Hove in the Past: The Anthaeum, Hove

Judy Middleton 2001 (revised 2022)

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
The above painting is from the 1833 Panoramic View of Brighton by W. H. Mason

The Anthaeum was a circular structure build on land that would later become the gardens of Palmeira Square. At that time the first ten houses in Adelaide Crescent were being erected to the south, but there were fields to the north and east, while St John’s Church had not yet been erected. Besides the Brunswick area, the nearest structures were farm buildings situated in what later became Wilbury Road.

The Anthaeum was certainly an imaginative innovation, and if events had played out differently, it could well have been one of the wonders of the world.

An extract from
The History of Brighton, with the latest improvements, to 1836
by John Bruce

In the Autumn of 1832 work started on the project when a huge circular trench was built being 12-ft deep and 10-ft wide. Iron sections were shipped into Shoreham Harbour, and hauled to the site by teams of twenty horses. The structure was intended to be a giant greenhouse, a tropical paradise with exotic trees, shrubs and plants, an ornamental lake, fountains, and gravel walks, arbours, and a hill constructed of rocks; there would be birds and fish in the lake. In fact, such was the interest in the Anthaeum that planting began even before the structural work was finished. Prominent landowners, including the Duke of Devonshire, were happy to send along plants. The design incorporated two stoke holes on either side so that a temperature of approximately 90 degrees Fahrenheit could be achieved. On top of the central pillar, and beneath the cupola there was to be an observatory surrounded by a terrace 27-ft in diameter.

Anthaeum, Hove, drawing dated 22 July 1833.

The Anthaeum was distinguished by having the largest dome ever constructed ‘exceeding in size that of St Peter’s in Rome by upwards of 8,000 superficial feet.’ It rose 70-ft above ground level, and its projected diameter was 164-ft. The structure was composed entirely of iron and weighed between 400 and 500 tons; the ribs of the dome measured 5-ft wide at their bases; they were anchored 10-ft into the ground and bolted to iron plates laid on a solid brick foundation.

Henry Phillips, the eminent botanist, played a leading part in the enterprise. Although later on S. H. Benham, an architect, claimed that his father had created the original design (see the 1833 Brighton Herald article below), the actual architect appointed for the Hove project was Amon Henry Wilds, son of Amon Wilds, senior. The Wilds were noted local architects, and A. H. Wilds designed the Royal Albion Hotel, the Western Pavilion, and the Victoria Fountain amongst many other buildings. The contractor was a Mr English, and the engineer was C. Hollis.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
An earlier 1827 Anthaeum was proposed to be incorporated into layout of Amon Henry Wilds’ design of Oriental Place, Brighton, but because of financial funding problems this Anthaeum was never built.

The one glaring fault in this line-up was that no-one was given overall control. This led inevitably to internal bickering, and the ultimate collapse of the enterprise.

It was the original intention that the main ribs should be reinforced with purlings and diagonal braces supported by the capital of a central pillar. But for reasons unknown the projectors made the astonishing decision not to go ahead with the all-important central pillar, and to reduce the centre of pressure from 27-ft to 7-ft. Of course Amon Henry Wilds fully understood the implications of this grave decision, and was furious. He promptly left the project, but whether he resigned or was dismissed is not clear.

This threw the weight of the project onto the shoulders of Mr Hollis, the engineer, and Mr English, the contractor. Hollis respected the integrity of Wilds’s original plan, and was uneasy about dispensing with the central pillar. He endeavoured to at least insist that the diagonal braces should be inserted. Then Mr English threw a spanner in the works by refusing to instal the diagonal braces, and during the ensuing row, Hollis resigned. This left English to do more or less as he pleased for three months without the supervision of architect or engineer.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
'The Temple Grammar School Brighton' by George Earp Junior c1833,
Hove's Anthaeum can be seen to the left in the background.

Meanwhile, Henry Phillips, whose expertise lay in botany, began to have qualms about the whole affair. While the internal wooden scaffolding was still in place, he resolved to seek expert advice in the form of Sir John Rennie, the noted civil engineer. He was right to be worried because already by this time the opposing ribs were not exactly opposing each other and were in fact two or three degrees out of line. Moreover, the unequal pressure had pulled the circle formed by the junction of the ribs into an ellipse. Unhappily, it seems that Rennie declined to make a site visit.

Meanwhile, English went blithely on his way quite convinced that the heavy platform under the cupola would equalize the stresses. Perhaps English was aware about the possibility of Rennie being called in to advise, and became angry on the supposed slur on his competence. Whatever, the reasons, and without waiting for further instructions, English had the last of the internal scaffolding removed on 30 August 1833 – the ceremonial opening of the Anthaeum was to take place the very next day.

Disaster

The mighty Anthaeum stood unaided and solid for an hour or two, and then an ominous crack was heard and the workmen wisely removed themselves from the scene with haste. The crackling continued, and Mr Wyatt, head gardener, had hardly left the structure when the whole lot came tumbling down with an almighty crash.

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
'The Brick Kiln, Hove', by Richard Henry Nibbs, March 1836. This sketch shows the ruined kiln building without a roof. In the background is the shell of the collapsed Anthaeum which fell in 1833.
In the brick kiln’s heyday, the famous Sussex and England cricketer William Lillywhite was the foreman brick-maker, before concentrating on his cricket career.

The Times reported as follows.’The immense ribs of iron snapped asunder in ten thousand pieces, and a great part of it, from the height it fell, was buried several feet in the earth. The destruction of this great edifice is accounted for only by the immense weight of iron at the top, which when unsupported by the scaffolding, folded in, and forced its way to the ground. The ruins were visited yesterday by several hundred persons. It was situated at the western extremity of the town, and would have formed one of the most splendid ornaments in the world.’

The unhappy Henry Phillips was rendered blind by the shock of the collapse of his cherished dream, the Anthaeum Company went bankrupt, and the contractors vanished from the scene, last heard of in Boulogne.

Isaac Lyon Goldsmid was also distraught at this turn of events because he was the landowner and a major investor in the project.. This may be a reason why he lost heart in developing Adelaide Crescent further at this time. Indeed, the hiatus lasted years. In fact, the wreckage lay just where it fell and continued to lie there for seventeen long years.

A half-hearted attempt to revive the project was made a few weeks after the collapse. A meeting was held at Brighton Town Hall, but the costs of starting again from scratch were put variously at anything from £2,500 to £10,000. Charles Augustin Busby, the architect responsible for Brunswick Town, was asked to draw up plans, but nothing came of it.

Lastly, a word about the glazing of the Anthaeum. Some authorities state that the structure had been glazed or partially glazed before the collapse. But The Times noted that glazing was to commence on Monday 3 September 1833. The glazing was going to take a long time because it would require nearly two acres of glass to cover the dome. Other estimates state that 100,000 panes of glass would be needed. Henry Porter writing in 1897, stated that Thomas Smith of 1 & 2 Union Street, Brighton, supplied the glass, and the undamaged glass was sold off cheaply at these premises in the aftermath.

Footnote

It is fascinating to note that the great Sir Joseph Paxton (1801-1865) made a special visit to Hove in around 1850 to view the melancholy site and enquire if he could seen the plans. He was engaged in an important work in London at the time.

Paxton’s rise from humble origins to becoming an expert in his field is remarkable. He was fortunate to be employed by 6^th Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth. Paxton was much more than a mere head gardener because he was also the Duke’s architect, agent and the designer of the celebrated iron and glass conservatory completed in 1841, the largest glasshouse in the world, 67-ft in height, 277-ft in length, and 123-ft in width.

The glasshouses and grounds needed an army of gardeners, and in the glory days there were no less than 46 of them. However, the First World War sounded the death knell of the glasshouses because they fell into disrepair through neglect. After the war there was a shortage of money, and lack of manpower. It was decided the glasshouses would have to be demolished. But Paxton’s work was not going to give up the ghost easily. It was expected that the glasshouses would fall at the first attempt. But no, they remained, and there were seven or eight more attempts with ‘very high charges’ and still they would not fall down. Indeed there was a gloomy feeling that such stout buildings should have been allowed to remain intact. They serve also as a testament to Paxton’s design.

Joseph Paxton gained another exalted patron because the far-sighted Prince Albert decided he was just the man to design the building that would hold the Great Exhibition of 1851. Afterwards, the building was carefully taken down and re-erected as the Crystal Palace at Sydenham.

Sources

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Dale, A. Fashionable Brighton (2^nd edition 1967)

Gilbert, E. M. Brighton, Old Ocean’s Bauble (1961)

Heist, G. A. They Built the World’s Biggest Hot-house, article in Patrol (September 1977) newspaper of Sussex Police

Middleton, J. A History of Hove (1979)

Nicolson, J. The Great Silence (2009)

Porter, H. The History of Hove (1897)

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Wilson, A. N. Prince Albert: The Man who Saved the Monarchy (2019)

11 August 2022

The Anthaeum, Hove