14 Claremont, Hastings, East Sussex

Summary

Former printing works and newspaper office, built for FW Parsons (1844-1900) for the Hastings Observer Newspaper between 1876 and 1879, to the designs of WL Vernon (1846-1914), converted to retail and accommodation use in the 1980s.

Description

MATERIALS: red brick in Flemish bond with stone detailing. Applied timber framing, sgraffito and ceramic tile decoration, under a slate tiled roof.

PLAN: an end-of-terrace building that has some connection through to the Brassey Institute (detail unknown). It has a shop to the ground floor which has an entrance to Claremont and a second on the canted corner to The Alley.

EXTERIOR: the building design has Venetian Gothic influences and is of four storeys, plus a basement and an attic with a half-hipped dormer to the front.

The ground floor consists of a timber-framed shopfront of six by four panes. There is a double doorway to the lobby with stairs to the left and an arched doorway to the shop on a canted corner with a side lane to the right. The left-hand doorway and shopfront are framed by panelled pilasters with foliate capitals supporting large console brackets and a timber fascia panel with zig-zag carving and carrying the words: ‘F. J. PARSONS, OBSERVER OFFICE’ in painted lettering. There is a slender cast iron column with capital to the right of the double doorway. The double doors to the lobby are faced with diagonal boarding. Above the canted doorway to the shop, there is a large moulded stone corbel bearing a grotesque detail.

The first and second floors have three, metal casements to the Claremont frontage, set within recesses rising from the shopfront fascia to the second-floor window heads, which are stone four-centred arches. There are three decorative spandrel panels between the first and second-floor windows set within in each recess, containing sgraffito illustrations of printing processes and, in the central panel, a bust of the English printing pioneer, William Caxton, inscribed: ‘W.C 1477 YE LYFFE MASTER OF YE CRAFT SO LONG TO TRN’.

Projecting from the third floor is a wide timber-framed oriel supported on a deep cove with curved brackets on carved corbels at either end. The cove and panelling of the oriel is decorated with sgraffito in a red and buff-coloured foliage pattern. Within the cove decoration, there are three roundels inscribed with the names of innovative printers ‘GUTTENBERG 1450’ (inventor of the printing press), ‘CAXTON 1477’ (who introduced the printing press to England), and ‘WALTER 1877’ (referring to John Walter, proprietor of The Times, who in 1814 introduced, in secret, the use of steam-powered newspaper printing machinery). The oriel carries two groups of three sashes and single sidelight sashes. The attic dormer has two sashes, a coved eaves cornice decorated with sgraffito and pierced bargeboards.

The passage along the north side of the building is enclosed by an ornate gate of industrial design installed sometime following the building’s renovation during the 2010s. The return of the side elevation has two sash windows under pointed, stone arches to the ground floor and a high set, five-light casement under a central sash window to the top floor. Further into The Alley, the regular fenestration is segmental to the ground floor, round-shouldered to the first, pointed to the second and flat-arched to the third. The ground floor also has two pairs of timber loading doors. The second floor has metal reinforcement ties, some of which carry bracing across The Alley to the adjacent building. The rear elevation has regular fenestration, largely obscured by external metal fire escapes.

INTERIOR: the lobby has ceramic tile paving, including an inscription and the original staircase survives.

History

The town of Hastings has been a strategic point of defence from invasion since the medieval period and a protective wall was erected in the early 1300s. In 1337 the town was twice attacked by the French and badly damaged. Up until around 1800, there were two main streets (High Street and All Saints Street), both of which were inside the defences. The threat from France continued throughout the early 1800s and the Duke of Wellington commanded a garrison of around 12,000 troops from a headquarters in the High Street. Nevertheless, by around 1794, Hastings began to develop as a seaside resort with the publication of a printed guidebook and the development of Marine Parade.

In the mid-C19, Patrick Robertson (1807-1885) leased the crown lands of the town for 99 years at a rate of £500 per year. In 1850 he commenced construction of a grand scheme of terraces and municipal buildings, located across Robertson Street, Carlisle Parade and Robertson Terrace, collectively known as Trinity Triangle. The railway arrived in the same year and during the C19, the population of Hastings grew from around 3,000 to 65,000.

14 Claremont was commissioned in 1876 by Frederick James Parsons (1844-1900), printer and publisher of the Hastings and St. Leonards Observer, who was looking to expand his business beyond the top two, rented floors of 12 Claremont. The site (including the plot for 13 Claremont) was owned by George Winter and used for his stone, coal and shipwright business. Winter announced the sale of the site in Parsons’ Hastings and St Leonards Observer on 25 December 1875.

Parsons and Thomas Brassey, MP, purchased two portions of the site, Parsons for a new print works and Brassey for an Institute of Arts and Science. Parsons and Brassey were political opponents, with Parsons’ papers trying to unseat Brassey in the general elections. However, believing that Claremont would become a principal thoroughfare, they put aside their differences and agreed to utilise the same architect, WL Vernon, to ensure a harmonious appearance for their two buildings.

Parsons and Brassey met their own building costs and separate tenders for construction were invited on 12 April 1876 and awarded to Alfred Vidler (1832-1907) at £2,598 for Parsons and £6,076 for Brassey, Parsons being allowed £90 for an existing building. Parsons laid the foundation stone in 1876, which is still visible to the left of the Claremont entrance, as are his initials, FJP, in the plasterwork below the oriel. The print works were occupied in November 1877, ahead of the institute which was finished in 1878.

14 Claremont had a basement level for the heavy printing machinery including an engine room containing a 4hp engine. The ground floor had a shop, a private room for Parsons, and offices for the editor and reporters. To the rear, the compositors would have laid out the typeface blocks prior to printing. The first floor was a solicitor’s office, the second had offices that could be opened up to form one large room and the third, was private accommodation for the Parsons family.

The architect was WL Vernon who was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, in 1846, the son of a bank clerk. Following studies at the Royal Academy of Arts and South Kensington School of Art, he was articled to WG Habershon before entering private practice in London. In 1883 he was advised to seek a warmer climate to ease his bronchial asthma and he emigrated to Australia. After working for some time in private practice, Vernon became the New South Wales Government Architect, in which capacity he designed many public buildings and was elected a Fellow of RIBA in 1885 and was awarded the Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee Medal in 1897. Many of Vernon’s works in Australia are now listed on the Australian national and state heritage registers.

During the Second World War, the town was bombed several times resulting in the death of around 154 people and the damage or total destruction of some 15,000 buildings.

Post-war, the town remained a popular holiday destination until the advent of cheap foreign travel in the later C20. Falling visitor numbers were exacerbated by the decline of the town’s small trades and industries.

14 Claremont served as a printing works for the Parsons until 1925 and by 1950, was connected by a walkway to the new Observer building on Cambridge Road. Around 1984, 14 Claremont was converted into an activity centre and exercise studio. The third, fourth and attic floors remained in use as an exercise studio until the late 2000s, while the lower floors had a variety of different uses including a ‘laser tag’ venue and a live music venue. Between 2009 and 2014, the building was converted into its current form (2023) as a shop, arts and entertainment venue and bed-and-breakfast.

Reasons for Listing

The former printing works and newspaper office, built for FW Parsons for the Hastings Observer Newspaper between 1876 and 1879, to the designs of WL Vernon, converted to retail and accommodation use in the 1980s, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a good quality design with Venetian Gothic influences, which is sympathetic to the attached Hastings Library (former Brassey Institute) and includes decorative features such as a painted, projecting timber frame to the upper floors and good quality sgraffito panels which commemorate pioneers of the printing process.

Historic interest:

* from the oeuvre of WL Vernon, who was articled to WG Habershon before entering private practice in London. He later became the New South Wales Government Architect, in which capacity he designed public buildings in Australia, many of which are now listed on the Australian national and state heritage registers;
* as a late-C19, purpose-built printworks and newspaper office, that introduced engine-powered, printing presses to Hastings and firmly established the Hastings and St Leonards Observer.

Group value:

* with listed buildings nearby including the attached Hastings Library (former Brassey Institute) at 13 Claremont (NHLE entry 1043388; Grade II) and the adjacent Church of the Holy Trinity (NHLE entry 1043423; Grade II*).

External Links

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British Listed Buildings

History in Structure

14 Claremont

A Grade II Listed Building in Hastings, East Sussex

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Summary

Description

History

Reasons for Listing

External Links

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