The Corn Exchange and Dome Theatre

The Corn Exchange and Dome Theatre

A riding school and stables originally built between 1803 and 1808 by William Porden for the Prince of Wales, this complex has undergone successive transformations to become one of Brighton's most significant cultural buildings.

The original scheme consisted of three parts: a centre domed section, octagonal in plan, flanked by rectangular wings. Joseph Good extended the building for the Office of Works in 1831 during the reign of William IV and Queen Adelaide, erecting stables on the site of the east wing, though the full extent of these works remains unclear. The Borough purchased the complex along with the Pavilion Estate in 1850.

Between 1850 and 1864, the central domed space was converted into cavalry barracks, during which time the name "Dome" became officially used. From 1864 to 1867, Borough Surveyor Philip Lockwood converted the hall into a theatre designed with forms loosely derived from Islamic architecture. In 1868, Lockwood also converted the Riding School in the west wing into the Corn Exchange.

To relieve congestion on Church Street, the Dome received two new entrances in 1901–1902. Borough Engineer and Surveyor Francis J.C. May designed one entrance on Church Street and another at the south-east corner of the complex; the latter features a tetrastyle porch in Islamic-inspired style marking the theatre foyer. The original elevation to Church Street is now largely obliterated by the adjoining Museum, Art Gallery and Public Library, which May expanded in the same years.

The south-facing elevation survives largely as Porden designed it. The fenestration alternates between double-height windows that originally lit open halls and two-storey openings, with a full basement throughout. The centre range is dominated by the octagon of the Dome itself, three sides of which protrude beyond the front walls of the wings. The centre facet is a tripartite composition with a pointed-arch entrance with scalloped intrados, now opening directly onto the rear of the stage, above which is a similar blind arch. All openings are scalloped and pointed, set in rectangular aedicules. The centre bay is framed by octagonal buttresses which rise through a continuous lotus-leaf pediment to terminate in acanthus urns; this motif is repeated to define each bay. The side facets of the octagon have two storeys. The tripartite composition is repeated with slight variations on the south-facing elevations of the west and east wings, with glazed arches above the entrances and full-height glazed windows to either side.

In 1934, architect Robert Atkinson, FRIBA, redesigned the entrance hall at the south-east corner and the theatre interior, giving the buildings the form they have today. He also converted the Corn Exchange into an exhibition hall, removing fittings including the Royal Box.

The east wing was extended by one bay in 1901, the change in brick and detailing marking the extent of this addition. May also gave the Dome a new Church Street entrance identical in design to the Museum and Library complex entrance: a pointed-arch entrance with scalloped intrados within a shallow two-storey pointed-arch aedicule, with the Borough's arms carved in low relief on the tympanum and a lotus-leaf parapet above. To its right is a pointed-arch tripartite entrance to the Corn Exchange, a facsimile of one section of Porden's original north elevation, dating either to Lockwood's 1868 campaign or Atkinson's 1934 works.

Materials throughout are tan brick in Flemish bond with dressings and details in stone and stucco cement. The original domed roof covering the central section survives, composed of laminated wood trusses and glass. The Corn Exchange has a ceiling of laminated wood, and the remaining roofs are parapeted.

The Dome was an important site for activity by Brighton members of the Women's Social and Political Union, the militant suffrage organisation founded by Emmeline Pankhurst in 1903. Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, Emmeline Pethick Lawrence and Lady Emily Lutyens all came to speak at the Dome. Suffragettes also interrupted several meetings by Liberal politicians within the building. Around twenty suffragettes were violently ejected during protests at a meeting by Reginald McKenna MP in November 1907. In January 1910, two suffragettes hid in the Dome overnight to interrupt the Prime Minister but were discovered shortly before his arrival. A local suffragette, Mrs Newsome, managed to attend another meeting disguised in her husband's clothes, though she apparently carried out no protest inside the building.