1 More Memories of Earlier Kemp Town published in the Brighton Herald 26th March 1892 by William Baines
2 Bas reliefs
3 Misfortunes of Estate residents
1 Dr Henry Laing
Dr. Laing, then well advanced in years,is probably remembered by only a few, but 40 or 50 years ago his school at 11 Sussex Square for gentlemen was known throughout the country. “How are the mighty fallen” this school is now used for the purposes of a dairy.
The rear part of No 11 Sussex Square was originally used as a cowshed and dairy by the Marquess of Bristol. It is possible that the tiles now revealed in the present Marmalade Cafe originate from this period.
To read more Memories of Kemp Town find the Article by Andrew Doig on the Estate page
Thracian mercenaries on horseback. After the Alexander Frieze by Bertel Thorvaldsen c. 1820
Thracian mercenaries on horseback. After the Alexander Frieze by Bertel Thorvaldsen c. 1820These panels are particularly interesting as they are in the original unpainted plasterwork.
The house has two bas reliefs,which are believed to have been copied from sections of the 1822 frieze ‘Alexander the Great’s Entry into Babylon’ by Bertol Thorvaldsen. Commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to celebrate his triumphant entry into Vienna in 1809. The original, also in plaster, is 35 metres long and decorates a hall in the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome, now the Italian Presidential Palace. There are marble and plaster versions of the frieze at the Thorvaldsen Museum at Copenhagen and a plaster version in the Harris Museum Preston UK.
The book, Hidden Treasures on the Kemp Town Estate by Vanessa Minns, published by KTS, illustrates and documents the provenance of all the 40 bas reliefs on the Estate and indicates where they can be found in other Houses in this country (Chatsworth, Osborne House) It can be purchased on Amazon from 1 May 2023
