Old Fire Station

BRIGHTON

TQ3103NE WYNDHAM STREET 577-1/47/978 (West side) 02/03/81 Nos.1A AND 2 Old Fire Station (Formerly Listed as: WYNDHAM STREET Old Fire Station)

II

Stable, later fire station. 1865-1866, converted c1900. By the architect and surveyor I Johnson of Brighton. For Henry Hill. The plans dated 28 November, 1865; a plaque on the central gable dates the building to 1866; converted to a fire station in the late C19 or early C20. Red brick with stone dressings in 3 colours, white, brown and yellow. Roof obscured by parapet and gable coping. EXTERIOR: 2 storeys. 8-window range. High Victorian Gothic style. Ground floor is treated as an arcade of 7 bays; the central bay, which serves as the entrance, is wider than the 3 to either side. The arches in the first and 7th bays are the narrowest. The central arch is segmental, pointed and moulded in brick; over it is a drip moulding in white stone. The other arches are pointed, with banded voussoirs in yellow and brown stone, and jambs of moulded brick; the drip mouldings of these side arches are also of moulded brick. Arcade springing band carved into a frieze of conventionalised flower from white stone. The tympana of the side bays are pierced with overlights, that of the central arch has the original wood framing. There is a sill band across the first floor of brick laid on an angle to approximate a medieval dogtooth moulding; drip course in brick above. The first floor windows are all flat arched, with cusped corners and chamfered mullions approximating a Tudor light. The end bays, which are the narrowest, have single windows, the windows in the second, third and fifth bays are coupled to form double lights. The brick corbel table and parapet above stop at the large gable over the centre range; in the centre of the gable is a plaque bearing the date and surrounded by a drip moulding. Just inside the gable coping of shaped brick and following the line of the gable is a brick drip moulding. At the kneelers of this gable are the remnants of brick pinnacles and finials, octagonal in plan. In the late C19 or early C20 2 canted bays were added to the first floor above the central arch and the 6th-window range. The former is supported on wood brackets, the latter has spandrels covered in pebble dash and terminates in a wood cornice. Both bays have tripartite, flat-arched windows. INTERIOR: not inspected.

Listing NGR: TQ3192103868