Regent Foundry, Brighton

A visit to the most excellent Foundry pub in Foundry Street, Brighton last night prompted me to find out more about the Regent Foundry. It was located on the spot now occupied by the Royal Mail sorting office.

The North Laine Community Association website has this potted history:

The area behind the western side of [Foundry] street, where the post office now stands, was once dominated by the Regent Iron Foundry, the town's largest employer for much of the 19th century. The foundry opened in Regent Street and moved to Foundry Street in 1823, possibly for the larger premises it needed, for it was then making much of the ironwork needed by the Chain Pier, being built at the time. The foundry continued to make cast iron products for the town until it eventually closed in 1912. The building was demolished in 1921 and the Post Office was built on the site in the mid 1930s.

and an interesting account of an early tour of the Foundry.

At the time, the North Laine was the industrial heartland of Brighton. The Regent Foundry made the iron for the Chain Pier, the predecessor to the Palace Pier, as well as lots of other products like coal hole covers, although for some reason they weren't stamped with the 'Regent' name. According to the NLCA, Palmer covers were made there.

Go west - Worthing

Head west out of Brighton and Hove and, after clearing Shoreham and Lancing, you'll reach Worthing. It's a less racy place than B+H, but still boasts a fine pier, seafront and interesting hinterland of mainly Victorian streets. I'm lucky enough to work there and often enjoy a lunchtime constitutional stroll along the diddly om pom pom. My perambulations in search of coalhole covers have been slightly disappointing until this week.

Battling my way against a stiff westerly, I thought I'd investigate the pavement in front of Heene Terrace, a fine Regency (or maybe Victorian) terrace of 4 storey flats to the west of the pier. It is set back from the main promenade and the pavement is therefore less likely to have been resurfaced. Sure enough, there were a series of iron coalhole covers, all in very good condition. The one at the top is a large Haywards cover, but the other two pictured here are from Palmer and Company of Brighton, a foundry I've not encountered before. There were some other covers, but my phone ran out of juice. Watch this space.

The Worthing Civic Society do a fine job of protecting the town's heritage, but I can't find any reference to the coalhole covers on their website.