WORTHING HERITAGE TRAILS

TOWN TRAIL 4

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1This walk starts at the VisitWorthingInformation Centre, based at the Dome.

The Centre has information aboutaccommodation and places of interest both inWorthing and the surrounding district. TheDome cinema in its present form dates from1923, but cinema was a feature of the buildingsince it first opened as ‘The Kursaal’ – anEdwardian multi-entertainment centre – in1910. Originally the cinema was situated on thefirst floor and the ground-floor auditoriumwas used for roller-skating and publicmeetings. In February 1913, a meetingorganised by local Suffragettes ended in a riot,as protesters threw bags of flour and soot andwaved football rattles. The name ‘Kursaal’ wasdropped during the First World Waras  sounding too Germanic and the name‘Dome’ was chosen following a public vote.

2Only a shell now remains of Stafford’sLibrary, although it has been adapted to a

modern use. Libraries fulfilled an importantsocial purpose in the early nineteenth centuryand were   popular with those   seekingcompany and musical entertainment.

3Worthing’s first purpose-built hotel wasthe Steyne Hotel – today’s Chatsworth

Hotel, which in 2012 celebrated its

bicentenary. The name ‘steyne’ means stonyfield. There are also ‘steynes’, with slightlydifferent spellings, at Brighton and BognorRegis. In all three cases the fields were close tothe sea and used by fishermen to mend theirnets and gut their fish. By the time the SteyneHotel was opened, such practices weredeemed vulgar and offensive, and in time, thefishermen were removed and the Steynebecame a place of recreation for visitors andresidents alike. An attempt by Edward Ogle,the owner of Warwick House (to the north ofthe Steyne) to claim the field as his ownprivate recreation ground was rebuffed by theangry townspeople, who broke down thefences he erected and threw down the  signsthat declared the land to be private property.

4At the southern end of the Steyne is a warmemorial, built in the style of a

‘Cleopatra’s Needle’, to the Worthing menwho lost their lives in South Africa during theBoer War of 1899-1902.

5The current Warnes is a modern buildingof upmarket apartments, which replaced

the earlier Warnes Hotel after it was  guttedby fire in 1987. The first Warnes was namedafter a local businessman who was the firstperson in Worthing to own a motor car.

During the early years of the twentiethcentury  several motor car rallies wereorganised from Warnes and attracted a greatdeal of national media attention. In 1936, theEmperor Haile Selassie of Ethopia stayed forseveral months at Warnes, following hiscountry’s defeat at the hands of Fascist Italy.

6As you walk up York Road, notice the‘Dutch gables’ of the houses to your left –

a most unusual architectural feature in thetown. Turn right into Alfred Place and you willsee another singular architectural design – the‘boat porches’ of the cottages in this street. Itis said that they were built to mimic upturnedfishing boats, although this may be just aquaint local legend.

7As you come to the junction with WarwickRoad, notice the tall building to your right.

This was once Chapman’s Brewery – alsoknown as the Tower Brewery. It has now beenconverted into flats. Looking northwards upWarwick Road you will see, across BrightonRoad, Warwick Place, which consists of a rowof buildings dating back to the earlynineteenth century.

8Turning right now, the trail continuessouthward down Warwick Road. The

terrace on the left is one of only five Regencyterraces to survive in the town, and isremarkably unaltered.

9Splash Point has been greatly altered overthe years. Two hundred years ago there

was a discernible point of land here, but thepersistent action of the sea has eroded thisaway. The increased danger of severe floodingled in recent times  to the construction of thepresent wall and the massing of stoneboulders in front of it as a defence. Thefountain and other ornamental features wereadded in 2012. For many years an old disusedsea mine stood at Splash Point into whichdonations to the RNLI could be deposited.

10The Rowing Club is a 1930s buildingwhich  replaced a late Victorian building

used for the same purpose. The buildings tothe left were once known as ‘Greville Terrace’,and were the scene, in 1850, of a famous caseof ‘rough music’. The lady of the house – anew arrival to Worthing – had caused offencelocally and was party to an action for slanderagainst another society lady in the town. Amob with blackened faces and rattling old tincans and kettles filled with beach pebbles,assailed the house, letting out ‘loud groans’and shouts of disapproval. They ended theirdemonstration by raining a shower of stonesagainst the windows of the house, breakingevery pane. This was one of several instancesof ‘rough music’ that took place in Worthingduring the mid-nineteenth century.

11Denton Gardens were laid out in 1922 atthe expense of Alderman James Gurney

Denton, four times mayor of Worthing. Thewater features have been replaced with asunken garden.

12Beach House Gardens (we will passBeach House later in this trail) once

formed part of the Beach House estate andwere acquired by the Council in 1927. Theoriginal ornamental gates were taken downduring the Second World War;  the currentgates were removed from the Warren, whenthe latter was demolished in the 1960s. Thememorial to the Warrior Birds – carrierpigeons of the Second World War – waserected at the behest of the actress, NancyPrice, who was a great lover of birds. Shemoved to Worthing in the 1930s and died inthe town in 1970.  The bowling greens aremuch admired and the annual World BowlsChampionship has taken place at Beach HouseGardens for over thirty years.

13Homefield Park was opened asWorthing’s first recreation park in 1873.

Initially known as the ‘People’s Park’, it coveredthe entire area from Lyndhurst Road to

WORTHING HERITAGE TRAILS

TOWN TRAIL 4Introduction: this trail explores the parks and leisure areas of the towncentre, including social and wartime history.

Duration: allow up to two hours. Terrain : follows pavements and paths through parks – this trail should be suitable forpushchairs and wheelchairs.

WORTHING HERITAGE TRAILS

TOWN TRAIL 1

www.worthingheritagealliance.org.uk

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WORTHING HERITAGE TRAILS

TOWN TRAIL 4

Parks and Gardens

Chesswood Road. The hospital stood in thesouth-west corner. From the 1960s onwards, asthe hospital expanded, large tracts of the parkwere given up for this necessary development.One of the most impressive features of theVictorian park was a lake, fed by the TevilleStream. A decorative bridge spanned thewater at its narrowest point. These featureswere removed in the 1930s. The original redbrick wall remains, although wrought-ironrailings were removed during the SecondWorld War. At the time of writing there areambitious plans to restore the park and tocreate new facilities suitable for 21st-centuryusers.

14The buildings on the south-easterncorner of Homefield Road and

Lyndhurst Road were once a single housecalled ‘Reydon’. During the Second World Warthis was the home of Dr Marjorie Davies. Onthe evening of 9 August 1942 a crippledGerman Heinkel 111 bomber clipped the roofsof houses in Madeira Avenue, then crashedthrough the flint wall in front of Candia,skidded across Lyndhurst Road and ploughedinto Reydon. In the resulting fireball, all five ofthe crew were killed, as were three Canadiansoldiers billeted in the house. Two womenthrew themselves from upstairs windows intothe back garden, receiving only minor injuries.

15At the time of the incident describedabove, Candia was the headquarters of

the Home Guard. As well as a general armoury,the house also contained sea mines, awaitingcollection. Had the German bomber crashedinto Candia a considerable explosion wouldhave followed, leading, almost certainly, tomajor  loss of life amongst not only HomeGuards, but also amongst residents in nearbyhouses. Home Guards stationed in Candiaduring the war claimed that it was haunted. Alocal artist, who had previously lived in thehouse, contacted the local press at the timeto say he too had been aware of ghostlyhappenings.

16Farncombe Road is today in aconservation area and boasts some of

the best surviving examples of mid-Victorian

villas to be found in the town. The street islined with mock-Victorian lighting columns.But the lamppost on the roundabout at thejunction with Farncombe Road and ChurchWalk is an original. During the early 1970s, theCouncil removed these ornate columns,putting up modern replacements. However,Pat Baring, the octogenarian chairman of theWorthing Civic Society, who lived close by,was determined that this column should notbe removed. She chained herself to it andonly relented in her protest when the Councilagreed that the column could remain.

17This modern block of flats marks thespot where, until the 1960s, stood

Esplanade House – a turreted late Victorianvilla. It was here, during the summer of 1894,that Oscar Wilde wrote the Importance ofBeing Earnest. Wilde was much feted inWorthing at the time. The town was stillrecovering from the tarnishing its reputationhad received as a result of the typhoid feveroutbreak of the previous year. However,Worthing repented its associations withWilde, when the following year the playwrightwas convicted on  charges of sexual indecency.One of his alleged victims was fourteen-year-old Worthing newspaper boy, AphonsoConway.

18At the time of writing, Worthing’s new‘Splash Point’ swimming complex

is  under construction. The central section ofthe 1939 raised pebbled walkway has beenremoved, allowing a clear view of BeachHouse. Designed by John Rebecca, BeachHouse was built in 1820. For many years it wasthe home of the town’s MP, Sir Robert Loder.Many influential guests visited the Loders attheir seaside residence, but none moredistinguished than King Edward VII, who twicestayed here during his reign. Following SirRobert’s death, the house passed to his sonEdward. The American playwright EdwardKnoblock became the next owner. In 1927 thehouse and its grounds were purchased byWorthing Town Council. Twice, in 1947 and in1976, the Council sought to have Beach House www.worthingheritagealliance.org.uk

demolished, and twice the Secretary of Stateintervened to preserve the building. It is nowdivided into luxury apartments.

19This trail now returns along thepromenade to the VisitWorthing

Information Centre.

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