St.Nick’s Row is conveniently placed in the West Hill area of Brighton & Hove. Literally 5 minutes walk from Brighton’s mainline station and up on the airy hill 2 minutes from the ancient splendour of St.Nicholas Church. It’s the oldest surviving building in Brighton, built in Norman times although the present building dates from the 14th century.
West Hill is a Conservation Area.
Flavour of Brighton
“There were old stories – crinolines and cat-gut condoms – and public stories – mods and rockers and dirty weekends – and as many private stories as pebbles on the beach, for everyone you met had a yarn about Brighton”. Nigel Richardson, Breakfast In Brighton
General Description of West Hill
The West Hill Conservation Area is situated on an east-facing slope of the Downs in a mainly residential area between Brighton Station and Seven Dials. The area is bounded by Dyke Road to the west, the curve of the railway line and the station to the north and east, and by modern development along Queen’s Road (with the North Laine area beyond) to the south-east. To the south, and within the adjoining Clifton Hill Conservation Area, lies St. Nicholas’ Church and churchyard with the commercial centre of Brighton along Western Road, beyond. The conservation area consists of mainly late 19th century housing, of several different types – more prestigious, semi-detached villas to the west, and smaller, artisan terraced houses closer to the station to the east. The most important building is undoubtedly Brighton Station, grade II* listed.
Historical Development of the Area
Before 1840 the West Hill Conservation Area was mainly market gardens and paddocks. The eastern part formed part of the North Laine, one of the large open field systems around Brighton dating back to early medieval times. This was divided into east-west blocks known as furlongs, with trackways between them known as leakways. These where called, Home or First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Crooked, Rottingdean Hedge and Church Lanes. The western part, north of St. Nicholas Church was a field known as Church Hill and a smaller one at the north end known as Leads. These were further subdivided into narrow north-south strips, known as “Paul-pieces”. These were leased out to numerous tenants. This pattern of laines, furlongs, and Paul-pieces greatly influenced the development of the town in the late 18th and 19th centuries as land was usually sold and developed in blocks of Paulpieces. Thus a very regular pattern of streets was established in the laines to the east and west of the central valley (Encyclopaedia of Brighton). This is strongly evident in the eastern part of West Hill, whilst the western part is based on the old Church Hill field and has a very different pattern of development.
The early road pattern predating the development of West Hill, comprised Dyke Road, which led from the fishing village over the Downs via Devil’s Dyke to London, Church Street and the paths or leakways between the furlongs. Church Street was originally a medieval track at the rear of the crofts and gardens stretching northwards behind North Street and led to St, Nicholas Church. It was formerly known as North Back Side and was later renamed Spring Walk and did not acquire its present name until 1792. Streets such as North Road, Gloucester Road / Upper Gloucester Road and Trafalgar Street / Guildford Street were later laid out along these leakways.
