Regency Square, Brighton

This article is about a 19th-century residential development in Brighton. For various shopping malls named "Regency Square", see Regency Square Mall.

Regency Square
General view of the square from the south
LocationRegency Square, Brighton, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, United Kingdom
Coordinates50°49′21″N 0°09′01″W / 50.8226°N 0.1504°W / 50.8226; -0.1504
Built1818–1828
Built forJoshua Hanson
ArchitectAmon Wilds, Amon Henry Wilds (attr.)
Architectural style(s)Regency/Classical
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name2–4 Regency Square;
5–20 Regency Square;
26–37 Regency Square;
51–56 Regency Square;
57–59 Regency Square;
60–66 Regency Square;
131 King's Road
Designated13 October 1952
Reference no.1380802; 1380803; 1380805; 1380811; 1380812; 1380813; 1381640
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name22–25 Regency Square;
38–46 Regency Square;
46a Regency Square;
46b Regency Square;
47–49 Regency Square
Designated20 August 1971 (22–25, 38–46);
26 August 1999 (others)
Reference no.1380804; 1380806; 1380807; 1380808; 1380809
Regency Square, Brighton is located in Brighton
Regency Square, Brighton
Location within central Brighton

Regency Square is a large early 19th-century residential development on the seafront in Brighton, part of the British city of Brighton and Hove. Conceived by speculative developer Joshua Hanson as Brighton underwent its rapid transformation into a fashionable resort, the three-sided "set piece"[1] of 69 houses and associated structures was built between 1818 and 1832. Most of the houses overlooking the central garden were complete by 1824.[2] The site was previously known, briefly and unofficially, as Belle Vue Field.[3]

The square was a prestigious, high-class development, attracting the social elite.[4] The central garden, originally private, has been council-owned since 1885 and publicly accessible since the Second World War.[5] An underground car park was built beneath it in 1969.[6]

Most of the buildings in and around the square have been designated listed buildings—47 houses are each listed at Grade II*, the second-highest designation, while 18 other houses, a war memorial, a nearby inn and a set of bollards outside it have each been given the lower Grade II status. The house at the southwest corner is now numbered as part of King's Road but was built as part of Regency Square, and is also Grade II*-listed.

  1. ^ Antram & Morrice 2008, p. 104.
  2. ^ Wales & Hinton 2018, p. 34.
  3. ^ Wales & Hinton 2018, pp. 13, 15.
  4. ^ Gilbert 1975, p. 98.
  5. ^ Wales & Hinton 2018, p. 78.
  6. ^ Antram & Morrice 2008, p. 105.