The History of 28 Lewes Crescent

1.SALES BY AUCTION. LEWES CRESCENT, KEMP TOWN.

2.Phase Two

1 Sales by Auction

Elegant and Superior Household Furniture, Pianofortes by Broadwood and Collard, Chimney and Pier Glasses, Inlaid Cabinets, China, Glass, China Ornaments, Clocks, Plated Goods, A/TE. WILKINSON has been honoured with instructions to Sell by Auction, on the Premises, 28, Lewes Crescent (inconsequence of the House being Let on Lease), Thursday and Friday, the 5th and 6th days of Juno, 1856, at Eleven for Twelve o’clock each day precisely, The whole of the very EXCELLENT AND SUPERIOR FURNITURE, comprising in the Sleeping Apartments Four-post and other Bedsteads, prime Bedding, elegant Wardrobes, Chests of Drawers, Marble-top Wash stands, Toilet Tables and Glasses, and all the usual and varied requirements. The Drawing and Dining Rooms and Study embrace Suites of Tabouret, and Damask Curtains, Rosewood and Mahogany Loo,Card, Occasional, Dining and other Tables, Sets of Carved Rosewood and Mahogany Chairs, Easy ditto, Sofas and Couches, Brilliant Plate Chimney and Pier Glasses, in finely Carved and Gilt Frames, Handsome Pier and Console Tables, FINE TONED PIANOFORTES IN ROSEWOOD CASES, BY BROADWOOD AND COLLARD, Pair of elegant Marqueterie Cabinets, fine Cut Glass, China, Brussels and other Carpets, Kitchen Utensils, and Numerous Effects. May viewed the day preceding the sale, and catalogues had of the Auctioneer, at his Estate and Agency Offices, 168,North Street, Brighton

Brighton Gazette and Lewes Observer 1856

2.Phase Two

Meanwhile, next door at 28 Lewes Crescent, a similar pattern of home and furnished letting was followed until in 1881, when the Census shows John Pilcher in residence, with his family and half a dozen servants. Four years before his death in 1913, he engineered a crucial event for this history: he also bought No.1 Arundel Terrace, to begin the second phase of the house’s history. The motive for this purchase is unknown; it was certainly not to accommodate a growing family, because John was 82 at the time. However, a reasonable speculation is that No.1 was bought to shelter the nurses of the Territorial Forces Nursing Service, which had been formed the previous year 1908; its purpose was to supplement the regular service in emergencies and all its members worked as nurses in civilian life, in this case presumably at the nearby Sussex County Hospital, as it thenwas. This scenario is likely because although No.1 is recorded under Mrs. Pilcher’s name during the Great War, it is Matron Warters of the T.F.N.S. who is listed as the occupier in 1918 and 1919.

No.28 continued to be at least partly occupied by John’s widow until her departure in 1919.