses had been converted for use as a meat market. Hidden away at the back of the two old flint houses was Bodles Court shown on another page. [See jgc_29_193 on the Russell Street page.] jgc_29_113
James Gray: Round the corner to a view of Nos 6-9. These old houses, which date from about 1800, were all removed in 1939, except for the two flint cottages above the Halliwell Memorial Hall (not shown in these photographs) which were still standing in 1952. jgc_29_114
James Gray: Not a bombed site, but an area semi-derelict because of clearances of the 1930s interrupted by the 1939-45 war and still not completed by the mid-1950s. The wholesale Meat Market in the court, looking through to Russell Street, 24 October 1955. Everything seen has gone and the sites are buried beneath the maze of the Churchill Square complex. Only maps will enable future generations of Brightonians to realise where this court and adjoining streets were. jgc_29_115
James Gray: The last occupied house in Kents Court. At one time there were 19 houses in this court but most of them were cleared under a slum clearance scheme in the 1930s. No 16 here shown stood in complete isolation for many years until demolished in May 1954. jgc_29_118
James Gray: See caption for jgc_29_118 above. jgc_29_117
James Gray: The drab appearance of Kents Court on a sunless day in August 1930. The facing cottages were Nos 3 & 4, with behind them the Baptist Tabernacle off West Street. Kents Court was rebuilt about 1800 and was mostly removed in 1934. jgc_29_138