James Gray: The latest of these three [see also jgc_03_176 and 177 on the King’s Road (5) page] photographs, dating from 1869-1870. The old baths have gone, replaced by the very new Markwell’s Royal Hotel (now the Queens) but the old Brill’s Bunion can still be seen protruding from the bottom of East Street. A glimpse of the new Brill’s Baths in East Street. Additional Information: Photographer: W.H. Mason jgc_03_178
2020: This is one of a series of very similar images of the hotel opened in 1870 on the original site of Brill’s Baths. A better view of the ‘new’ Brill’s Baths can be found in jgc_03_193 below.
James Gray: Brill’s Baths, previously Mahomed’s Baths, at about the time of their demolition, in 1869. This building was much older than the adjacent houses to the east, which were probably built about 1830. Additional Information: Photographer: Edward Fox jgc_03_183
2020: Gray’s image shows the far eastern end of King’s Road just before the demolition of the old baths, first opened by Sake Dean Mahomed in 1821. (Photographer: David Sears)
James Gray: On the site of the old [Brill’s] baths shown on the preceding page, this hotel was built in 1870. Edward Fox took both these photographs soon afterwards. Narrow though Grand Junction Road was then, it had been widened between 1864 and 1867. The kerbside iron railings were installed at that time. There was a later widening here in 1886. jgc_03_189
James Gray: Three photographs of 1870, showing King’s Road almost devoid of traffic and of people [jgc_03_190, 191 and 192]. In the distance, the Chain Pier. The promenade was then quite narrow, being widened to its present width in 1886. At the far end of King’s Road can be seen Brill’s Baths, erected in 1869, while the building under construction was the Clarendon Hotel at the corner of East Street which replaced an old lodging house known as Clarendon Mansion. It is this building which dates the photographs because it is well known that it was built in 1870. jgc_03_191
James Gray: See caption for jgc_03_191 above. jgc_03_192
James Gray: The building which replaced the Baths, Markwell’s Hotel, was erected in 1870. This now forms part of the Queens Hotel, with which it was merged about 1913. jgc_03_184
2020: The James Gray image is one of a series of very similar images from the 1870s showing the west-facing front and entrance of the recently opened Markwell’s Hotel. The establishment was absorbed into Queens Hotel (behind it, to the east) in 1908. (Photographer: David Sears)
James Gray: On the site of the old baths shown on the preceding page [jgc_03_183], this hotel was built in 1870. Edward Fox took both these photographs soon afterwards. Narrow though Grand Junction Road was then, it had been widened between 1864 and 1867. The kerbside iron railings were installed at that time. There was a later widening here in 1886. jgc_03_188
2020: Another view of the Queens Hotel today, showing the Palace Pier which was opened in 1899. The pier in the background of Gray’s image is of course the Chain Pier, destined to be destroyed in a storm in December 1896. (Photographer: David Sears)
James Gray: The exact year of these three photographs [jgc_03_193 and, on the King’s Road (5) page, jgc_03_194 and 195] is not known but most likely they date from the early 1870s, about 1872-3. They show two buildings but recently erected – Markwell’s Royal Hotel (now Queens) built in 1870, and at the far end of King’s Road, Brill’s Baths just one year older. Otherwise they depict a scene of a traffic-free, quiet but dirty King’s Road and an almost complete absence of people. jgc_03_193
2020: Sadly, the distinctive building for the ‘new’ Brill’s Baths (seen to the left of the hotel in Gray’s image) was demolished in 1929 and replaced by an Art Deco cinema. (Photographer: David Sears)
James Gray: Here the building of the Clarendon Hotel at the corner of East Street provides the clue to the year of the photograph –1870. Note the kerbside railings, erected just a few years previously. jgc_03_173
James Gray: Another view showing the Queens Hotel. jgc_03_207
2020: Although not mentioned by James Gray whose focus is the construction of the Clarendon Hotel, his 1870 photograph is one of a series of very similar images taken between 1869 and 1873 of the west-facing front of and entrance to the recently opened Markwell’s Hotel. Markwell’s was absorbed into the Queen’s Hotel, behind it, to the east, in 1908 and remains a prominent feature to this day.