Renewal and Restoration on Kemp Town Estate

On a freezing December morning I took a step back in time to get some small understanding of how our estate might have looked 200 years ago when work was first underway on the classically inspired facades.

Historic restoration specialist John Paul Zielinski was working on the extensive redecoration of the façade of 27 Sussex Square and was able to introduce me to thecomplex world of triglyphs, guttae, taenia and the other elements of the Doric order that the builders of the Kemp Town Estate used to accurately model their buildings on those of the classical worlds of Greece and Rome.

Many of us will walk round the Estate every day aware of the overall impact of its dazzling white splendour but giving barely a glance at the array of architectural detail around us. Watching John at work on restoring the entrance porch at number 27 revealed the work and attention to detail needed to create the Estate 200 years ago, and to restore it now to its original condition.

Thomas Read Kemp’s original specification did not allow for any additions to thr facades. However the owner of 14 Arundel Terrace – originally The Bush Hotel – insisted on a porch for the shelter and comfort of his customers, and other owners quickly followed suit. As a result, porches were added to many other houses at different times, by different builders and to slightly differing designs.

While the spectacular capitals around the Estate are of the highly decorated Corinthian order – of which more below – the porches are supported by the plainer Doric order of columns and capitals. The plainness, however, is deceptive; looking closely reveals a mass of decorative detail which had to be handcrafted for every property.

The complexity comes in the frieze which runs around the three sides of each porch. Triglyphs – in effect, trios of small pilasters – run around the frieze. Beneath each triglyph are a set of six small pegs, or guttae, and between the two elements runs a small, raised strip, or taenia. Between the triglyphs are panels, or metopes, which in Kemp Town are plain, but in the ancient world - such as the frieze of the Parthenon itself – would have held sculpted relief decoration. Taken as a whole, the decorated frieze defines the Doric order and creates a direct architectural link between homes on the Estate now and the buildings of Athens in the seventh century BC, or even earlier – the triglyphs and guttae are believed to be echoes of the wooden beams and pegs used in pre-stone classical architecture.

In Thomas Read Kemp’s day, this decorative work was made using wooden moulds and cast in Parker’s Roman Cement (or master builder Thomas Cubitt’s own version – see 2023 Newsletters) which, despite the name, bore no relation to the cement pioneered by the Romans but was instead patented by James Parker, businessman, clergyman and inventor, in the 1790s. Mixed with sand, the cement would set in less than fifteen minutes and could then be fitted in place. The guttae pegs were each individually hand cast and then screwed in place into specially drilled holes in the horizontal taenia. The process was extremely labour-intensive but would have been essential to satisfy the knowledgeable demands of Kemp’s prospective customers.

But as John has found in his close-up examination of many of the porches around the Estate, the process was very far from mass produced, with no two porches exactly the same. This is partly due to the two centuries of repair, redecoration, remodelling – for example, the installation of belvederes – and exposure to the elements, but also to the different builders and teams who doubtless worked on the construction of the building facades. The challenge to modern day restorers, therefore, is to remake something faithful to the original without taking on a mass-produced look. Ideally, the passer-by on the street should see no difference between original and modern.

The modern restorer has many advantages over his Regency counterpart. Replacement decorative elements are now cast into silicone moulds which, while based on carved wooden templates, are much more robust than the wooden originals which had relatively short lives due to wear and tear. Modern technology has also devised stronger and longer-lasting materials than Parker’s 19th century invention.

John demonstrated the casting process using a mix of Vicat Prompt Natural Cement strengthened with Fibrocem which gives extra durability for external decorative features. The mix sets within an hour or two and the new elements can then be fixed securely to the porch structure.

The same process has been used at 27 Sussex Square to remake and restore the three Corinthian capitals the building had lost at some point in its 200 years history. These spectacular capitals with their acanthus leaves are a major feature of the Estate. John’s work has given him the rare opportunity to see these works of the Regency builder’s art up close, and to create silicone moulds for each of the ten separate elements that comprise each capital. Only by seeing and picking up one of these new acanthus leaves can their size and weight be fully appreciated; passers-by might be more wary of the condition of each capital if they had held these heavy and substantial leaves in their hands.

The modern capitals, as well as being made from more durable materials, are also cast around steel cabling to prevent future crumbling, and then steel-bolted together and doubly fixed to the building’s façade with Fibrocem. The result is a decorative feature intended to last for another 200 years.

Seeing this restoration work in such up-close detail helps to remind us that we are only passing through this great Estate and – as we owe a debt to those who ownedthe buildings before us - so we owe it in turn to future owners to keep the Estate in good condition and repair.

It is only through the dedication of current owners, and the skills of contemporary craftsmen such as John, that we can pass the Estate on to future generations to enjoy as we have done.

Photographs by John Paul Zielinski & Keith Paulin