Viva Brighton Issue #77 July 2019

INSIDE LEFT: PARK CRESCENT, 1969
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Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this
photograph is the bird’s-eye view it gives you
into the secret garden of Park Crescent (on the
right), only accessible to those lucky enough to
live in the horseshoe-shaped development, and
their guests.
This space used to be the northern part of
The Level, the marshy bit of ground between
the Lewes and London roads, before it was
partitioned in the 18th century and turned into
a cricket ground, called The Prince of Wales
Ground. One of the keenest cricketers to use it
was the Prince Regent.
In 1822 the land was bought by speculator James
Ireland, and turned into The Royal Gardens,
a multi-purpose pleasure garden, with a maze,
a grotto, an aviary and an artificial lake, as well
as a cricket pitch. This was a short-lived affair:
Ireland pulled out in 1826, and the place fell into
disrepair. All that remains is the ornate gateway
on Union Road.
In 1849 the area was bought by architect Amon
Henry Wilds who had, by 1854, completed what
has been described as his most ambitious project,
the elegant Italianate crescent that is still standing
today. If you know someone who lives in Park
Crescent, you’d do well to inveigle a visit into
one of Brighton’s most secret spots, intermittently
shaded by tall trees, featuring landscaped
pathways and lawns, with benches, treehouses
and picnic clearings.
In 1934, 44 Park Crescent was the scene of one
of Brighton’s most notorious murders, that of
Violet Kaye, bludgeoned in the head with a hammer
by her lover and housemate, Toni Mancini,
who then moved with the body – encased in a
trunk – to a new address in Kemp Street. It was
two months before police found her gruesome
and very pungent remains, and arrested Mancini.
Remarkably, he was acquitted at the forthcoming
trial at Lewes Assizes, though many years later he
admitted to having committed the crime.
This aerial shot, taken in January 1969, shows
how little this area has changed in the 50 years
since it was taken. Note the elegant curve of
Hanover Crescent, east of the gardens, and the
two imposing churches to the north, catering
for both Catholics and Anglicans: St Joseph’s on
Elm Grove, and St Martin’s on Lewes Road. The
image is from the James Gray collection: thanks,
as ever, to Kevin Wilsher, of the Regency Society,
for sourcing it.
Alex Leith
regencysociety.org
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