Elm Grove is a mainly residential area of Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. The densely populated district lies on a steep hill northeast of the city centre and developed in the second half of the 19th century after the laying out of a major west–east road, called Elm Grove. Terraced houses, small shops and public buildings characterise the streetscape: within the area is a major hospital, two churches (all with listed building status) and a former board school, as well as Brighton's oldest council houses and an interwar council estate.
The road has its origins in a cross-country Roman road, and it remained a rural track until the 19th century. Although their numbers have declined, it is known for the mature elm trees lining the road, which links Lewes Road with Brighton Racecourse and the city's eastern suburbs. A tram route which ran along the road and a railway branch line which passed through the area by viaduct and tunnel closed in the 20th century, but it is still served by three bus routes. Although surrounded on several sides by other inner suburbs such as Hanover and Round Hill, Elm Grove is close to large areas of open space such as Race Hill, Tenantry Down and Brighton's extensive Victorian cemeteries.
Location and topography
Brighton and Hove City Council's Urban Characterisation Study of the Hanover and Elm Grove districts describes the Elm Grove area as a "high density Victorian residential area following the contours of the steep valley side". There is "a strong sense of place" and it is "a very popular [place] to live". Located on a west-facing slope on the steep eastern side of the dry valley through which Lewes Road runs, it is convenient for the city centre, the Lewes Road shopping area and major transport routes. The top of Elm Grove close to the racecourse acts as an "important potential gateway into the city" from the east.
The hillside location gives many parts of the Elm Grove area long views in several directions, especially to the west and north. There is little open space within the area apart from William Clarke Park, although Queen’s Park lies within walking distance to the south and open downland is nearby. There is also limited tree cover, except for Elm Grove itself which is lined with mature elm trees. Elms are ideally suited to Brighton's chalky soil and salt-laden air. Thousands were planted in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and there are still more than 17,000—helped by an ongoing programme of Elm disease control by the council. The Great Storm of 1987 destroyed or damaged many, though, including along Elm Grove.
Elm Grove (the road) forms the northern limit of the Hanover suburb. Although developed at a similar time to the streets to the north, Hanover originally had a solidly working-class character, with many streets of small terraced houses. Although terraced housing is also common north of Elm Grove, there is a much wider range of housing styles and sizes, and the area developed a more mixed character as a result. Brighton's extensive chain of Victorian cemeteries, set into an undulating valley formerly used as farmland, lie immediately north of Hartington Road and separate the Elm Grove district from the Bear Road/Coombe Road district, another hillside area of dense terraced housing.
History
Several Roman roads have been identified running across the area covered by the city of Brighton and Hove. One ran west–east inland from the coast along the line of the present Old Shoreham Road. After crossing the London to Brighton Way possibly where Preston Circus is now, it continued eastwards up the east side of the Wellesbourne valley on to the ridge of the South Downs to Lewes, where it became a ridgeway as it crossed Newmarket Hill and Kingston Hill.
Brighton Racecourse opened on Whitehawk Hill to the northeast of Brighton in 1783, and the ancient track—which climbed a long, steep west-facing slope at this point—was used by people visiting it from central Brighton. As the town grew, it became a more important route, and in 1852 elm trees were planted along each side by Amon Henry Wilds on behalf of the Brighton Town Commissioners, for whom he had previously served as an officer. The name Elm Grove was given at this time. The only building north of the road was Hanover Mill, a post mill erected 1838 and demolished in the 1890s when Bernard Road was built on the site. Lewes Road itself was mostly undeveloped as well, apart from six almshouses built on the south side of its junction with Elm Grove. These were the first part of what later became the Percy and Wagner Almshouses after six more were added in 1859.
The first residential development took place between 1854 and 1858 at Melbourne Street and on Wellington Road, which led northeastwards from the bottom of Elm Grove. Of the detached villas in spacious grounds, only one remains, at number 18. This was converted into a children's home and later became a daycare centre operated by The Children's Society, but it became vacant in 2004. It fell into dereliction and was bought by developers Baron Homes in 2006, whose planning application for partial demolition and redevelopment (granted in 2008) lapsed in 2011. In January 2012, local residents raised concerns about the building's fate and the presence of squatters. A new planning application seeking full demolition and replacement with two blocks of flats was refused in August 2013. Elsewhere on Wellington Road, Victorian houses are interspersed with postwar blocks of flats.
The top (east) end of the road was undeveloped until the late 19th century, except for the Brighton Workhouse—built in 1865–67 to replace an earlier building established in the West Hill area in 1822. (The new workhouse also housed one of three fire-hoses which the town's earliest fire department, the Brighton Fire Establishment, could use in conjunction with its fire engines.) Residential development gradually spread eastwards up the hill from the 1860s, though. Between 1859 and 1864 Elm Grove itself was built up as far as Wellington Street, which was also laid out at the time. Infill development within this area continued in the late 1860s with Hastings Road and Franklin Road, followed in the early 1870s by Agnes Street, Franklin Street, De Montfort Road, Fairlight Place and St Martin's Place. Meanwhile, the Kemp Town branch line had opened in 1869, forming the eastern limit of the residential area until 1880 when Bonchurch Road, Brading Road and Totland Road were built further up the hill on a north–south alignment parallel with the line. Newmarket Road, Upper Wellington Road and Normanton Street filled in more gaps in the meantime, and Elm Grove itself was continuously built up as far as Totland Road by 1884. Hartington Road, the area's other major road, developed between 1885 and 1889 (north side) and a decade later on the south side. East of Bernard Road to the top of the hill remained undeveloped until 1900 but was quickly built up thereafter. The latest building took place around the junction of Whippingham Road and Hartington Road, between 1915 and 1919.
Among the houses built during this period of intense development were Brighton's earliest council houses. Two landowners donated land north of Elm Grove in 1897, and simple polychromatic brick cottages were built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. They still stand on the north side of St Helen's Road. More council houses were built soon afterwards in nearby May Road, but these do not survive. A larger estate of council housing followed in the 1920s with the development of Pankhurst Avenue and surrounding streets on land southwest of the workhouse, as it was at the time. The land had previously been used for allotments. Pankhurst Avenue was developed in the early 1920s along with nearby streets such as Glynde, Plumpton and Firle Roads; infill housing at Clayton and Hallett Roads followed in the 1930s. "Uniform, low-density semi-detached houses" characterise these streets, which are also dominated by the hospital buildings.
The area was affected by bombing during the Brighton Blitz. The Franklin Arms pub at the junction of Lewes Road and Franklin Road was destroyed on 20 September 1940, killing the licensee, his wife and another woman. On 22 October 1943, a bomb intended for the railway viaduct over Lewes Road missed and detonated in the cutting behind Bonchurch Road, damaging or destroying houses and a laundry in the road, Seville Street and Wellington Street. Elm Grove School was also damaged.
After the Kemp Town branch line closed, the former railway cutting—a long and narrow area of land between Hartington Road and Elm Grove—became available for redevelopment. Labour councillor and former Mayor of Brighton William Clarke led a campaign to lay out a recreational area to serve the Elm Grove and Lewes Road areas, which are underprovided with open space. William Clarke Park (also known as The Patch) opened in the late 20th century and has been looked after by a community group, the Friends of William Clarke Park, since 1995. The park has a playground and can be accessed by paths from Hartington Road and Franklin Street. It is one of several parks in the city where the council can arrange for people to plant a commemorative tree.
In 1994 Elm Grove was featured as a climb in the Tour de France, where riders climbed it twice as part of a finishing circuit in Brighton on the first of two days' racing in Britain during that year's Tour.
In July 2010 the council announced plans to demolish Ainsworth House, a 1960s low-rise block on Wellington Road, and build a higher-density high-rise "family complex". These would be the first new council houses in Brighton since the 1980s. Planning permission was granted in April 2011, and the 15-home development called Balchin Court was opened in September 2013. In November 2011 squatters occupied had occupied Ainsworth House, which was in a dangerous condition because it contained asbestos. Also in 2010, planning permission was granted for the demolition of former nurses' homes facing Pankhurst Avenue and their replacement with three blocks of flats and a community centre. Of the 95 flats, 80% were to be classed as affordable housing, although in 2012 (by which time development had started) this was reduced to 40%.
Demographics and community
Hanover and Elm Grove is one of the electoral wards of Brighton and Hove City Council where three local councillors are elected every four years. At the most recent election in 2023, three Labour councillors were elected with 48% of the overall vote, with the Greens coming second with 40%. Elected councillors have either been elected from Labour or the Greens.
The ward is part of the Brighton Pavilion parliamentary constituency, which elected Caroline Lucas of the Green Party at the 2010 General Election. Wards in Brighton have changed size and name many times over the years. The Elm Grove area was part of the Park ward, one of six, between 1854 and 1894. In that year, when the borough of Brighton was divided into 14 wards, the area came under Lewes Road ward. Next, an Elm Grove ward was created in 1928; then in 1983 it became Tenantry ward.
Demographic data is collated at ward level. The Hanover & Elm Grove ward covers also covers the Hanover suburb and part of the Carlton Hill/Albion Hill district, which have different characteristics, housing styles and population densities. For the ward overall in 2001, the population was about 13,000, the gross housing density was 68 dwellings per hectare (27.5 dwellings per acre), 50% of dwellings were terraced houses, and housing tenure was split 53%–47% between ownership and rental.