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BRIGHTON
Originating as a small fishing
village, known as Brighthelmstone, Brighton's modern growth and
prosperity began in the mid eighteenth century, when local doctor,
Richard Russell's prescription of Brighton's sea air and water as a cure
for many ills was followed by increasing numbers of his patients. The
Prince of Wales, later to become George IV, was so impressed by the town
that, in 1787, he commissioned Henry Holland to build him a house by the
sea, later to be redesigned by architect John Nash as the Royal
Pavilion, Brighton's now famous landmark. The town then became a
fashionable resort characterised by many fine Regency and later Georgian
buildings. In the nineteenth century, the railways made Brighton
accessible to Londoners and its popularity as a holiday centre continues
today with a large modern marina accommodating 2000 leisure craft, while Brighton's University of Sussex, designed in the 1960s by Sir Basil
Spence, attracts many students and foreign visitors. Brighton's
population now stands at over 600,000. |
