1-9, Berkley Crescent

Berkley Crescent, numbers 1 to 9, comprises part of the Milton Park Estate, designed by the Brighton architect Amon Henry Wilds between 1830 and 1835. The estate’s original plan included a second crescent facing it on the south side of Milton Road, and the development was arranged in two blocks of five houses, separated by Harmer Street. Number 10 has been incorporated into number 9. The east block presents a curved facade with 10 windows, while the west block has 11. Numbers 5 and 6 each have 4 windows facing Harmer Street; number 1 has 3 windows on its flat front facing Milton Road, and number 9 has 2 windows similarly. The houses are faced with brown brick, with the ground floor stuccoed. A painted cornice and parapet top the facades. The roofs are slate covered and retain original glazing bars above the first floor. Originally, a stuccoed colonnade with an iron balcony extended along the ground floor for the full length of both blocks, but this feature now only survives at numbers 4 and 5. Modern shopfronts have been inserted into all properties except numbers 4, 5 and 8. When complete, the colonnade would have given the crescent a character similar to Decimus Burton's Calverley Park Crescent at Tunbridge Wells. Numbers 1 to 9 form a group with numbers 1 to 45 (odd), and 47A, 2 to 48 (even) Harmer Street, and the British Tar Public House, on Milton Road.