Looking Into Brighton’s Past

As a student at Brighton University, I was very pleased to be able to get a short time of work experience with the Royal Pavilion and Museums, Brighton & Hove. I am in my second year studying Visual Culture, which is essentially History of Art, although the course is quite flexible so I have the opportunity to study photography and film if I want to study more contemporary art practices rather than the more traditional art movements.

Since starting my work experience here I have been working alongside Kevin Bacon, the Digital Development Officer who deals with digitalising fine art and photographs, working on the Museum website, the smartphone app and social networking sites (along with a lot more that I have yet to discover). Kevin has taught me how to use their image store  which I wasn’t even aware of before I started my placement. If you haven’t had a browse yet, I recommend it, even if you don’t have an interest in art, many of the paintings/photographs/postcards/ceramics I came across were fascinating to look at, seeing Brighton during both World Wars and previously is intriguing.

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Monochrome postcard bearing image of 12 Indian Soldiers posing outside the Royal Pavilion, during its use as a Military Hospital

Some of the photographs within the slideshow were taken during the First World War. I’m most fascinated with the ones taken of the Indian Soldiers at the Royal Pavilion. In 1914, it was decided that Britain was in need of more troops in order to be able to cover all areas of fighting, so recruited soldiers from India who arrived in France in September ready for battle. Initially, it was planned that the Soldier’s would be treated in France if they needed to be hospitalised but due to the number of casualties, the next best place to use to treat the Soldiers was the South coast of England.

Along with Bournemouth and Southampton, Brightonwas used to accommodate the injured Indian Soldiers, which would accumulate to 4,000 men treated between 1914 and 1916. The general hospital at the top of Elm Grove and York Place School were transformed into Military hospitals alongside the Royal Pavilion.

Within the Pavilion, temporary places of worship were made for the different religions for the troops. A marquee was erected for Sikh’s in the Pavilion grounds, Muslims were assigned to use the lawn in front of the dome and there were nine kitchens in total to cater for the different religions. Hindus and Muslims had different water supplies and the patients were taken care of by people of the same faith as them. The Pavilion was a picturesque environment for a military hospital, one soldier wrote home, ‘Do not be anxious about me, we are very well looked after. Our hospital is in the place where the King used to have his throne.’

Monochrome photographic print of Gas Warning Vehicle in Brighton during the Second World War

Along with the First World War there are many taken between 1939-1945 during the Second World War. Within the collection there are numerous photographs of air raid shelters and much documented evidence of how Brighton was damaged from air raids. Children had been evacuated to Brighton at the beginning of the war, however after a badly shot-up sea plane had to make an emergency landing on Brighton beach in May 1940 it was no longer classed as a Safe Area.

The 30,000 evacuees in Brighton had to be re-evacuated to other areas along with the local children. During the course of the war, Brighton suffered from 56 raids, 381 bombs were dropped, 198 people were killed, 357 seriously injured, over 200 houses were destroyed and 894 seriously damaged. The last image in this group of photographs is a still from a film of people celebrating the end of the war in Brighton.

Monochrome photographic print of a Boy’s Brigade Camp in Glynde, East Sussex.

This rest of the photographs in the slideshow are taken around Brighton Seafront and around Brighton town. I think these photos have captured a range of personalities that Brighton attracted and still does today. I particularly liked some of these as they made me laugh and others I just found intriguing. I think these photographs capture the atmosphere of Brighton well, that was present over 50 years ago and still is today.

B&W photographic print of several bathers emerging from the sea at Brighton.

I have only selected some photographs but there are so many more available to look at. In the History Centre located on the first floor of Brighton Museum, there are books of photographs sorted into different categories, for example, railways, piers and transport from a range of dates in Brighton History. If you want to look from home, the image store is available to search for a variety of images so I recommend taking a look if you’ve enjoyed looking at the images above.

Amanda Perks (Volunteer)

What can these Diamond Jubilee portraits tell us about the Royal Pavilion?

In February 2012 two official, specially commissioned Diamond Jubilee photographs of HM the Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh were released to mark the 60th anniversary of The Queen’s accession to the throne. The photographs were taken in December 2011 by renowned photographer John Swannell, who has photographed members of the royal family on several occasions since the 1980s.

Official Diamond Jubilee Portrait, copyright Royal Household/John Swannell

In the first photograph, the Queen is shown in the Centre Room of Buckingham Palace, with a glimpse of The Mall and the Queen Victoria memorial visible through the large window behind her.

Official Diamond Jubilee Portrait, copyright Royal Household/John Swannell

The second official jubilee photograph, also taken in the Centre Room of Buckingham Palace, shows the Queen with Prince Philip in a room that could be mistaken for our very own Royal Pavilion in Brighton. The pair are posing in front of a Chinoiserie fireplace, and to either side of the mirror above the fireplace is a geometric border design that might well look familiar to Royal Pavilion visitors.

Banqueting Room, Royal Pavilion, fa207733

The white and gold fireplace, complete with small Chinese figures on either side of the fire grid, was originally installed in the Banqueting Room of the Royal Pavilion in 1817. It was designed by Robert Jones, one of the principal artists employed by the Prince Regent for the transformation of the Royal Pavilion from Henry Holland’s neo-classical building into John Nash’s Indian fantasy. Eagle-eyed observers might also spot to the right of Prince Philip a little bit of silvered background next to the trellis border. This is the background of the large Chinese-style paintings by Robert Jones which are also in the Banqueting Room.

The Centre Room of Buckingham Palace is also commonly known as the Balcony Room. On special occasions, such as royal weddings or jubilee celebrations, the royals gather on the balcony, watched by crowds in The Mall. If you look carefully at some of the press pictures taken at events such as Kate and William’s balcony kiss after their wedding in April 2011 (as seen in this picture by The Telegraph) you will see one of the smaller Frederick Crace chandeliers from the Royal Pavilion’s Music Room in the background.

So how did these items from Brighton find their way into Buckingham Palace?

Music Room, Royal Pavilion, fa207734

In 1850 Queen Victoria sold the Royal Pavilion to the Corporation of Brighton, but excluded the contents of the building from this sale. In the years before the sale the Pavilion had been stripped of all its contents and decorations, including heavy pieces such as the large chandeliers and the fireplaces. Queen Victoria used many of the fittings, furniture, and decorative objects in the newly built Blore Wing of Buckingham Palace (that rather imposing side of the palace that can be seen from The Mall), creating an 1850s recycled take on the Prince Regent’s Brighton Chinoiserie scheme. To this day there is a suite of rooms in the Blore Wing of Buckingham Palace that looks remarkably similar to the interior of the Royal Pavilion.

But this doesn’t mean that what we have in Brighton is not original. Many items were returned by Queen Victoria herself as early as the 1860s, among them important large pieces, such as the two large chandeliers from the Music Room and the Banqueting Room. The larger Robert Jones’ paintings in the Banqueting Room are original, the others being very good 19th century copies. The Jones paintings in Buckingham Palace have recently been restored and re-hung in the Centre Room, so if you come across older pictures of this room you might not see them. Of the smaller Music Room chandeliers, half of the smaller ones are original.

Since 1850 several members of the royal family have been very supportive of efforts to restore the Pavilion, and have returned many original Pavilion pieces.  Queen Mary was a prominent supporter in the early twentieth century, and visited the building on several occasions during World War One. Her Majesty the Queen has also very graciously returned several very important items on a permanent loan basis.

It is of course tempting to say that it would be nice to have all the original pieces returned to Brighton, but one has to bear in mind that these Chinoiserie interiors have also become an integral part of the history of Buckingham Palace. The present Royal Pavilion also reflects its history as a former royal palace that has been in municipal ownership since 1850. We should also not forget that some of the Chinese decorations that were in the Royal Pavilion during George IV’s lifetime had were taken from another building: his lavish London residence Carlton House, in which he first experimented with Chinoiserie interiors. Carlton House was demolished in the 1820s and its furniture and decorative objects taken to Buckingham House (as Buckingham Palace was then called) and the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

The history of buildings and their interiors has always been one of change, movement, inspiration and the re-use of objects in new contexts and by new owners, and it is all the more fascinating for it.

Alexandra Loske,
Researcher and Guide at the Royal Pavilion

‘What do you think of him?’ A postcard for Valentine’s Day

If our earlier post on vinegar Valentine’s has left a sour taste in your mouth, this postcard is a sweeter reminder of the day. It was sent from Brighton on 13 December 1909 to a lady in Shrewsbury. Perhaps it lead to a Valentine’s card two months later?

Message side of postcard, 1909 (HA920381)

‘Dear Old Eda,

Am sending you photo of the boy I told you about what do you think of him.  Hope you are quite well.  Am expecting a letter.  Fond love to the children + best and fondest to yourself.  Yours Lou’

The picture side of the postcard bears a group portrait of the Theatre Royal football team. The man standing on the right of the back row is marked by an ‘x’. Is he the boy mentioned by Lou?

Postcard showing the Theatre Royal football team, 1909 (HA920381)