24 December 2024

The rather grandly named Higginbotham Hall sits a bit on its ownsome in Bay Street Brighton near New Street. Turns out it was built as the Brighton Free Library in 1887, designed by Treeby & Cutler (it’s missing some urns). Phillip Treeby was a local, best known for the long demolished madly eclectic Norwood near Brighton beach. The library was a private philanthropic venture, and local resident Chief Justice George Higgjnbotham was a major instigator, but don’t know when it was named after him. The library moved to the town hall in 1978, and it’s had various uses since, currently a dance studio. The only other thing I found out was that the day it opened, no one could go to the hall upstairs, since the Board of Health thought the stair was too narrow, and it had to be rebuilt, or at least that’s the story. Update : yes a report on the opening says the stair ‘will have to be removed’, but also congratulated the architect.

• Uncategorized