Historic building, house, later institutional uses. Detached Victorian 3-storey classical villa, built between 1850 and 1860.
No CA.
LLHA0230.
Detached Victorian 3-storey classical villa, built between 1850 and 1860.
Wellington Road was planned at the time of the death of the Duke of Wellington in 1852 as a group of detached and semi-detached villas and was set apart from the other roads in the area, which were mainly densely developed terraces.
By 1864 the house had become a boarding school. A notable pupil was Walter Arthur Copinger (1837-1910), the jurist and author who developed the law of copyright.
By 1870 it was once again a house and was the residence of John Chester Craven, who had been apprenticed to Robert Stevenson and is associated with the beginning of the locomotive building industry, which was a major industry in Brighton in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. Craven died at the house in 1887. It was used interchangeably as a school and residence, under the ownership of the Craven family until 1925.
By 1927 it was owned by the Children’s Society and used as a residential home until 1979 when it became a day centre. It has been vacant since 2004.
The original house is clearly legible (despite later alterations and extensions), and comprises a 2-storey rendered building with 5 bay symmetrical frontage. Hipped roof, bracketed eaves and central portico with Doric columns.
The original 2-by-2 sash windows have mostly been removed, with the windows infilled with concrete blockwork. The original door has also been removed and replaced by a window opening (now also infilled).
The house is set in comparatively substantial grounds with a carriage drive to the front, and rendered wall with gothic-style wrought iron railings to the boundary.
In 2006, the interior still retained a number of original features, despite extensive modification to institutional use, including the original staircase.
ii. Good quality architectural features and composition, which is still legible despite later alteration.
i. Associated with 2 notable historic individuals; Walter Arthur Copinger, father of copyright law, and John Chester Craven, associated with Robert Stevenson and the development of the locomotive building industry.
The locomotive building industry became a major industry in the city and thus had a significant impact on its development.
ii. Outside a conservation area. The building is the most impressive of the surviving villas on Wellington Road and contributes greatly to the street scene.
i. Detached early/mid-Victorian villas in substantial grounds are comparatively rare in the local context, particularly in urban situations such as Wellington Road.
2015.
