Past present  RSS feed | About

One of the best loved parks in Brighton and Hove celebrates its centenary this month.

There will be fun and games at St Ann's Well Gardens on Saturday, May 24, between noon and 7pm.

Although it became a public park in 1908, the gardens were famous long before.

This was largely due to Dr Richard Russell, the founder of modern Brighton, who first recommended sea water as being beneficial to drink.

The good doctor also reckoned, with more justification, that the chalybeate spring containing iron on a little hill in neighbouring Hove would also do people good.

The hill, about a mile north west of Brighton, was covered with furze, which is why there is a road named after it today.

Among those who sampled the water was Maria Fitzherbert, unofficial wife of the Prince Regent, Queen Adelaide, and Princess Augusta, daughter of George III.

According to Judy Middleton in her Encyclopaedia Of Hove And Portslade, Mrs Fitzherbert waxed lyrical about the water.

She said in 1830: "I was certainly very unwell the first two or three days when I came here but I am wonderfully improved both in health and strength. I drink the chalybeate waters everyday, similar to those of Tunbridge.

They fortunately agree with me in every respect."

In the following year, the owners agreed sick people with little money could be admitted to drink the water free on production of a medical recommendation.

There was an attractive pump house by the well until, shamefully, Hove Council demolished it in 1935.

The well and surrounding garden declined when royal patronage ceased in the mid-19th century but during the 1880s there was extensive renovation.

There was plenty of entertainment on offer once people had paid their fees to enter, including a children's playground, open air concerts, musical tea parties and fetes.

A fortune teller called Gypsy Lee plied her trade from a caravan for 15 years and her most famous prediction was that the coronation of Edward VII would not take place.

In fact it had to be postponed because of his appendicitis.

It was rumoured her clients included the British Prime Minister William Gladstone, who often came to Brighton, but there is no confirmation of that.

For many years the gardens were run by the noted film pioneer and entrepreneur George Albert Smith who was also a hypnotist and illusionist.

Smith started making moving pictures in the 1890s and had his own film studio in the gardens.

Some of his work still survives.

His films were short and often humorous. There were scores of them and he ran a thriving local industry for more than a decade.

Smith gave up film making at a young age and retreated into obscurity. But he was discovered again as a very old man when he was sill living in Hove and was awarded a fellowship by the British Film Academy at the age of 91.

The authorities in Hove had wanted to buy the gardens as a public park for many years but negotiations proved fraught.

Eventually the owner sold it to Hove Council for £10,000, much below the probable commercial value of the land.

On Empire Day, May 23, 1908, St Ann's Well Gardens were opened to the public in an imposing and impressive ceremony.

Thanks to the generosity of local benefactor Flora Sassoon, the council was able to buy more land fronting Somerhill Road in 1913 as an extension. There is still a tablet in the park marking her gift.

During both world wars, the flower beds were dug up and replaced by vegetables to provide food for local people. The council provided a scented garden for blind people in 1953. It is sometime used for open air theatre performances.

In the 1960s there were plans to build a library in the park but this caused such a row that Hove Council abandoned the idea. A cafe was built in the 1970s along with new lavatories, all of which are still in use today.

The gardens suffered great damage during the storm of 1987 with scores of trees lost but many have since been replaced.

Brighton and Hove City Council realised the importance of the gardens when it took over care for them in 1997 and they have been awarded a green flag as part of a national scheme.

Many people visit the gardens daily to enjoy a cup of tea, look at the flowers and watch the squirrels.

Now Hove is so built up, the gardens are even more valuable than in 1908 as a peaceful open space.

11:38am Monday 12th May 2008

Print   Email this