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18th and 19th century
Brighton remained a small fishing village up until the 18th century.
Brighthelmstone began to change in 1753 when Dr Richard Russell of Lewes
published his thesis on sea bathing, which proclaimed the benefit to health
of the salt water of Brighton. He set up house there and before long, the
rich and the sick had started to make their way to the seaside. By 1780,
development of the Regency terraces had started and the town quickly became
the fashionable resort of Brighton. The growth of the town was further
encouraged when, in 1786, the young Prince Regent later King George IV,
rented a farmhouse in order to escape from public life. Eventually he spent
much of his leisure time in the town and constructed the exotic-looking
Royal Pavilion, which is the town's best-known landmark. The Kemp Town
estate (at the heart of the Kemptown district) was constructed between 1823
and 1855, and is a good example of Regency architecture.
Recent history
The Palace Pier (renamed Brighton Pier in 2000) opened in May 1899 and is
still popular. It suffered a large fire on 4 February 2003 but the damage
was limited and most of the pier was able to reopen the next day.
The even older West Pier, built in 1866, has been closed since 1975 awaiting
renovation. The West Pier is one of only two Grade I listed piers in the UK,
the other being Clevedon Pier. Plans to renovate the pier have been opposed
by some local residents who claim that the proposed new onshore structures -
which the renovators need, to pay for the work on the pier - would obstruct
their view of the sea. The restoration is also opposed by the owners of the
Brighton Pier, who reportedly see its subsidised rebuilding, were it to
happen, as unfair competition.
The West Pier partially collapsed on December 29, 2002 when a walkway
connecting the concert hall and pavilion fell into the sea after being
battered by storms. On January 20, 2003 a further collapse saw the
destruction of the concert hall in the middle of the pier. On March 28, 2003
the pavilion at the end of the pier caught fire. Firefighters were unable to
save the building from destruction because of the precarious state of the
walkway. The cause of the fire remains unknown. Following the March 28 fire,
the West Pier Trust reiterated: "The Trust ... are determined that nothing
will prevent the start of the restoration within the next 12 months." Then
on May 12, 2003, another fire broke out, consuming most of what was left of
the concert hall. Arson was suspected. On June 23, 2004 high winds caused
the middle of the pier to completely collapse. As of June 2004 all that
remains of the building is the original cast iron frame: the restoration
effort continues though the Trust's response to the latest collapse has not
yet been made public.
In the early hours of October 12th 1984 an IRA bomb exploded in the Grand
Hotel where leading members of the governing Conservative Party were staying.
Four people were killed in the blast (including Sir Anthony Berry), and
another subsequently died of her injuries. The Prime Minister, Margaret
Thatcher, narrowly escaped injury, although members of her Government were
injured - most notably Norman Tebbit. However, no member of the cabinet was
killed. |
