BRIGHTON POST OFFICE

51 Ship Street

The 1849 building. Photograph © Julian Osley

Postcard view before new facade of c. 1925

New facade c. 1925. Photograph © Julian Osley

​Year: 1849-c.1925
Listed building status: Grade II
Archive sources
British Postal Museum & Archive: POST 30/592, 91/1728-1533, 118/6250-6252
National Archives: WORK 13/78
Selected bibliographical references
Brighton Gazette 8 Jun 1848, p. 1 (invitation to tender); 31 Aug 1848, p. 5 (work commenced)
History
Opened: 26 Mar 1849
Closed: 26 May 2007

The building history of the Brighton Post Office is complex.
The part of the building currently occupied by a retail outlet ("Fatface") is the oldest part, dating from 1849. The post office was enlarged in c. 1898-1901 into an adjacent building according to plans drawn up by Henry Tanner, and this was itself was re-faced in c. 1925.  From 1925 until its closure the enlargement replaced the 1849 building as the post office. 

Planning permission obtained in 2013 to convert the ground floor (i.e. public office) of this part of the building into a restaurant 

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