Even though I didn't get to Brighton last week, I did go to Bognor Regis on Saturday. It's not the most exciting place in the world to visit, and there was probably a lot more going on down the coast in Brighton, where Pride was taking place, but Bognor has its charm, and its interesting corners, and it's not a bad place to spend a day mooching around.
Like many seaside towns, Bognor has a rather bizarre array of architecture on display. At one end of the promenade are a selection of concrete beach huts, which could look quite ugly, but they've all been given a pretty paint job.
We spotted a wedding couple with a photographer, taking cheesy photos of the groom carrying the bride down the beach (which seemed fair, as she wasn't wearing shoes and the beach was all shingle just there). We also spotted a huge, dead seagull lying on its back, so I couldn't resist this picture of it with the wedding party in the background.
At the other end of the promenade, where the houses aren't so posh, the beach huts are wooden and painted in a bizarrely radioactive array of IKEA-like colours. I think these were available for rent by the day, unlike the concrete ones which all seemed to be privately owned.
Nearby, we spotted these eccentric mish-mash houses built from old train carriages and garden sheds. They didn't look too weatherproof: one sharp gust of wind might blow them away!
And these, which seemed oddly Mediterranean, and like little tug boats at the same time. I like the balcony/porch combo with the portholes.
Then there's this monstrosity, which could have been good, except that the proportions are all wrong and the mirrored windows are too aggressive. Judging from the few balcony ornaments we spotted (there was a really hideous elfin Peter Pan statue sitting on the penthouse patio), it's going to be full of people with too much money and no taste, which is what you'd expect from anyone who'd want to live in a place that looked like this (the photo actually makes it look better, which means it probably passes the Architecture Squint Test Owen refers to in this essay):
Bognor has a big Butlin's resort which you can see from the train when you're coming in — it's got a peaked marquee that looks like something from a fairytale at a distance. Up close it looks a lot less romantic, but the really interesting thing about the place is that it takes up a huge stretch of the Bognor seafront, but almost none of the place can actually see the sea. There are no windows, and all sorts of fences blocking access between the buildings and the promenade. There's something rather twisted about that.
There's one place at Butlin's that does have a seafront view, the new Shoreline Hotel which was built a few years ago. It's not a bad building, as it seems to follow the seaside moderne tradition of buildings that look like ocean liners (such as the De La Warr Pavilion or Marine Court which I blogged about here). I forgot to take a photo of the side view to show you what I mean, but the front view is quite nice.
But my favourite building in Bognor was "this cleverly quaint little house, a sort of building which in its optimistic quality and simplicity might be emulated in thousands all over the kingdom."
No, not the ugly yellow thing squatting on the side of the road, which I included in the frame for comparison, but that elegant and odd little tower. It's called the White Tower, and looks like it was built sometime in the 1930s when both square whitewashed buildings and suburban cottages were commonplace, so I was interested to learn that it's actually much older than that. It was designed in 1897 by John Cyril Hawes, who was just 21 at the time. It's been surmised that he built it as a tower so as to be able to have a view of the sea, rather than the other buildings in front of it. You see pictures of the interior in this pdf. [link takes you to GoogleDocs version of an estate agent's pdf]
The more I think about it, though, the more I find myself wondering when it was whitewashed and when it acquired its name, because it wasn't particularly common practice to whitewash buildings like this in the 1890s when red brick and terracotta were still at the height of popularity. I was under the impression that it wasn't until the birth of modernism that people started painting their houses white like this, but I could be wrong — feel free to comment if you know anything about it. (Incidentally, Hawes himself went on to live in a hermitage in the Bahamas which he designed in the 1940s.)
It was a pretty mixed day, with dramatic changes in the sky, but it only rained twice: once when we were in a cafe having lunch, and once when we were in the pub. To give you an idea of the dramatic weather, these two photos were taken around the same time, from the same bit of the beach (those steps were quite interesting, covered in green and purple seaweed, limpets, barnacles and whelks, not to mention a little pool with tiny fish in it).
Bognor may not be winning any style awards or high accolades any time soon, but it's a very pleasant place for a relaxing day out by the sea. So get yourself a cuppa, and sit down and enjoy the view. More photos here.
on Aug 12th, 2010 at 9:36 am
That Hawes building is great! The proportions of the mini cottage at the top couldn't be better. The windows look strangely small, for a building designed to look at the sea, but they are clearly part of its charm.
on Aug 12th, 2010 at 10:01 am
I love the little cottage roof too. It reminds me a little of The House In The Clouds at Thorpeness, although that's on a bigger scale of course.
And I noticed the windows were small too, but they do seem in proportion to the building rather than just stingy like contemporary tiny windows do.
on Aug 12th, 2010 at 11:23 am
The white tower reminded me of Voysey's house in Bedford Park – http://www.bedfordpark.org.uk – which was designed in 1890. It was rendered and painted white from the start (not Brilliant White though). A number of other buildings by Voysey around that time use white render – so it was used long before the modern movement.
on Aug 12th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Why didn't you go along to Littlehampton to see the new bench? http://bit.ly/aFMfH2
on Aug 13th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
Someone on Flickr said it reminded them of Voysey too. Interesting about the white render — thanks!
As for Littlehampton, well we all went by train and that would have meant an extra ticket. I have suggested it as a place to go before though — but I'd forgotten they were building that bench so thanks for the reminder on that.
on Mar 20th, 2011 at 9:49 am
I really wanted to buy this one last year, still do,. But it would have to be my sole residence.Unfortunately both my wife and I are of a certain age(!), and not very good on stairs. And yet we have for 50 years lived in impractical properties, invariably regretting our enthusiasms!!. So perhaps we wanted one last mad purchase!!
I knew his architectural work in Australia, and even had a colleague at a college in geraldton who lived in his little monastic house there, very mediaeval and elegantly frugal.