Churchill Square

Named After Sir Winston Churchill, Honorary Freeman of Brighton

History Notes by Marion Bance

If you have Christmas presents to buy you might be pondering one of our 21st century dilemmas – shop online or go to the shops.

In theory, in-person Christmas shopping should be a breeze for us in Brighton; we are spoilt for choice with hundreds of independent shops and all the big name stores on Western Road. Churchill Square, our principal shopping centre, will be pulling out all the stops to make our shopping experience a Christmas event in itself; the halls will be decked with all the traditional elements of the holiday season and everyone involved will be working hard to create a joyful, festive ambiance.

But, if you have lived in Brighton long enough, you will know that Churchill Square has not always exuded an atmosphere of warmth and merriment. Indeed, it is fair to say that Churchill Square has not always been a cheery place!

It’s history certainly includes some gloomy times, starting in 1935 when the initial proposal for a shopping precinct was announced and then in 1938 when “dilapidated” buildings in Blucher Place and Upper Russell Street were pulled down. The Second World War put a hold on plans and work on the project did not start again until 1957-58 with the clearance of Artillery Street, Cannon Street and Russell Street.

In 1960, when Brighton Council wanted to start development work in earnest, they were faced with substantial opposition. Understandably, local people had mixed feelings about the demolition; some questioned whether the area could truly be classified as “slum” and felt a sense of loss for the strong communities they were being forced to leave.
Mrs Kathleen Davis, who lived in Artillery Street for 20 years, denied it was a slum. To her it was, “a clean working class street” where, “at Christmas everybody used to do the conga down the street and get hot mince pies on the way.” (Churchill Square, A Lost Brighton Community, Andrew Walker.)

It was, undoubtedly, an end to a way of life for those living within the development area, but not everyone saw this as a bad thing; some residents were happy with the idea of moving away from accommodation they associated with overcrowding, damp, poor sanitation and insect infestation. And others saw the plans for a major shopping centre as a necessary improvement for the town, as one local newspaper put it, “the key to Brighton’s future.”

Following a public inquiry, ministerial approval was granted in 1963 and Sir Hugh Casson’s (designer of the 1951 Festival of Britain) recommendations for the development of a 16 acre site, from Western Road to King’s Road, were put into action. The plan was radical by anyone’s standards and included the demolition of the Grand Hotel to make way for a seafront block of flats. Clearly this did not happen, but 132 other properties were subject to compulsory purchase and clearance. Among them were houses, pubs, a school, a vicarage, a meat market and the houses and businesses of Grenville Place - one of the oldest streets in west Brighton.

Churchill Square was officially opened by Mayor, Jim Taylor on the 11th October 1968, the additional multi-level development to the south of the main square was not, however, completed until 1972. At that time, the complex featured low-rise office blocks, a residential tower (Chartwell Court) and more than 60 shops, including retailers like Sainsbury’s, Tesco, the Co-Op and British Home Stores.

Despite the draw of big-name shops, the largely open-air, modernist design of the shopping centre did not prove popular with residents or shoppers; many felt that it was out of character with Brighton’s style, others just plain didn’t like it! William Mitchell’s, “The Spirit of Brighton”, a striking 30-foot tall concrete sculpture, that took pride of place in the entrance to the new square, was not a great hit either. These less than enthusiastic responses seem to have set the scene and by the 1980s most businesses within Churchill Square were experiencing a steady decline. The downward spiral continued and by the beginning of the 1990s all the big stores had moved out. In 1992, “The Spirit of Brighton” was replaced by a bandstand (unsurprisingly, noise complaints ensured that this was a short-lived venture); and in December 1993 the last business on the lower level – a health food restaurant called Slims – closed. According to Rose Collis, in The New Encyclopaedia of Brighton (2010), the square itself became a “dilapidated, rubbish strewn, socially hostile eyesore.”

Desperate to revitalise the retail space in the city centre, Brighton Council sold the freehold of Churchill Square to Standard Life Assurance who had plans for not only a covered, indoor shopping mall, but designs that incorporated Chartwell Court and the attached multi-storey car parks.

A full redevelopment programme was started in January 1996 and the version of Churchill Square that we are all familiar with today opened on the 4th September 1998. That same year, a new statement art piece was installed outside the shopping centre. This was a pair of sphere-shaped sculptures by Brighton artist, Charlie Hooker, entitled: “Twins”.
The “Twins” were removed for renovation in August this year and are expected to return at some point. Sadly, the same may not be said for several national chains, such as Borders, Habitat and Debenhams, who have permanently moved out of the shopping mall.
But, I hasten to add, another decline does not seem to be on the cards.

In 2023, IKEA Holding, the parent company of IKEA, bought the Churchill Square Shopping Centre and earlier this year opened a “city store” within the former Debenhams site. Their aim will be to ensure Churchill Square remains an asset to the town and somewhere people are happy to continue visiting all year round, not just at Christmas!

And this year, to add to the usual Christmas glow of twinkling lights and decorations, Churchill Square is hosting a variety of events, including festive choirs, and Santa’s Grotto with a charity gift-giving initiative for Rockinghorse Children’s Charity. May your Christmas shopping days be merry and bright!