Exploring Britain
Brighton is the most enchanting, exciting, extraordinary seaside
city in Britain. With its cosmopolitan air, oodles of restaurants, feverish nightlife and
abundance of culture, the place defies comparison with anywhere else this side of the
English Channel. For centuries it has been regarded as a “pleasure dome”, and that’s
not about to change.
The Heritage of Brighton
Brighton began as a small fishing village constantly at the mercy of
French raiders and the sea. After a great storm in 1724 many of the houses were washed
away and the townspeople were granted a “Brief”, to beg for money all over England to
erect banks against the sea.
The town’s transformation from a small fishing and farming village began when it was
“discovered” in 1750 by Dr. Richard Russell who proclaimed the therapeutic benefits of
his amazing sea-water cure. Almost overnight it became the fashionable watering hole of
London High Society.
When George, Prince of Wales – later to become Prince Regent and then George IV –
decided to make his home there, Brighton’s popularity soared. The town underwent an
amazing transformation. Local people made money by providing bathing machines which
carried the bathers into the sea and bathing attendants known as “dippers” stood by
– ready to duck reluctant bathers. One of the most famous of these, Martha Gunn, is
buried in St. Nicholas Churchyard.
Although well-known for its connection with the Prince Regent, the first recorded Royal
visitor was Charles II. After his escape from the Battle of Worcester in 1651, he hid from
the Roundheads disguised as a servant. He stayed in the George Inn in West Street (later
renamed the King’s Head) and escaped to France by boat, now celebrated every May with a
race from Brighton to France, appropriately named the “Royal Escape”.
A Prince’s Palace
The Prince of Wales liked Brighton so much that he decided to move
there. At first his cook rented a small farmhouse for him, which he eventually bought and
improved. Over a period of years it grew from a modest classical building to the
magnificent oriental palace we see today. The Prince had flamboyant tastes and scant
regard for economy and budgeting. The first changes were made in 1787 when Henry Holland
was engaged to enlarge and refurbish the humble farmhouse. With the addition of a domed
rotunda and a new wing it became known as the “Marine Pavilion”. Further alterations
were made in 1801 with the addition of a new entrance, conservatory, etc. At the same
time, Frederick Crace introduced the Chinese theme into the interior.
Meanwhile, William Porden was designing new stables for the Prince’s horses. Inspired by
water colour pictures of India he created an incredible building in the Indo-Saracenic
style with a vast dome (24 metres in diameter and 19 metres high) covering the main hall.
Many pessimists predicted that this daring construction would collapse once the
scaffolding was removed!
Now known as The Dome it has been converted into a modern concert hall, while the western
riding hall has become an exhibition hall known as The Corn Exchange.
Once completed, these buildings were so impressive that they completely upstaged the Royal
Pavilion itself. So, it was back to the drawing board, and the Prince ordered another
round of improvements! The project was taken over by John Nash in 1813, and it was at this
stage that the Pavilion took on its present ornate form.
Nash built over and around Holland’s original structure, introducing a huge central dome
over the Saloon and tent-like roofs over the Banqueting Hall and Music Room.
The interior was decorated by Frederick Crace and Robert Jones in exotic oriental styles,
rich in colour and detail. The whole project was finally completed in 1823. It did not
attract universal acclaim but, instead, some ridicule.
The Royal Pavilion
It is hard to believe that this oriental wonderland was born from the
imagination of a man who had never ventured further east than Germany. In 1783, the
dashing young heir to the throne, George Prince of Wales, paid his first visit to the
thriving resort of Brighthelmstone. It was to be a visit from which the town never
recovered. With more showmanship than Phineas T Barnum, Brighton’s patron saint – or
some say patron sinner – set about creating his ideal home.
Over 30 years later George could finally step back and admire the handiwork of his
favourite architect, John Nash. Not everybody was as enthusiastic as His Royal Highness.
John Wilson Croker, a noted diarist of the day, had this to say: “It is, I think, an
absurd waste of money, and will be a ruin in half a century or more”.
How wrong they were! If the Pavilion can survive a devastating arson attack, extensive
hurricane damage and let’s not forget Queen Victoria who removed everything including
the kitchen sink, then what’s to stop the most extraordinary palace in Europe from
celebrating its 200th birthday in the year 2023?
Such a show of resistance against the ravages of time may have something to do with the
dragons that feature in every corner of the Pavilion and who, in Chinese mythology,
symbolise good fortune. But be prepared to encounter much more than a galaxy of weird and
wonderful creatures. Retrace the illustrious footsteps of Rossini who performed amid the
razzle-dazzle of the Music Room or Lord Byron who made merry in the lavish Banqueting
Room. Recently restored to its full 19th century grandeur, the palace’s astonishing
colour schemes and superb craftsmanship will have you racing to try out new decorating
techniques at home!
The novelist William Thackeray once wrote: “It is the fashion to run down George IV, but
myriads of Londoners ought to thank him for inventing Brighton.” The Royal Pavilion’s
400,000 visitors a year couldn’t agree more.
The West Pier
Brighton’s West Pier is a magnificent and unique English seaside
promenade and pleasure pier built over 130 years ago by Eugenius Birch.
Although closed since 1975 and suffering decay, miraculously the West Pier still survives
– fundamentally unchanged since 1916 – as a magical and enduring part of seaside
England and a key feature of the Brighton seafront.
The pier was built out from the sea using dozens of iron columns, literally screwed into
the seabed and strengthened by a mesh of metal ties, braces and girders. Atop the
substructure was a wooden promenade deck, which allowed visitors seemingly to be at sea
and walk on water without the hazards of getting wet or being seasick.
The Overall Structure and the West Pier’s component buildings are of historical and
architectural importance. They represent a culmination of the skills of the Victorian
engineer as mechanic, architect and artist; skills honed in the great age of railway
construction and bridge building and based on new materials and technologies arising from
the industrial revolution earlier in the century.
You can also visit the Regency Town House or elegant Preston Manor, with its refined
atmosphere of an Edwardian gentry home. You can also stroll along the new-look beachfront
and boardwalk with its Artists’ Quarter and Fishing Museum which celebrates the
resort’s history as a fishing town.
Comprehension questions.
1. What happened in 1724 to this small fishing village?
2. How did Dr. Richard Russell initiate the transformation of the town?
3. Who was the first recorded Royal visitor to Brighton? What did he do
there? What event is celebrated in his honour in May?
4. What are the main tourist attractions in Brighton?
5. Whom should the English thank for “inventing” Brighton?
Decide whether these statements are true or false.
1. Brighton was discovered by Charles II as a hunting place.
2. The first functions of the Dome were as stables for the Prince’s
horses.
3. The Royal Pavilion instantly attracted universal acclaim.
4. The Pavilion survived thanks to dragons that are the symbols of good
fortune.
5. Now the Royal Pavilion is in decline and only a few tourists visit
it.
6. The West Pier is now closed to the public.
By Natalya Plyugina,
School No. 44, Kaliningrad
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