James Gray: Victorian houses, 143, 144 and 145, Kings Road, in 1901. Originally private houses, and later lodging houses, by the time of the photograph they were a private hotel. Now the Salisbury Hotel, the premises were reconstructed between the wars. jgc_01_086
2019: 143-145 King’s Road Brighton is Grade 2 listed and remains a privately owned, independent hotel, now named the Brighton Hotel. (Photographer: Alison Meekings)
James Gray: [Bottom left] No comment. Additional Information: View from West Pier. jgc_01_001
James Gray: [Top left] This small photograph is one of the most interesting in my entire collection and amply repays careful study under a magnifying glass. Taken from the West Pier in 1866 it shows the rebuilding of the Norfolk Hotel. Note the scaffolding. Observe also the low gravel bank which then led from the open beach to the unfenced promenade.
James Gray: Evidently I was wrong in what I said above [jgc_01_002] as some years later I found an ancient photograph, of which this is a copy, which also showed the significant gap in the buildings between Adelaide Crescent and Cliftonville. The two photographs were probably taken by the same man and at the same time. jgc_01_003
James Gray: The year is 1912, the clue being provided by work proceeding on the erection of the Peace Statue, unveiled in October of that year. jgc_01_013
James Gray: Two amateur-taken photographs [jgc_01_053 and 054 below] of the same area of King’s Road. A more autumnal scene, may date from just after the Second World War. At the extreme right, note the original Abinger House. jgc_01_053
2020: Another ‘amateur-taken’ photograph shows the same scene 80 years later. Embassy Court, the Norfolk Hotel (now the Mercure) and the King’s Hotel are still easily identifiable.
James Gray: Two amateur-taken photographs [see also jgc_01_053 above] of the same area of Kings Road. This one, dating from 1938 or 1939, reflects the days when Brighton still attracted people to its deck chairs and to listen to the band at the western bandstand now long since abandoned. jgc_01_054
2020: This image is easy to locate, with the ‘butterfly’ bandstand just showing to the left (south) and Embassy Court prominent on the far side of Kings Road, looking west.
James Gray: A clear photograph of the western seafront, period late 1860s or early 1870s. Note 154, the end of one of five elegant houses, being rebuilt. Also the original facades of 143, 144 and 145 with pillared balconies. No arches under the pavement at that period. jgc_01_055
James Gray: This photograph shows an extra storey on the three houses mentioned in the previous photograph [jgc_01_055], now the Salisbury Hotel. jgc_01_056
James Gray: This photograph [and jgc_01_058 ] are two of the most important photographs in my entire collection. Copied from old photographs, which must have been taken before 1867, they show the south pavement of this part of Kings Road before it was walled and railed. A grassy bank then led down from the pavement to the beach below and at intervals there were small flights of steps. In this view look west to the corner of Brunswick Square and note the gap just behind Brunswick Terrace. This is the vacant plot on which was built 58, Brunswick Square, probably about 1873-74, many years after all the other houses in the Square were built. Additional Information: ©Philippe Garner. jgc_01_057 and jgc_01_058
James Gray: 1/4. The open beach in 1890. The bandstand and accompanying enclosures, built in 1884, were then quite unprotected from the sea. jgc_01_062
James Gray: 2/4. 1901. The sea wall had been built in 1894, but at this period the front of the wall was very exposed. Additional Information: Titled “Hove Parade, Brighton”. jgc_01_063
James Gray: 3/4. About 1914. By now as a result of extensive groyning the beach had accumulated and was level with the top of the sea wall. jgc_01_064
James Gray: 4/4. 1927. The boating pool had been opened 2 years before, in 1925, the outside walls being built on the foundations of the old sea wall. jgc_01_065
2020: This set of four images chosen by James Gray shows the seafront along King’s Road taken from the West Pier between 1890 and 1927. Major buildings on the far side of King’s Road include the Norfolk Hotel, now the Mercure, the Kings Hotel, Burleigh Hall in Cavendish Place and the old Bedford Hotel.
James Gray: Early in the 1870s. The line of buildings ends at Adelaide Crescent, so the photograph must have been taken before the building of the Avenues. The low building on the beach by the steps is a puzzle. Through the open doors can be seen the bow of a boat, which suggests a lifeboat house and yet at this period the lifeboat was housed in an arch opposite the bottom of Middle Street. [Later correction] Of course, the building was the Lifeboat House, here from 1867 until 1892. jgc_01_127
James Gray: The postcard view is included purely for contrast. But for the disappearance of the bathing chalets and tents this could have been taken in the present year, 1979. In fact it dates from at least 40 years earlier. Embassy Court is built but seems unoccupied, which suggests the year as 1935. jgc_01_145
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James Gray: It is interesting to see the newly–built sea front block between First and Second Avenues but nothing between there and Cliftonville. jgc_01_150
James Gray: This photograph and the one following [jgc_01_069] were taken about 1907. Note the altered appearance of 143, 144 and 145, Kings Road, now the Salisbury Hotel. The publisher must have taken a liberty in naming this – Hove Parade – as it has always been in Brighton. jgc_01_068
James Gray: See jgc_01_068. jgc_01_069
James Gray: 1914. Additional Information: Brighton and Hove promenades showing piers and King Edward VII memorial. jgc_01_085
James Gray: Dating from the 1920s, this shows the King’s Road bandstand and its accompanying enclosures laid out in 1884 and remaining until replaced in 1925-28. Note the splendid original Abinger House, adjoining the Norfolk Hotel. jgc_01_077
2020: With the West Pier now in ruins, and with many additions to to the lower promenade, the original images cannot be fully replicated. This shows, in the same line from the West Pier, what is now the Brighton Beach Club.