Montpelier Crescent

Brighton (originally known as Brighthelmston) developed as a large fishing and agricultural village on the English Channel coast. Despite intermittent periods of decline and destitution, it was the largest town in the county of Sussex by 1600. In the mid-18th century, the damaging economic effects of a terminal decline in the fishing industry were reversed by the new fashion for sea-bathing, and the town's new role as a seaside resort began. Northwest of the old town, around the parish church and the road leading to Devil's Dyke and on to London, was an expanse of gently sloping downland known as Church Hill. It was given over to sheep-grazing and was owned by two prominent locals: MP Thomas Kemp and John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset. Helped by royal patronage (particularly from the Prince Regent) and good transport links to London and other important towns, By this time, Church Hill—ideally situated close to the sea and the town's main attractions, largely undeveloped and with a pleasant southwesterly aspect—was developing as a high-class residential area called Montpelier. Montpelier Road was laid out from 1820 as a major road running from the seafront to the Ditchling Road, Prominent local architect Amon Henry Wilds is believed to have designed it, although his father Amon Wilds may have been involved. . Thomas Read Kemp's finances were overstretched by his involvement with the Kemp Town estate east of Brighton, and by the time he fled to France in 1837 he had sold or given away most of his landholding in the Montpelier area. Parcels of land were bought by builders and speculators, and a series of carefully planned "set-piece" residential developments were laid out. and was one of Brighton Cricket Club's venues. Amon Henry Wilds was commissioned to design the first set of houses; in view of the vast scale he worked to, which was unusual on a site so far inland from the coast, The houses lacked a sea view, as they faced northwest towards the open land of the South Downs. Between the east side of Vernon Terrace and the crescent, a curved area of green space was retained. ==Heritage==

The older central section of Montpelier Crescent (incorporating numbers 7–31) was listed at Grade II* on 13 October 1952. The mid-1850s section were separately listed at the lower Grade II in four parts, covering numbers 1–3, 4–6, 32–33 and 34–38. Montpelier Crescent forms part of the Montpelier & Clifton Hill Conservation Area, one of 34 conservation areas in the city of Brighton and Hove. This area was designated by the council in 1973. and "probably one of Brighton's most famous landmarks", the council has identified several features by which Montpelier Crescent contributes to the character of the conservation area. Good tree cover, both in the back gardens the use of pale cream-coloured paint to improve the architectural harmony of the façades, the existence of a rare "Edward VII"-style pillar box, and the relationship with the "imposing" Vernon Terrace opposite, create "a townscape of outstanding quality". ==Architecture==

Work took place over the course of more than 10 years (Wilds completed the central section in 1847, and the other parts were added in about 1855), and the differences in design make the crescent "difficult to appreciate as a single composition". Despite this lack of coherence, the overall effect is of a "magnificent sweeping crescent". The development took place at the point in Brighton's development when Regency architecture was evolving into the Victorians' interpretation of the Italianate style. Amon Henry Wilds designed four landmark residential crescents, of which Montpelier Crescent was the third; the others were Hanover Crescent (Brighton), Park Crescent (Brighton) and Park Crescent (Worthing). 1–3 Montpelier Crescent These three houses rise to three storeys and form a slightly outward-curving nine-bay composition whose outermost bays (containing the entrances for numbers 1 and 3) are recessed. and the slate-tiled roof (a hipped mansard) is visible behind the low parapet and cornice. The roof also has dormer windows. Invented by George Dance the Younger but popularised by Wilds, the shell-shaped volutes of the capitals recall ammonite fossils. Other Wilds-built houses in Castle Place, Western Terrace, Oriental Place, Hanover Crescent, Old Steine and Montpelier Road display them. Each house has three windows to each storey (except numbers 24 and 25, with four each); in some cases, original sash windows survive, and window surrounds vary between straight-headed and round-arched. Many are flanked by small pilasters supporting an entablature. Each block is capped by a large pediment supported on full-height fluted Corinthian pilasters. Many of these pilasters are topped with ammonite capitals, and there are some slight differences: the pilasters at number 29 lack fluting, and those at number 30 have a panelled pattern. The stucco is rusticated at ground-floor level. Some houses have cast iron balconies at either first- or ground-floor level; the latter are more intricate and are later additions. 32–33 Montpelier Crescent This pair of stucco-fronted houses are not symmetrical: number 32 (the more southerly of the two) has three windows to each storey, but number 33 has four. They are both flat-fronted with no curve, and share a slate mansard roof in which small dormer windows are inset. This spans the central five bays; the outermost bays are set back, have partly vermiculated quoins on their inner sides, and have an entrance (with a fanlight and a segmental arch) at ground-floor level. There are cast iron balconies at ground- and first-floor level; the former runs across the width of the building, whereas each first-floor window has an individual balcony. Some windows have decorative pediments and architraves. 34–38 Montpelier Crescent The northern end of Montpelier Crescent curves outwards and ends (at number 38) in a large projecting bay. At ground-floor level across the whole width of the five-house terrace is heavy rustication. The roof is hidden behind a parapet with a modillion cornice and a fourth (attic) storey with another cornice. Most of the windows have architraves or pediments (either curved or triangular) and are straight-headed. A continuous cast-iron balcony, supported on brackets and separated at intervals by stuccoed piers, spans the houses at first-floor level. Number 38's entrance faces Dyke Road at Seven Dials and has a two-storey entrance porch with decorative mouldings and pilasters. ==See also==