Richard Upton: On just never seeing property the same as everyone else
- Mel Elliott
- 9 hours ago
- 5 min read
Words by Mel Elliott
Photos of Old Ambulance Station and The Carriage by Euan Baker
Photos of Richard and The Bell by Michael Jackson at Saltwick
Richard Upton is a creative entrepreneur, a visionary, a lover of art, architecture, sculpture, people, history and community. He is passionate about the ‘quality of place’ no matter whom or what the place is for. He is from humble beginnings in Stepney, East London. “There wasn’t a lot of money at home but there was love. So I’ve always been entrepreneurial out of necessity and adversity,” he says.
For the past 35 years, Richard has been busy, building over 20,000 homes, 9,000 student bedrooms, fire stations, leisure centres, doctor’s surgeries, libraries and every one of them, a little bit special.
“I’m a creative before I’m a businessman,” he says, “unfortunately most big development companies are run by accountants and lawyers and they produce something that goes through a spreadsheet rather than something that has care and history and community.”
Not a lover of cost-effective, functional boxes with windows, Richard said during a 2024 speech, “a library is supposed to WOW you into self-improvement!”
Richard’s passion becomes all too clear when you visit The Bell in Ticehurst. Before being aware of its owner, the first time I entered the pub, my eyes didn’t know where to begin. Surrounding the traditional bar and chairs and tables with their salt and pepper pots and menus, is a beautifully curated collection of art, oddities, memorabilia, and the care taken to furnish and decorate this pub just doesn't quite make sense to me. It’s too good! Too well thought out! Or not thought out at all! I couldn’t figure it out… but I wanted to.
Intrigued by this village pub that doesn't make much economic sense, I meet Richard there where we chat over a wood-fired pizza and some padron peppers and I try to fathom it, and him, out. He shows me his Taylor Swift friendship bracelet when he notices my t-shirt and I realise that whether I figure him out or not, two Swifties in a pub are always going to get on okay.
The Bell in Ticehurst had been a coaching inn for 500 years, yet a builder was going to turn it into 2 houses. Not on Richard’s watch! Richard had been in the pub a few times and chatted with the now deceased landlady, Pam. He had seen the pub as an integral part of the community and he simply couldn’t let it become homes for a couple of people from a trendy part of London. So Richard bought The Bell for way more than it was worth and now it stands prouder than ever, a beautiful pillar of the community: a place for drinks and laughter (or tears), a place for family weddings, birthday lunches and afternoon drinks in the sun. A place for meeting loved ones and a place for putting the world to rights with tipsy strangers. It’s a place for an elderly gentleman to sit at the bar for a swift half each afternoon, knowing that it will be his only interaction with other humans that day.
The Bell is important. It’s just as a village pub should be… except this one has trombones instead of urinals, it has incredible sculptures all over the garden and it has Pam’s books that were left behind, forming a floor to ceiling pillar in the centre of the space… a pillar of the community, just like Pam would have wanted.
Besides being aesthetically pleasing, the Bell’s food is comforting and just the right amount of fancy for a pub, with produce from their garden and beehive as well as from local farms and waters.
“Here, you’ll love this,” Richard says excitedly while pointing at the dessert menu, “Arctic Roll, 70p! 1970s pricing system!” (posh desserts are also available).
Within the beautiful garden are several pods with rooms that are just as impeccably decorated as the pub itself. Each comes with an ensuite and one of them has an outdoor bath and log burner. Each room is unique, with beautifully hand-painted murals, intrigue, mood and a little bit of magic.
I had started to understand Richard’s passion for place.
Another of Richard’s local projects is The Old Ambulance Station in Bexhill. A 70s building within Beeching Road industrial Estate that is now home to several artists and makers, each paying a reduced studio rent in return for them contributing to the community in some way. I mentioned to Ben Wood, a blacksmith, that I was thinking of moving to Bexhill. “We could come and put you a handrail up!” he happily volunteered.
Looking around The Old Ambulance Station gave me flashbacks of being at artschool: each artist having their own space but all of them working happily towards their goals alongside each other, helping out when needed, studio doors left open welcomingly. Like The Bell, it has a strong sense of community.
Ben helped Richard to get The OAS up and running and now keeps it going with help from the other artists, it’s clear that this is an ‘all hands on deck’ venture. Smells of oil, machinery and burning come from Ben’s large blacksmithing unit where he makes all of the sculptures for The Bell as well as other projects and the odd gate. Next door is James Torble, a furniture maker whose space smells much nicer and hosts an incredible system for sucking up and disposing of sawdust. James is a true craftsman and the furniture he makes is also very impressive. Along the corridor is Melodie, a clothing maker who provides sewing workshops and opposite is a painter whose work is traditional and highly skilled in method yet some of his subject matter was not allowed to be featured in Get Hastings. Upstairs, Sophie Malpas is a riot of colour and Bee Nicholls (who also runs Unit 2 Gallery in St Leonards) made me appreciate old towels.
Twelve artists and makers inhabit the building, from textile artists, painters, prop makers, paper sculptors, jewellery makers, print-makers and fine artists. (More details with photographs).
Also on the site in Bexhill sits an old graffitied train carriage, home to Mike Dixon’s cafe, bar and restaurant where I had one of the best fry-ups I’ve had in ages. They serve all day during the week and into the evenings Thursdays to Saturdays with craft beers, cocktails and small plates. Much better than a G&T in a can while sulking on a Southern Rail replacement bus!
On receiving an honorary doctorate from Ravensbourne University, Richard Upton said that “the property development industry could be a force for good: it could change things, improve the environment and social inequality and it can create magical places where people can fall in love and hope, have opportunities and jobs.”
These days, semi-retired, Richard lectures at the University of Reading and he recently acquired the imposing brutalist church on Undercliff in St Leonards. What will become of this church? Watch this place!
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