Saint James, Brighton (St James Tavern)

A four-storey corner building from the early 19c, previously known as the Saint James Hotel and Piggott’s after the owner. Probably a former Kemp Town Brewery pub.

Originally two rooms as evidenced by the two external doors and the marking on the floor inside the side door in Madeira Place, now one bar with a long bar counter but with two separate bar backs either side of where the lost partition was.

The right-hand side bar back (set back at 45 degrees to the room) is the more impressive, being full height with a central bay flanked by two half bays with square columns and arched top with carved details at the top of each corner. All bays have a wooden shelf running across them at half height with cut and etched glass backing. Interestingly the two half bays have a small relief panel (carved wood?) at the top in an orange colour. The bar back is late Victorian in appearance as is the cut and etched glass panes with a florid floral design.

The left-hand bar back is very similar in design and looks, and there are some crucial differences, the most notable being the height which is about two to three feet short of the ceiling (with a ventilation shaft running along the top of the ceiling) and longer with the central bay being twice as wide as the two end bays. Again, all three bays are divided half way by a shelf supported by square columns. However, the detailing in the wood is less elaborate than the right-hand bar back. Cut and etched glass panes at the back but with a different design to the other bar back. The look and appearance are again late Victorian, but I think that this bar back is a reproduction as the wood looks to be a lot newer and the fitting to the back wall isn't quite right (it looks to be attached to some older wood too).

The bar counter top could be late Victorian, but it has clearly been re-fronted at some stage and painted to look like old wood. See the left-hand corner return to see the damaged angled panels. There is an old fireplace at the back of the room with a wood surround but not original, I fear. The only part which looks original is the hearth. Exposed floor boards throughout and covered in black pitch/tar. There is half height tongue and groove panelling throughout, but they look modern (you can see where the nails have been inserted) and so too is the wooden fixed bench seating to the right of the side entrance near the fireplace, which is an import.