Hove in the Past: Seafield Road, Hove

Judy Middleton 2003 (revised 2018)

Seafield Road is unique in Hove because dense housing only occurs on the east side

The Name

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
This advert in the Brighton Herald for the 5 November 1836,
indicates that Seafield Lodge was a substantial property,
judging by its very large and well stocked wine cellar.

The road probably owes its name to an old house called Seafield Lodge that was mentioned in the 1841 census. The house was situated near the Gas Works (the site now occupied by Tesco’s in Church Road). In 1841 George Walter, a 26-year old agricultural labourer, lived there.

By 1851 the premises had become a private school, but was still known as Seafield Lodge. The headmaster was the Revd John Darby, aged 36, and he lived with his wife Emma, aged 38, three daughters, two sons, and four servants. A total of nineteen pupils were recorded in Seafield Lodge on census night.

By 1861 the school was still in existence, but it had changed its name slightly, as well as its location. It had moved to Hove Street where it was known as Seafield House. Erasmus G. Livesay ran the establishment. It is interesting to note that one of his daughters – Emma Kate – later married the heir to the Vallance Estate, to the disgust of his widowed mother. The Vallances also lived in Hove Street, but in a residence called Hove House (later Hove Manor). Mrs Vallance therefore considered herself as part of the gentry, while the occupation of schoolmaster certainly did not fit into her ideal of her acceptable social circle.

Early Days

On 7 September 1871 Hove Commissioners approved plans for a new street to be laid out on the Seafield property. Messrs Upperton submitted the plans through Mr Woodman. It would be interesting to know if Mr Woodman was in fact James Woodman who lived for many years at 26 Albany Villas, and was the architect of Holy Trinity Church in Blatchington Road, which was consecrated in 1864.

Although the street plans were passed in 1871, it appears that the construction of houses did not begin until 1875. In June 1880 a note appears in the Commissioners’ Minutes that the new street was ‘not sewered, levelled, paved, metalled, flagged, channelled, made good and lighted to the satisfaction of the Commissioners’, and therefore appropriate steps would have to be taken. The Hove Courier asked a rhetorical question in December 1880 ‘Has the curse of the Hove Commissioners fallen on Seafield Road that it remains half-lighted for the 5^th years of its existence?’

The first move was to invite tenders for the street works and these were announced in March 1881:

Cheesman & Co £330

Ambrose Oliver £270

William Homewood £265

J. G. B. Marshall £194

J. Parsons & Sons £134

Not surprisingly, the tender submitted by Parsons & Sons was chosen, and in 1882 the street was declared a public highway. In the early days it was called Seafield Villas, rather than Seafield Road.

Street Lighting

In January 1889 the surveyor reported that the road was lit by five lamps at a distances from each other varying from 235 feet to 254 feet. They were all situated on the east side, there being no footpath on the west side. He recommended that three new lamps should be installed at a cost of £26, and that the existing lamps should be re-arranged, thus reducing the distance between lamps to 140 feet.

Trees

In November 1891 the surveyor recommended that 24 new trees should be planted on the west side of the road at a cost of £12 to fill in irregular spaces. He suggested the trees should be Chichester elms because they were ‘the tree best suited for street planting in this locality’.

It is pleasant to record that several of these magnificent trees still grace Seafield Road, and they have large girths. They are well protected from blasts of salt-laden breezes.

House Notes

Number 9 – In October 1888 the surveyor reported that there was no proper water supply to the privy at this house.

Number 13

copyright © J.Middleton
Sir Michael de Costa, an innovative conductor, lived at 13 Seafield Road where he died in 1884

Sir Michael de Costa (1808-1884) once lived in this house. He was born in Naples, the son of Pasquale Costa, a church composer of Spanish descent.

His father gave him music lessons, and he received formal training at the conservatorio in Naples. In 1828 he settled in England and in 1831 his ballet Kenilworth was successfully produced.

In 1832 de Costa was appointed conductor at the King’s Theatre. He was very young for such a position, and he also had his own ideas concerning the art of being a conductor. His contemporary musicians were not exactly welcoming – indeed, at his first appearance there was a shout of laughter at his youthful appearance. The next morning he received a card to which seven miniature razors had been attached, which he kept as a memento. De Costa’s style of conducting was a novelty in London.
Hitherto, the orchestra had been run on traditional lines, presided over by the pianist and led by the violinist. But de Costa introduced authoritative conducting with the use of a baton. While some musicians admired his talent, others found him far too despotic. However, he created a national name for himself as a conductor of oratorio, including the famous Handel Festivals held at the Crystal Palace.

He also composed his own oratorio, the most popular being Eli and Naaman, but on the whole his compositions were not well regarded. Rossini made a famous remark in 1856 that sums up the general feeling, ‘Good old Costa has sent me an oratorio and a Stilton cheese; the cheese was very fine’.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
30 January 1875 advert in the Brighton Herald for the Mr Kuhe's Musical Festival to be held at Brighton's Dome from 9 February - 22 February 1875.

In 1846 de Costa founded the Royal Italian Opera at the newly renovated Covent Garden; he was knighted in 1869. He retired to Hove and lived at 13 Seafield Road where he died on 29 April1884.

copyright © D.Sharp
Sir Michael de Costa was given a splendid funeral at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Norton Road, Hove

He was buried at Kensal Green in the catacombs under the chapel, to which his coffin had to be lowered by hydraulic lift. There were many famous mourners at his funeral including the Duke of Wellington and Sir Arthur Sullivan.

Number 21

In 1920 there was a Day Hostel at this address for unmarried mothers and their infants. The mothers arrived after they had given birth, and the aim was to keep mother and infant together for at least a year, teaching the mother housewifery and mothercraft. It must be remembered that being an unmarried mother in those days was extremely difficult. The Chichester Diocesan Purity Association ran the hostel with the laudable motive of preventing the infant from being separated from the mother, while at the same time providing the mother with some training and enabling her to take her place in society again. When the infant was old enough to be left, the mother could go out to work for a few hours as a servant because there was a trained matron in charge of the hostel to look after the child. But there were only seven beds. When Hove Council heard of sad cases, the women would be referred to the hostel, while the council footed the bill. It cost 25/- a week, or £1 if the mother worked.

Number 23

copyright © J.Middleton
There is still a hotel on these premises in 2019. It is known variously as Seafield Guest House, Seafield House, and Seafield House Hotel

In January 1984 the Seafield House Hotel was up for sale. It had 20 beds, and the financial turnover in 1983 was stated as being just under £23,000.

Number 25

Prince John of Bourbon, Count of Montizon, once lived in this house. The family was descended from Saint Louis of France, and the prince’s brother was Charles VI, known as the Count of Montemolin, Pretender to the Spanish throne. Prince John died aged 69 at 25 Seafield Road on 18 November 1887, and was given a splendid Requiem Mass at the Church of the Sacred Heart, Norton Road, on 24 November 1887. Among the mourners were Don Carlos, elder son of Prince John, Don Alfonso, second son of Prince John, and Don Alfonso’s wife, Infanta Maria de las N’uven; the widow was not present. The choir was entirely composed of clergy and there were at least seven priests by the altar. Three enormous yellow 10-ft high candles stood on either side of the catafalque.

Western Side

The western side of Seafield Road is somewhat unique – where you might expect to find housing to correspond to those on the east side, there are instead trees, and a series of nondescript garages. The exception being the rather splendid number 35 at the north end.

Land for house-building being rather a scarce commodity in Hove, it was inevitable that speculators would wish to build town-houses on the western side. When plans for such a scheme surfaced in 1982 people living in Seafield Road, and St Aubyns were horrified at such a prospect. On 1 July 1982 a petition bearing 250 signatures was handed to Hove Planning Committee. The petition stated that if the garages were to be replaced by houses, sunlight / daylight would be blocked from the basements of Seafield Road, while residents on the west side of St Aubyns would be gazing at a towering blank wall. The scheme was turned down.

However, some time later two new houses were allowed to be built on the western side, behind 25 St Aubyns. In 1989 it was stated that the two houses would be numbered as 70 and 71 Seafield Road.

In 1999 Paul Smith’s plans to build another house on the west side was turned down by Brighton & Hove City Council. An appeal to the Planning Inspectorate was also rejected.

Social Care

In 1987 Brighton Health Authority wanted to establish a rehabilitation hostel for drug addicts in Seafield Road. The project envisaged up to eight family units for ex-addicts with children who would stay from between three and six months. There were 34 letters objecting to the plans plus a petition signed by 268 against the project. There were only two letters of support. In May 1987 Hove councillors voiced their opposition too, and refused planning permission. However, Brighton Health Authority appealed to the Department of the Environment.

A modified plan was then submitted to Hove Council that involved only six family units. In September 1987 Hove Planning Committee voted 8-1 against implementing the plan. But Brighton Health Authority appealed to the Government. This resulted in a Public Inquiry being held in 1988. In December 1988 the Government gave the scheme the go-ahead, but only for an experimental three years. Ken Anstead, who ran the Seafield House Hotel, was very angry calling the decision ‘diabolical’ - he feared the scheme would damage his business. Brighton Health Authority was jubilant, and wanted to set it up as soon as possible.

In 1991 Hove Council extended their permission for the project for another two years. Phoenix House Housing Association was responsible for the running of the hostel.

In November 1988 the coroner, Veronica Hamilton-Deeley, said she viewed the hostel for alcoholics and drug addicts as ‘ an extremely dangerous place’. This was because there had been two deaths there within the space of six weeks. The teenage boy who died was a tragic case because he had grown up in care and was described as ‘very vulnerable’.

In January 1990 Hove Council agreed to a two-year trial for a home for ten homeless girls, despite a petition against the plan signed by 22 people. In April 1998 it was stated that Seafield Children’s Home was one of the first of its kind to win the Government’s ‘Investors in People’ accolade for staff training and development. Beverly Collins, director, said they aimed to provide the best service for disadvantaged children. The Home retained its title after impressing the judges.

Sources

Argus (27 April 1998)

Census Returns

Middleton J, Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Hove Commissioners Minute Books

Hove Courier (December 1880)

14 July 2019

Seafield Road, Hove