Pelham Institute

Thomas Read Kemp's Kemp Town estate, "arguably the most famous district in Brighton", was developed as a carefully planned estate of about 100 grand houses for the rich people who were increasingly attracted to the fashionable resort. Kemp Town was isolated from the rest of the town, about 2 mi away, and an old trackway running west–east along the inland side of the East Cliff developed into an important route—Eastern Road. In the mid-19th century, the area around Eastern Road developed rapidly as a poor, mixed-use area, with institutional buildings, streets of small terraced houses, light industry and a few larger houses. A Nonconformist chapel had also been built in 1829, The area became…

Thomas Lainson designed and built the Pelham Institute in the High Victorian Gothic style, which was used frequently for slum missions such as this. It is a three-storey building of purple brick laid in the English bond pattern and dressed with terracotta and red bricks. There are also small areas of tile-hanging, and the roof is tiled and has dormer windows. Three faces are visible: one south to St George's Terrace with irregularly placed windows, the main (western) façade on Upper Bedford Street (with a regular four-window range), and a three-window range facing north on to Montague Street. Most windows are flat-headed. The main entrance is to Upper Bedford Street. A doorway, with a…