Marine Court

The image of Marine Court coming out of the mist like a majestic liner in the Atlantic Ocean is what its architects, Kenneth Dalgleish and Roger K Pullen, would have been very proud of, because it was designed very much with the Cunard Liner, the Queen Mary, in mind! The Queen Mary entered commercial transatlantic service in 1936 (Modernist Britain website), the same year that Marine Court was designed and building commenced; construction was completed in 1938.  Marine Court is situated at the seafront at St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings TN38 0DZ.

*Image thanks to Modernist Britain

Further to my recent blogs about The Sandcastle in Pevensey Bay (blog) and the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea (blog), regular readers were very likely wondering when I would get to the third, even more local, building that pioneered the age when Art Deco architecture coalesced with the Modern, using Art Deco design and Modernist materials, a steel frame construction and concrete and glass, indeed Postmodernity before its time! Marine Court is 14 storeys and 170 feet high, and was the tallest apartment block in the country when it was built in the 1930s. 

Recent Image

As we know from history, soon after in 1939, World War II was declared, and the building was requisitioned by the Government, servicemen and women were billeted in Marine Court, guns were emplaced on the balcony, and the basement was used as an air raid shelter, it had had insufficient time to develop as the promised 'holiday retreat' by the coast. During the war Marine Court was damaged by bombing at the eastern end (the prominent end in the images here), and restoration of the building commenced in the late 1940s. The building has since incorporated the obvious accommodation purposes, restaurants, galleries and shops, and even a nightclub, and on the 9th of November 1999 it was eventually Grade II Listed (Historic England website).

We are very lucky to have not just this wonderful local monument to Modernist Art Deco architecture, but 2 other glorious monuments nearby in Bexhill and Pevensey.

*The second image is with thanks to Modernist Britain, edited by me for this blog, both of the other images are mine, thank you very much, copyright me! 

De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill on Sea

The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill On Sea is known as an "iconic Modernist building" which was created to be a "democratic space for art, culture and recreation" and championed by Herbrand Sackville, the 9th Earl De La Warr (DLWP website). De La Warr (20 June 1900 to 28 January 1976) inherited his title when his father died whilst on active service in 1915, and became the first hereditary peer to join the Labour Party; he was just 23 years old when he became a junior minister in the first ever Labour Government in February 1924. Later, in April 1933 and as Mayor of Bexhill, De La Warr proposed a scheme for an entertainment hall/pavilion, which received overwhelming support from the people of Bexhill, and a loan of £70,000 was obtained from the Ministry of Health to cover the cost of the project (Discover Bexhill website).

RIBA were asked to hold a competition for the building design, which was announced in The Architects journal in September 1933, and which received 230 entrants. The same journal in February 1934 declared the winner of the £150 first prize to be the architects Serge Chermayeff (8 October 1900 to 8 May 1996) and Erich Mendelsohn (21 March 1887 to 15 September 1953). Chermayeff was a Russian born British citizen who had been practicing as an architect for 3 years when Mendlesohn joined him as a partner in their own firm in 1933. Mendlesohn had been practicing as an architect in Germany but, with the rise to power of the Nazis and growing antisemitism, his assets were seized and he was excluded from the Prussian Academy of Arts and struck off the German Architects Union; he had fled to Britain in 1933.

The design was a blend of Art Deco style integrated with Modernist materials and construction techniques, indeed, the first Modernist public building. Mendelsohn had a passion for the use of concrete and glass with a welded steel frame which was unprecedented before his arrival to this country, and he was lauded by many of his British peers. This 'passion' ensured that Mendelsohn became "an integral part in spearheading the modernist movement throughout the world" (Arch Daily website). 

So, the De La Warr Pavilion really is 'iconic' and, if you haven't already visited, you should think about going as soon as the current Coronavirus crisis is over, I certainly will be there asap. There is an excellent restaurant on the first floor, and I love sitting on the balcony, drinking coffee, and enjoying the view over the Channel, roll on!

The Sandcastle, Pevensey Bay

The Sandcastle

The Sandcastle, The Beachings, Pevensey Bay, East Sussex BN24 6JQ, was designed by Hampstead born, and London based, architect Charles Evelyn Simmons (1879-1952), and is an excellent example of Art Deco meets the modern design-wise. Simmons commenced practice from 1905, having previously been articled to Horace Field, gaining LRIBA status in January 1912; during World War I he served at the Ministry of Health Architects Department. Most of his work was then in London, but he designed properties as far away as Scotland, eg churches in Gretna and East Riggs in Dumfriesshire (Scottish Architects website). What I'm more interested in is The Sandcastle, which sits on the beach at Pevensey Bay, and the design of which appears to be influenced by nearby Martello towers, and is valued at around £3 million plus by now (WowHaus). More images and a YouTube video offers a greater insight to the building, which was refurbished in more recent years.

Nicholas Princep and Anita Elson

The Sandcastle was designed and built in 1934 for the actor Nicholas Princep and his American entertainer wife Anita Elson, (many thanks to Homes & Property for the image of them above), with a definite aura of 'sauciness' provided by its private beach, outdoor swimming pool, cocktail bar, and secret passageways between bedrooms... You may take it from this that Nick and Anita liked to have fun, with celebrity parties infamously held here during the 1930s! It was even rumoured that Edward VIII, whilst still Prince of Wales, holidayed here with his American lover, Wallis Simpson, later to become his wife, and reason for his relinquishing the Crown in December 1936.

During World War II the property was requisitioned and used as a battery station for Canadian troops defending the coast, and afterwards it returned to use as a private residence until the 1970s, when it became a hotel. The building later fell into disrepair and, as I said above, was recently sensitively restored to its former glory, however, without the secret passageways or cocktail bar, and with some small alteration to the layout, and the outdoor pool is slightly smaller now too. 

A beautiful building though, well worth a look at when in Pevensey Bay.

20 Mile Walk along the Seafront!

Hastings Parkrun Early Leaders 

This included the same landmarks I mention in last week's blog, but my brother and I doubled the distance on the Saturday just gone by walking on to Pevensey Bay and back. This was the calm before yeaterday's 'storm' and did start off a wee bit damp, but soon cleared up, and was a very fine afternoon indeed!

And they keep on passing us! 

I have written about Hastings Parkrun a number of times before, eg blog, and on Saturday, despite the miserable early conditions, 282 runners completed the run, the first finisher completed the 5 km in 17 minutes and 36 seconds, my respect to all the runners! See their website for full results.

OK, so we obviously went on beyond Bexhill this Saturday, our lunchtime turning point being at Pevensey Bay, where we admired Sandcastle, an early example of when art deco meets the modern (wowhaus website), indeed it was built the year before building work was commenced on the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill (website), which I found enlightening! We also walked a wee bit beyond Sandcastle.

Of course we had to have a drink at the 16th century Castle Inn in Pevensey (website) and a couple of pints of Harvey's Sussex Best before heading back eastwards...

Walking Home, way over there!

So another enjoyable walk along the seafront and refreshing too, cheers!