King's Road (4)

James Gray: Lyon & Hall’s shop at the corner of East Street and King’s Road in 1913. jgc_09_088

2019: The final yards of the eastern end of King’s Road run behind the Queen’s Hotel as a narrow street. It meets East Street at the junction seen here, a few yards from the seafront. The photographs were taken looking south down East Street with King’s Road to the right.

James Gray: This and the previous photograph [jgc_09_098] were taken more than ten years ago, on 18 May 1974, when it was said that the Queens Hotel was to be extended. Demolitions and alterations finally started in 1984. jgc_09_099

2019: The hotel has gained another floor. (Photographer: Ron Fitton)

James Gray: King’s Road and Promenade, and showing the corner of West Street, in 1868. The corner building, occupied by a bookseller, had a sunken forecourt railed off from the red brick pavement. Note the policeman with his top hat. Additional Information: Embling’s library; Visitors’ list; Bennetts lace & muslin. jgc_01_216

2020: The James Gray image shows King’s Road, east of West Street. The shop shown here on the corner of West Street is Embling’s Library.

James Gray: The hairdressing salon of H P Truefitt Ltd. at 56 King’s Road, between West Street and Middle Street in 1897. The premises were taken over by Jays Jewellers. jgc_02_194

2020: 56 King’s Road appears to have had an interesting history. According to the Brighton History website, it was once regularly visited by the chemist and physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) and later became the home of James Willing, a local advertising contractor and toll gate keeper who in 1887 commissioned the Clock Tower in the centre of Brighton. Some years later it became a hairdressing salon, then apparently a jewellers shop and now offers takeaways to hungry tourists. At the time this photograph was taken, the shop was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  (Photographer: David Sears)

James Gray: Looking up to Kings Road, and the corner of West Street. The photograph shows the white building in West Street, at the corner of South Street. This was No. 81, the original Chatfield’s Hotel, named after E. Chatfield, the first owner, and rebuilt in 1891. Additional Information: ©Philippe Garner. jgc_03_011

James Gray: Between Middle and Ship Streets, about 1890 or possibly a little earlier. The imposing central building was occupied by Lewis & Son, Art Dealers and nearby was the Mikado Café still there in the 1950s.
The four ornamental lamps are a mystery. Usually they stood outside the residence of the Mayor but no one living here held that honour at this period. jgc_03_015

James Gray: The focal point of this photograph is the low building sandwiched between the much larger houses. This was No. 58, Kings Road, to the west of Middle Street and it was famous for its association with William Constable, Brighton’s first photographer. He opened his studio at 57 Marine Parade on 8 November 1841, where he lived until moving to the Kings Road premises in 1852. Constable died at his home in Egremont Place, Brighton on 22 December 1861. The year of this photo is not known. All one can say is between 1866 and 1886.  jgc_03_016

2020: The low white building at 58 Kings Road mentioned by James Gray has now been incorporated into what is now the white-painted Harbour Hotel.

James Gray: This view of just a few years later – Cassinello was now at 60, Middle Street – shows one significant difference. There are four gas lamps outside the building at the corner of Middle Street, whereas in the earlier view there is only one. jgc_03_018

2020: The James Gray 1866 image shows the corner of Middle Street on the right, running north, and King’s Road, running diagonally left to right (west to east) in the forefront. Other images of this stretch of King’s Road can also be found on this page. The five-storey building at the corner of King’s Road and Middle Street in the 1866 image with its distinctive balustrade has been replaced by a larger eight-storey block offering one bed flats for rent to students at the University of Sussex. The doorway at 54-55 King’s Road shows its original title which was Kings Mansions.  (Photographer: David Sears) 

 James Gray: An amateur’s snapshot, taken about 1900, shows that by this time the low building wedged between the tall ones had been refaced and another storey added. jgc_03_019

2020: The most recent image shows the building has been incorporated into what is now the Harbour Hotel. (Photographer: David Sears) 

James Gray: A stroll along the prom. in the summer of 1893. Note that the gas lamps were about to be replaced by the electric standards, which were then being erected at the south kerbside. In front of the distant Chain Pier can be seen the incomplete skeleton of the new Palace Pier, still six years away from completion. Note the long line of wooden capstans, at least one of which still remains today. jgc_03_020

James Gray: This photograph, taken from opposite Ship Street, is much older, almost certainly dating from the 1850s. Note the flagstaff seemingly in the middle of King’s Road. This was the flagstaff of the West Battery, removed in 1858, after which it was moved to the south of the pavement adjoining the wooden railings. Top hats were fashionable among the fishing fraternity in those days. jgc_03_148

James Gray: Photographs of W A Delamotte which were made in 1855 [see also jgc_02_190 and jgc_04_001 and 002 on the King’s Road (3) page and jgc_04_003 on the Grand Junction Road page]. These drawings went from Cliftonville in the west to Kemptown in the east. The sections shown here are from near Russell Street to Middle Street. The hotel mentioned at the extreme left is Mutton’s which remained here until 1929. At the bottom right of this drawing, the low building was occupied by Anthony Hewlett, Perfumer, and William Killett, Glover. jgc_02_191