Clayton & Black had its origins in 1876 when the architects Charles Edward Clayton (1853-1923) and George Holford (1851-1938) formed the architectural partnership Holford & Clayton in Brighton, Sussex, England. In 1882 Ernest Black (1855-1917) entered the practice which was renamed Holford, Clayton & Black. Holford left the following year, at which point the firm became Clayton & Black.
Clayton and Black's sons Charles Lawrence Clayton (1892-1975) and Kenneth Eastty Black (1897-1978), became partners in the practice in the early 1920s and, following the death of Clayton senior in 1923, took over the running of the firm.
Clayton & Black was reconstituted as Clayton Black & Daviel in the 1950s when John Rene Francis Daviel (1913-1983) joined the practice. The business was dissolved in c.1974.
Architectural projects by Holford & Clayton, Holford, Clayton & Black Clayton & Black included alterations to Blenheim House, 56 Old Steine, Brighton (1875–76); modifications to the Friends Meeting House, Prince Albert Street, Brighton (1876-77); Gwydyr Mansions, Holland Road, Hove (1890); Quaker Meeting House, Grosvenor Road, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent (1894); reconstruction of Theatre Royal, New Road, Brighton (1894); French Convalescent Home, De Courcel Road, Brighton (1895-98); Portland Road Schools, Hove, Sussex (1897); Hannington's Depository, Montefiore Road, Hove, Sussex (1899–1904); remodelling of Wick Hall, Furze Hill, Hove, Sussex (1902); five houses, Agnes Street, Brighton (1903); Mission Hall, Stoneham Road, Hove, Sussex (1903–04); Royal Assurance Society offices, 163 North Street, Brighton (1904); 8 houses, Seville Street, Brighton (1904); alterations to 10 Prince Albert Street, Brighton (1904); Branch Tavern, London Road, Brighton (1905); St Thomas the Apostle's Church, Davigdor Road, Hove (1906); Electric Bus Garage and Recharging Station, Montague Place, Kemptown (1908); 23–30 High Street, Brighton (1910); Duke of York's Picture House, Preston Circus, Brighton (1910); Winter Garden at Palace Pier, Brighton (1910–11); modifications to Temple Heights (New Sussex Hospital), Temple Gardens, Brighton (1921); extension and new facade for First Church of Christ, Scientist, Montpelier Road, Brighton (1921); National Provincial Bank, 155–158 North Street, Brighton (1921–23); Imperial Arcade, Brighton (1923-24); rebuilding of Locomotive Inn, Terminus Road, Littlehampton, Sussex (late 1920s); rebuilding of King and Queen pub, Marlborough Place, Brighton (1931–32); office block, Atlas Chambers, 33 West Street, Brighton (1930s); Hove Manor flats, Hove Street, Hove, Sussex (1940s); St Richard of Chichester's Church, The Crossway, Hollingdean, Brighton (1954); Church of the Good Shepherd, Stanley Avenue, Mile Oak, Sussex (1967)
Harwood, Elain. Art Deco Britain: Buildings of the Interwar Years. London: Batsford, 2019