By 1857 Harmer was the only initial projector of the Wellington Estate not to have been bankrupted, and this had led to delays in the estate’s progress. Harmer focussed his building plans on Wellington Road, and Elm Grove, but retained his contractual rights to build upon the Lewes Road side of the estate. This hiatus in development enabled what was then an open field to be used (with John’s permission) for public recreation.
Locating this field has been a labour of love, as although a variety of contemporary sources refer to it being utilised for cricket matches, fairs, military drills and visiting circuses, it is not directly referenced on maps.
The term ‘Harmer’s Field’ gave up the most initial clues, starting with the Brighton May Fair of 1849. John had taken over the lease of the field by this time from Thomas Harmer. Thomas was not directly related to John, and was a butcher based at 6 East Street. He had previously used the field for grazing sheep which would become mutton for sale at his shop. John may even have purchased the field at this time outright.
In May 1849 the Brighton Commissioners passed a resolution to prevent fairs being held on the Level. On the first day of the Spring Fair (17th – 18th May 1849) the Brighton Gazette expressed its pleasure that ‘the fair is not to be held on the Level’, and that ‘Mr Harmer’s field, north of the Royal Gardens, has been selected instead’. Another report from the 24th of that month refers to the field as ‘beyond the Hanover Gardens’. The September Fair was also ‘held on Mr. Harmer’s field’ the same year (Brighton Gazette Jan 3rd 1850).
Confusingly the Brighton Gazette of 13th May 1899, referencing the 1849 fair, places the field ‘occupied by the eccentric “Jack” Harmer’ to the ‘east side of the old Hanover Cricket Ground’ which would make it between Lewes Road, and what are now Wellington Road and Elm Grove. Perhaps the memory of the author had got confused with a tract of land in exactly that location which was purchased by Harmer in 1852, and prior to that was used for private events.
We know, for example, that in August 1850 ‘according to annual custom, about 100 of the workmen and customers of the [Vallance and Catt West Street Brewery] firm dined in a booth which had been erected for the purpose opposite the Race Hill Inn, the house to which the licence of the recently demolished and once famous Hanover Arms has been transferred. […] an adjournment took place to a field. Cricket and other amusements were there resorted to till dusk, when the party returned to the house.’ (Brighton Gazette, 5th Sep 1850)
There are plenty of Victorian maps which show the Royal Gardens, and a comparison of these tells us that they terminated at what is now Caledonian Road. If we defer to the 1849 newspaper reports we can confidently place Harmer’s field in the northernmost tip of the triangle formed by Lewes Road and Upper Lewes Road. By then Ireland’s Royal Gardens, to the north of Park Crescent, were an abandoned wilderness – creating a suitable distance between the field and civilisation. Another indication that Harmer’s Field was located at this site are the frequent references to the Wellington Cricket Ground being positioned opposite it.
I have annotated this 1855 map to show the Race Hill Inn circled in red, what would become Wellington Road in blue, and Harmer’s Field in Green.
What was in it for John?
John Harmer was a very good businessman, but held utter disdain for authority. It would therefore have amused him greatly to host the fair, which had become such a bane for the Commissioners. Renting out the land for regular events was also a good source of revenue.
In 1852 both the May and September fairs were held on The Level, but by May 1857 the fair returned to Harmer’s Field. John sought to legitimise it somewhat, renting out pitches via the respected auctioneer Absalom Dell (Sussex Express 16th May 1857). The conservative Brighton Gazette poo-pooed his efforts, describing it as ‘an absurdity and a nuisance,’ which was ‘gradually dying out’.
In September 1859 the fair was again held on Harmer’s Field.
‘THE FAIR was held in Harmer’s field, on the Lewes-road on Monday and Tuesday. According to immemorial custom, one of the days (Tuesday) was wet! But for Edmonds’ menagerie the fair would have been a very poor one. There was very few stalls – no theatricals, and the ground was mainly occupied by drinking and dancing booths. As usual there was a large attendance at night, and plenty of noise.’ [Brighton Gazette]
John also rented his field to touring circuses, as we learn from the typically ‘told you so’ reportage of the Brighton Gazette of 21st July 1859: ‘CURIOUS ACCIDENT: We are told that a man at a travelling circus, exhibiting in Mr. Harmer’s field on Tuesday afternoon, put a number of boys on the Elephant, and then told the animal to shake them off; he did so, and the result was that an arm of one of the boys was broken.’
John the Cricketer
The only mention of cricket being played on the field which has come to light appeared in the Sussex Agricultural Express of 4th October 1859. The match was a friendly between ‘The Wellington Club’ and Cooksbridge, who won.
Of the Wellington players, we know a little about the following :
John Harmer (enough said already, except perhaps that he was also running the Race Hill Inn during that year when he wasn’t building houses!); Walter Tilley (a local entrepreneur who took over the licence of the Race Hill Inn from Harmer in December that year); Richard Spratley (a carpenter and joiner of 19 Wellington Terrace, who was employed by Harmer as a clerk); and John Pointer of the Windmill Inn, Upper North Street – who would later put up bail for John and go onto run the Lewes Road Inn for Tilley. ‘Mr W. Tilley, of the Wellington, catered admirably, and “all Cooksbridge” returned, highly gratified.’ By ‘the Wellington’ the reporter must have been referring to the club itself, or the Race Hill Inn, as the Wellington on Elm Grove was under different management at that time.
The end of Harmer’s Field
The last known fair to have taken place on Harmer’s Field was in May 1860:
Harmer was already planning to move to America by this point, and was selling off his interests in the Wellington Estate and its vicinity, including the field – part of which he sold back to Charles Catt in June. Today Harmer’s field is built over by Caledonian, Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen Roads
Throughout the spring and summer of that year Harmer seems to have been experiencing a prolonged nervous breakdown of sorts, and the newspapers were filled with reports of his bizarre doings, many of which involved court appearances. I have chronicled these here.
One of these was for assaulting a carpenter employed by Catt, who was hammering in posts to redefine part of Harmer’s Field as Catt’s. You can read about that particular ‘Exploit’ of John’s here, or continue to the next chapter in John’s life:
