James Gray: These photographs of the Steine call for no special comments, as they are similar to many others. This view dates from about 1890 with the next [jgc_10_002] a few years later. jgc_10_001
2018: View from the 3rd floor of the Royal Albion Hotel. Due to limited access, this picture is not quite as central and high over the gardens as the 1890 image, but the changes over the years are still very apparent.
James Gray: View up the street from Old Steine – 1907. Apart from the widening at Lyons Corner, this street has changed very little during the past half century. This is a copy of a guide book photograph, which accounts for the blurred appearance. jgc_22_001 and 22_006
James Gray: View across the Steine, 20 years later (than jgc_22_001). This is a photograph of 1927, the year in which the Lyons building replaced those fine old houses 13-15 Old Steine. The newly erected building can be seen through the trees. jgc_22_002
2018: Both four-storey corner buildings at the west junction with Old Steine have been rebuilt. St James’s Street buildings further up the road remain mainly intact, with extensive shop front alterations at ground floor level. There are wider pavements, with St James’s Street being one way west to east, single vehicle width. (Photographer: April Wright)
James Gray: One building provides the clue to the date of this photograph. This was the Livingstone Hotel, 14 Old Steine. (see name at roof level). Old directories show that this hotel was here only in the years mentioned above. jgc_10_003
2018: Mature trees now block the view of the site of 13, 14 and 15 Old Steine. It is on the corner of St James’s Street, directly behind the Old Steine bus shelter but only a glimpse of it can be seen.
James Gray: This photograph dates from a few years earlier than that of the previous photograph (jgc_10_003). The gas lamp in the foreground is not to be seen in the later view. Note the YMCA however, which only took over Mrs Fitzherbert’s house in 1883, so the photograph dates from between that year and 1888. jgc_10_004
2018: This and the next image (jgc_10_005) are identical. The 2018 entry for jgc_10_001 also applies here. (Photographer: Jane Jordan)
James Gray: Compare the old photograph above with the preceding photograph (jgc_10_004). Obviously taken by the same person and within minutes of each other. Most features are common to both photographs but there are one or two minute differences. Period between 1883 and 1888. jgc_10_005
2018: The 2018 entry for jgc_10_001 also applies here. (Photographer: Jane Jordan)
James Gray: These small photographs are older than the previous (jgc_10_007) and look like 1870 vintage. jgc_10_008
2018: The 1870 view of Victoria Fountain is a stereoscopic photograph, an early form of 3D viewing. A special Stereoscope viewer would merge the images to produce one 3D picture. In 2018, mature trees now obscure the view to many of the remaining buildings. (Photographer: Jane Jordan)
James Gray: Looking north to the fountain and beyond. On the right can be seen the Tram Shelter facing St James’s Street, removed a few years later. jgc_10_074
James Gray: This photograph provides few clues to the period, although it is a fair guess that it is from 1900-1914. jgc_10_081
James Gray: Both ends of the Steine. Above, the memorial to the Royal Sussex Regiment, erected at the north end of the Steine during the 1880s to commemorate the Egyptians campaigns. Beyond a rear view of Chantry’s statue of George IV, moved from this position in 1922. jgc_10_015
2018: Brighton’s War Memorial has replaced the statue of George IV (designed by Sir Francis Chantrey) at the southern end of Old Steine, beyond the obelisk. The War Memorial, designed by Sir John Simpson, was erected in 1922. The names of 2,597 men and 3 women from Brighton who lost their lives in the First World War are inscribed on it. The water in its pool represents the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy and the memorial gardens surrounding it represent the British Army and Royal Air Force. (Photographer: Jane Jordan)
James Gray: The recently erected 1914-1918 War Memorial.
Apart from the removal of 1 and 2 Old Steine, the appearance of the surrounding buildings is the same as now, 30 years later. jgc_10_075
James Gray: As the caption states, this is the unveiling of Brighton’s War memorial, by Earl Beatty, on 7 October 1922. In the background, the Mayor, Alderman Pankhurst. Additional Information: Architect: Sir John Simpson, who was also the designer of Roedean. jgc_10_076
James Gray: Crowds in the Old Steine gather for the two minute silence, which was always observed each November 11 between the [two World] Wars. The presence of the electric lights tell us that the year must be between 1932 and 1939, probably nearer to the latter.
Sadly, this simple act of homage to our dead has now died out, while the memorial itself has lost its smart, clean appearance. jgc_10_077
James Gray: An aerial view of the Steine, which looks to have been taken about the mid-1920s. Well worth studying with a magnifying glass. jgc_10_034
2018: Almost 100 years later and with the wonders of new technology, this 2018 image captured from Google View clearly shows the changing landscape. (Photographer: Jane Jordan)
James Gray: Old Steine and tram terminus. jgc_10_040
2018: View from the 3rd floor of the Royal Albion Hotel. Look closely just to the left of the central lamppost. This giant gastropod is part of an art installation featuring 50 hand-painted giant snails scattered across Brighton in aid of the Martlets charity. Decorated by local artists and community groups, the snails were in place for 2 months from September to November 2018, then auctioned, raising £231,400. (Photographer: Jane Jordan)
James Gray: Moving the statue of George IV. jgc_10_072
James Gray: View from the south west across the Steine to Lawson’s Corner in the early part of the century. At that period the neighbourhood was sufficiently free from the noise of traffic to permit music in the Steine enclosure. jgc_10_073
James Gray: The bronze statue of George IV by Sir Francis Chantrey was erected on the North Steine in 1828, and can be seen in its original position in the older photographs of the Steine [see jgc_10_015 above and jgc_09_126 on the Old Steine (3) page]. After standing there for nearly 100 years, it was removed to its present site near the North Gate of the Royal Pavilion in 1922, to make way for the 1914-1918 War Memorial, which can be seen in the background of these photographs [jgc_30_025 on the Old Steine (6) page, jgc_30_027 on the Pavilion Parade page and jgc_10_075, 076 and 077 above]. jgc_30_024
2020: The statue of George IV was moved in March 1922. John W Simpson’s war memorial, seen here and in the background of the James Gray image, was officially unveiled in October of the same year. It has been Grade II listed since 1999. (Photographer: Jane Southern)
There are more images of the Old Steine on the ‘Historic Images of Brighton and Hove’ site: Click here to view
Text is being prepared or edited for this entry. It will be available soon
10-75