Brighton, a parliamentary and municipal borough and fashionable watering-place in Sussex, 50½ miles S. of London by rail (1¼ hour). Its former name, Brightelmstone (1252–1810), was superseded about 1800 by Brighton, which occurs, however, as early as 1660, and also in 'The Girl I left behind Me' (1759). The town is built on a slope ascending eastward to a range of high chalk cliffs; to the west, these hills recede from the coast; and the nearest point of the South Downs is the Devil's Dyke, 5 miles distant. Ancient Brightelmstone was a mere fishing-village on a level under the cliff. It suffered much at the hands of French, Flemings, and Spaniards, and still more from the sea, whose inroads in 1699, 1703, and 1706, undermined the cliffs and destroyed many houses. During excavations in 1818 the walls of some of the old streets were found under 15 feet of beach. Further inroads are prevented by a sea-wall of great strength (60 feet high and 23 feet thick at the base), extending along the east cliffs, and built between 1827 and 1838 at a cost of £100,000, the money being raised by the imposition of a duty on all coal entering the town. This duty was abolished in 1887, the whole of the debt having been paid off. The writings of Dr Richard Russell, a celebrated physician, first drew public attention about 1753 to Brighton as an eligible watering-place, and the discovery of a chalybeate spring in the vicinity increased its popularity. Dr Johnson in 1770 described the country as 'so desolate, that if one had a mind to hang one's self for desperation at being obliged to live there, it would be difficult to find a tree on which to fasten a rope.' Now the growth of trees is encouraged, and they have been freely planted both in and around the town. The visit of the Prince of Wales in 1782, and his subsequent yearly residence there, finally opened the eyes of the fashionable world to Brighton's immense attractions, and it thenceforth became the crowded resort of a health-seeking population, in which the opening of the Brighton Railway in 1841 greatly assisted. It was made a parliamentary borough in 1832, a municipal one in 1854; its progress has been very rapid, and the town is still steadily increasing. Brighton is for the most part extremely well built, as becomes a favoured retreat of wealth and aristocracy. It mostly consists of new and elegant streets, squares, and terraces. Kemp Town, as the east end of Brighton is locally known, has a famous crescent and square. The public hotels are magnificent; besides these there are the boarding-houses and nearly 1000 lodging-house keepers. A range of splendid houses fronts the sea for upwards of 3 miles, the promenade—asphalted from end to end, and exceptionally well lighted—being almost on a dead level, within a few feet of the sea, for the greater part of its length, but rising at the east end of the town to a height of 60 feet, on the top of the sea-wall already referred to. Beneath this is the Madeira Road, a fine drive and promenade a mile in length, and sheltered effectually from the north wind. The population is greatly increased during the fashionable season by the influx of visitors, the average number being 30,000, chiefly from London, for which reason it is sometimes called London-super-Mare. There are more than twenty churches, that of St Nicholas, dating from the time of Henry VII., and restored in 1853, being the only ancient building, and more than fifty chapels. Holy Trinity Church has been rendered famous from the ministry of F. W. Robertson. The public buildings include the town-hall, the town-hall in the adjoining township of Hove (part of the parliamentary borough, but not included for municipal purposes), the unrivalled aquarium (1872), museum of British birds, school of science and art, Brighton college, theatre, Sussex county hospital, workhouse, blind asylum, various bathing establishments, and an abundant supply of good schools. At Queen's Park, in the east of the town, is the German Spa establishment, and at St Anne's well and wild gardens in the west is a chalybeate spring. In the north of the town is the Preston public park of 62 acres, which was opened in 1884, and cost £50,000, the money being left to the town by the 'leviathan' bookmaker, Mr W. E. Davies (1819–79).
Near the centre of the town is the Royal Pavilion or Marine Palace, a fantastic oriental or Chinese structure, with domes, minarets, and pinnacles, and Moorish stables, begun for the Prince of Wales in 1784, and finished in 1827. It was purchased in 1850 for £53,000 by the corporation, and with its fine pleasure-grounds it is devoted to the recreation of the inhabitants. The concert-hall known as the 'Dome,' formerly the royal stables, can accommodate 3000 people. Adjoining are the public library and museum and picture-gallery. The site of the Pavilion is in the Steyne Valley, which is practically in the centre of the Brighton sea-front, and the starting-point for the main road to London. There are three piers used as promenades—the Chain Pier (1823) on the east, opposite the Marine Parade (as the eastern part of the 3 or 4 miles of esplanade is called), 1136 feet in length; the much wider 'West Pier' (1866), 1115 feet long, which superseded the Chain Pier; and the New Pier, with the Marine Palace (1893), 1700 feet long. Numerous groynes to intercept the shingle constantly moving from west to east, and thus protect the promenade, intersect the beach from north to south. Most of these are of stout timber, but three are costly concrete structures, 12 or 15 feet wide at the top, with side-walls shoulder high, and these are favourite promenades. Brighton has no maritime trade, but there is some mackerel and herring fishing. The water-supply, which is in the hands of the corporation, and has cost £450,000, is derived from the chalk, and is practically inexhaustible. The several sources are all within two miles of the borough boundaries. An intercepting sewer many miles in length receives the sewage, which is discharged into the sea at Portobello, 4 miles beyond the eastern boundary of the borough. From its salubrity, the town abounds in boarding-schools; races are held on the Downs in August and November, and the volunteer reviews there have had a further tendency to attract visitors to Brighton. The 'Brighton reviews,' however, are now things of the past, marching columns having taken the place of the field-days with the movements of 20,000 volunteers hampered by much larger crowds of spectators. Pop. (1801) 7339; (1821) 24,429; (1841) 46,661; (1861) 77,693; (1881) 107,546; (1891) 115,873; of parliamentary borough (1891) 142,129. Brighton returns two members to parliament. See the works on Brighton by Erredge (1862), J. Bishop (1875–80), and Sawyer (1878).