1-12, 12A AND 12B PELHAM ARCADE

Pelham Arcade is a semi-subterranean shopping arcade developed by the architect Joseph Kay (1775-1847) for Thomas Pelham, 2nd Earl of Chichester, between 1823 and 1825. It formed the first phase of the Pelham scheme and served a dual purpose: providing shops for fashionable merchandise while creating a revetment or retaining wall for the carriage drive leading up to Pelham Crescent and the church of St Mary in the Castle above.

The arcade was significantly altered in the 1860s when the southern range of shop stalls was opened up to face the street. This modification began at the eastern end and by 1863 extended into the south wall of the ramp. The main basement at the western end was excavated and extended as early as 1860-61 by wine merchant Joseph Arnold. By 1881, Gothic fronts had been added to two bays of the facade. Throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, individual shop insertions have obscured both the facade and the internal layout of the southern arcade.

Construction and Materials

The arcade is built of coursed limestone and cement-rendered brick, lined to appear as ashlar stonework, with parts now painted. Originally it had a rusticated street facade beneath a simple moulded parapet, of which only small worn sections now survive. The roof has a canted timber and cast iron frame that was originally glazed with small panes but is now boarded over and clad in zinc or felt. Traces of red and turquoise paint survive on the internal vaults.

Layout

The arcade follows a crescent-shaped plan and is entered asymmetrically from the west within an otherwise symmetrical composition. It consists of a central arcade with vaulted shop units to the north and south, built over a lower, extended vaulted basement.

Exterior

The arcade presents as a single-storey row of shops beneath a rendered parapet. Worn traces of the original rustication remain in place. The south-facing entrances, now largely obscured, project very slightly forward from the main wall. The two western bays retain late 19th-century shop fronts with polished stone Gothic shafts and pointed arches beneath an enriched cornice. The remaining shop fronts are largely later 20th-century insertions that obscure the original fenestration, though the three arched bays leading to the St Mary's Centre reflect the original treatment of the facade.

The roof is contained behind a rendered brick parapet featuring a scrolled pediment over the western entrance and a continuous plat band running along its length. The western entrance, which projects forward from the parapet wall, has a chamfered doorcase under a shallow pediment with reversed plain eared angles and a similar plat band. Stone bollards are set into the flank walls.

At the eastern end of the arcade, an external round-arched gateway in a rusticated surround leads to stone steps that rise to the carriageway in front of the Crescent. Cast iron railings here have cylindrical moulded newel posts and shafts with spearhead finials.

Interior

The interior, which remains visible at the western end of the arcade, is a structure of monumental proportions built of coursed limestone and cement-rendered round-arched arcades on chamfered piers. These piers are scored with shallow impost bands and, where rendered, lined to appear as ashlar. Traces of turquoise and red pigment remain on the chamfered arch mouldings. Set back from the arcade, the shop bays have lower barrel-vaulted ceilings, some asymmetrical. The roofs, formerly lit by clerestory windows, have an internal profile with a canted shape, of which a proportion of the original fabric survives.

The arcade is curved on plan and reduced in height at both the western and probably the eastern end to accommodate the ramp and crypt. It originally comprised northern and southern arcades on either side of a central walkway, now blocked between the fourth and fifth bays from the west. Four northern bays clearly survive at the western end. The western two bays of the southern arcade open off the interior space and retain their shop bays, while the remaining bays have been blocked or altered by inserted shops and by reversing the entrances to face the sea.

Some bays of the northern arcade retain corner fireplaces and stone corbels that formerly supported the shop floors. Some have blocked window openings. At the western end are the remains of the entrance lobby and possibly the site of inserted stairs to the westernmost bay of the north arcade, which is set at a slightly lower level. The former profile of the roof is visible in a slightly pointed transverse arch on the inserted party wall, which differs from contemporary drawings. The form of the arcades is also visible in the shop, now a cafe, which provides access to the crypt of St Mary in the Castle by cutting through the rear arcade. The south arcade is fossilized behind cladding in the adjacent shops.

Steps descend from an inserted south-facing entrance at the western end to a lower level where an axial, shallow barrel-vaulted tunnel of brick with stone and brick flanks gives access to lower chambers beneath the bays of the northern arcade. These chambers are also built of brick and dressed stone and presumably represent the cellar excavated by Joseph Arnold in 1860-61. The tunnel shows regular patching in brick suggestive of the springing of a former vault.

Historical Context

The shopping arcade was an important component of the Regency town, introduced to England from Paris by John Nash. The first examples appeared in London with the Royal Opera Arcade of 1817, followed by Burlington Arcade in 1818. Examples outside the capital include Bristol Lower Arcade of 1824 and Union Passage, Bath, in 1825.

Pelham Arcade differs from these examples in two important respects. Firstly, it is integrated into the scheme for Pelham Crescent, and secondly, its semi-subterranean form echoes classical and late medieval Italian precedents as much as any Parisian model. Arcaded shops, usually fronting the street, were common in late medieval Italy, while the structure and detail bear remarkable similarity to a series of frescoes depicting shops and a tavern at the Castello di Issogne in Val d'Aosta, Italy, dating from around 1500. The composition as a whole refers to antiquarian precedent in the tiered arcades of shops cut into the rock at Trajan's Market in Rome and in the Temple of Fortune at Palestrina near Rome, where the temple is linked to a forum by a series of ramps and terraces.

Joseph Kay acknowledged the classical training expected of an educated man of his time, but the scheme also represents a conceit of creating an elevated townscape overlooking the sea, providing a dramatic setting for the church. This was not, however, purely an intellectual pursuit. The development was built as an investment to attract visitors and to help Hastings compete with Brighton and Margate. In 1811 Hastings had been praised for its situation, its scenery, its climate, and particularly for sea bathing, which could be accomplished "without the slightest risk or inconvenience."

Thomas Pelham employed Kay, who had already worked on his house at Stanmer Park, to develop a scheme for land at the foot of the cliff below the castle. It was a difficult albeit picturesque site, but importantly situated close to the Parade, the raised walkway that had been extended to Pelham Place as part of the fashionable circuit. The scheme provided shops "for the sale of all fashionable merchandise," a place of worship close to the New Pelham Baths (praised by RL Jones in 1827 in The Latest Edition of the Hastings Guide), and above all, a view out to sea and, for intrepid visitors, a view from the sea.

Kay had received classical training under SP Cockerell and travelled abroad from 1802 to 1805, visiting Rome in 1804. His town schemes included laying out Mecklenburg Square in Camden and the Thornhill Estate in Islington. In public office he served briefly as architect to the Post Office, and as Surveyor for Greenwich Hospital he worked extensively in the town, including the design for Nelson Street and the new market. In Hastings he also worked on Hastings Lodge for MP Frederick North and at Minnis above the Old Town.

William Herbert's plan and a drawing by WG Moss, both from 1823, depict Pelham Place set against the outline of the Bazaar, or Pelham Arcade as it rapidly became known, with the site of Pelham Crescent and the church behind it. The bazaar, the first part of the scheme to be built, was an unusual concept given its semi-subterranean form, which created the platform on which the carriage drive to the Crescent was constructed. It opened on 18 August 1825, the same day as the Theatre in the Great Bourne. Meanwhile, the Crescent was being developed. Kay's drawing dated 17 June 1826 shows the Arcade and Crescent with a central gap where the church and numbers 7 and 8 (the houses on either side of it) were to be built. Finally, the parish church of St Mary in the Castle was consecrated on 28 January 1828. The ensemble was completed by Breeds Place, a terrace of eight houses to the west of the Crescent designed to balance Pelham Place, but since demolished.

Contemporary drawings of Pelham Arcade by WG Moss and Thomas DW Dearn depict the exterior in slightly different arrangements, which also differ from Kay's drawing, but essentially show a single-storey rusticated facade beneath a parapet with an entrance at the western end approached from the ramp, and entrances towards each end of the facade. Dearn shows a series of round-headed windows while Moss shows full-height openings onto the pavement. Both depict the interior, which was laid out with stalls within tall arcades in eleven bays on the north and south sides of a central space. The arcade was top-lit by a canted rooflight of presumably timber small-paned lights supported on segmental arched iron trusses. The central bay appears to have had an octagonal ceiling vent. At each end, the northern arcade was canted and reduced in scale to accommodate the profile of the crescent and the church crypt. Shops are shown set back within the arcades, each with a projecting counter.

At the east end was a lobby with a groin-vaulted roof lit by a semicircular Diocletian overlight. At the west end was a similar vestibule with an entrance to the western end of the ramp. The drawings suggest there was a principal entrance to the west of the centre of the concourse, shown on Moss's interior view and in varied form on external views, breaking forward from the main facade and in some cases beneath an enriched panel. It appears to have been balanced by a smaller entrance towards the eastern end of the facade. Both artists show a timber plank floor.

By the later 19th century, photographs record the arcade, which by 1881 had been further altered with the addition of Gothic fronts to two bays of the facade. Some of the stalls appear to have had basements, while plans attached to leases suggest that the main basement at the western end was excavated and extended as early as 1860-61 by wine merchant Joseph Arnold.