New windows for Kemp Town’s Regency houses
Sussex Square, Lewes Crescent, Marine Parade and the streets behind
One of the finest Regency estates in England, and the cottage streets behind it, almost all built for timber sashes.
Homes in Kemp Town
Kemp Town takes its name from Thomas Read Kemp, who began his estate at the eastern end of the seafront in the 1820s, with Charles Busby and Amon Wilds as architects. Sussex Square, Lewes Crescent, Arundel Terrace and Chichester Terrace frame the private gardens known as the Kemp Town Enclosures, which are on Historic England’s register of parks and gardens.
Behind the estate the streets are a little later and smaller, with Regency and early Victorian cottages climbing the hill, many painted in pale colours. Westward along Marine Parade, the East Cliff has hundreds of listed seafront buildings. A great many of the grand houses have long since been divided into flats.
Planning at a glance
The Kemp Town estate is a conservation area with its own Article 4 direction, and the neighbouring East Cliff conservation area (1973) covers Marine Parade.
Flats need permission for any change in the look of their windows, wherever they are.
What usually suits these houses
Conservation area windows
Tall heritage sashes with slim bars for the stucco fronts, with council help where needed.
Sash windows
Smaller box sashes for the cottage streets behind the estate.
Timber windows
Painted timber where a listing or Article 4 direction calls for it.
Every job is priced on its own: the figure depends on the sizes of your windows, how many there are and where they sit, the access, and the materials, colours and hardware you pick. A free home visit gives you the exact price for yours. Window prices in Brighton.
Conservation and permission
The Kemp Town estate is a conservation area with its own Article 4 direction, and the neighbouring East Cliff conservation area (1973) covers Marine Parade. Queen’s Park, just inland, has an Article 4 direction too. Much of the estate is listed, which means listed building consent for any replacement window, even an exact match.
For a flat, permission is usually needed for any change in appearance, and the freeholder must agree. The Kemp Town Society publishes newsletters on the estate’s houses and their upkeep that are worth reading before you start.