2 weeks Ago
Pictures have captured the progress of restoration work at Madeira Terrace. The project has started to restore 28 of the historic arches between the Royal Crescent steps and Concorde 2 on Brighton seafront. New images show pieces of the structure dismantled and laid out on the ground.
Back in February, The Argus met with Councillor Julie Cattell, lead member for major projects at Brighton and Hove City council, and Ian Graham, programme manager at Brighton and Hove City Council, who explained the work being done. Julie said: “The idea is to restore all the cast iron work, the yellow-coloured bits are called spandrel, and they are all cast iron. Everything’s cast iron.
It’s been there 100 odd years, and it has had nine layers of paint on it. “They’re being taken away to a company in Leicestershire, where they will be stripping all the paint back, repairing them and then they are going to be coated with a special finish which will be the colours. After that they are then sent back down here, and we will put them back up again.
” Aerial view of the structure laid out (Image: EDDIE MITCHELL) They’re hopeful that the restoration will benefit the city in several ways, including making the area more accessible and encouraging the public to visit areas further down the seafront. The 865m-long covered terrace and walkway, built between 1890 and 1897, is thought to be the longest continuous cast-iron structure in Britain, possibly the world. It was designed for promenading and as a place to take in the sea views.
The terrace was closed to the public in 2012 due the structure deteriorating and becoming unsafe due to exposure to the elements. A key part of the project includes the installation of a new lift, connecting pedestrians from the A259 to the seafront. The current aim is for 28 of the historic arches to be restored by the summer of 2026.
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