Brighton Aquarium

Brighton Aquarium was conceived and designed by Eugenius Birch, the architect responsible for the West Pier. Work began in 1869 and the building opened in 1872. The project cost £133,000 (equivalent to around £5.5 million today).

Brighton Aquarium, c1902

The Aquarium proved an initial success with the town’s visitors. In addition to the marine life on display, a number of other attractions were available. These included a conservatory, a reading room, and a roller-skating rink on the roof terrace.

This success proved short-lived, however. In 1901 financial difficulties forced the sale of the Aquarium to the Brighton Corporation. Although matters improved, the Corporation decided to extensively modernise the building in 1927. This reconstruction work led to the alteration of much of Birch’s original design.

Original Brighton Aquarium

Brighton Aquarium, c1885

Eugenius Birch’s original design incorporated a variety of styles. Grand archways, columns and elaborate stonework reflected the Pompeian and Gothic influence. Statues of Bath stone, green marble and red Edinburgh granite were used in its construction. The Aquarium’s foundations were dug deep into the ground as the building was not allowed to be taller than the neighbouring promenade, Marine Parade.

The distinctive clock tower and gateway to the Aquarium were added in 1874. The four corners of the clock tower bore bronze statues symbolising the seasons. Images of mermaids and sea-nymphs were evident elsewhere in the structure. A frieze inscription at the entrance stated: ‘And God said, Let the water bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that hath life.’

Among those moving creatures were a number of specimens that inspired great interest. The Dublin Bay Prawn of 1874 attracted considerable excitement. In 1880 a manatee was displayed in a huge tank that enabled the viewer to witness the creature at eye level. Sea lions arrived in 1877 and were able to successfully breed.

Rather drier attractions could be found elsewhere. The waterfall grotto proved a popular meeting place, and concerts were regularly held in the conservatory. By 1876 the roof terrace had been expanded to incorporate a roller-skating rink and smoking room. Film shows were increasingly common from the end of the nineteenth century, and the conservatory was briefly known as the Aquarium Kinema.

Reconstruction of Brighton Aquarium

Brighton Aquarium, 11th May 1928

Brighton Aquarium was extensively reconstructed between 1927 and 1929. The new design was produced by David Edwards, the Borough Engineer.The Italianate features of Birch’s design were replaced by a neoclassical style. White Empire stonework was applied to the exterior walls. The clock tower was demolished and replaced by two square kiosks.

As with the original development, much of the surrounding area was affected. Several smallholdings on Madeira Drive were demolished to make way for a colonnaded walkway. Internally, slipper and shower baths were fitted. A lift was also installed, leading up to Marine Parade.Work on the project was overseen by the Borough Surveyor‘s department. Throughout the reconstruction, photographs were taken of the work in progress. These provide a fascinating insight into the scale of the project. They also give a good indication of working practices of the time, and record the reaction of local people to the project.

The New Aquarium and Beyond

Brighton Aquarium, 1973

Brighton Aquarium reopened on 12 June 1929. The building continued to host a mixture of marine life exhibits and entertainment activities, but was unable to find a stable identity. Over time, the site became popularly regarded as something of a local ‘white elephant’.

During the Second World War the building was requisitioned by the RAF. During the 1950s it hosted the Florida Rooms Night Club, and chimpanzees’ tea parties and other animal attractions were introduced. Between 1961 and 1969 it was home to the Montagu Motor Museum before this made way for the Dolphinarium. Although initially popular, the Dolphinarium fell victim to a change in the public perception of animals. The dolphins’ confined conditions became of increasing concern through the 1980s. In 1991 the Dolphinarium was closed.

The Aquarium is still in operation, although it is now a Sea Life Centre.

Kevin Bacon
Digital Development Officer

Palace Pier

Brighton’s Palace Pier, originally known as Brighton Marine Palace and Pier, opened to the public for the first time on 20 May 1899. The pier was not actually complete on this date. Like many ambitious schemes, its construction had been severely delayed, requiring Acts of Parliament and the intervention of a local benefactor to keep the project alive. But the fact that it had come this far was obviously seen as a cause for celebration; the promenade deck was duly unveiled and the Mayoress, Mrs Clara Hawkes, gamely secured the first column of the soon-to-be-built pavilion with a silver spanner.

The Brighton Herald, May 1899

The opening ceremony, which was blighted by stormy weather, was reported in detail in the local papers. The Brighton Herald described how the Mayoress found herself, with a group of local dignitaries, ‘on the planked decking of the Pier, at least fourteen hundred feet out at sea, surrounded on all sides by a tumultuous swirl of waters, speeding shorewards in great, white, foam-topped waves.’ Speeches were made to honour the occasion but ‘the boisterous wind blew the words far away’ and, once the formalities were complete, the group retreated to the Royal Pavilion’s Music Room. There, according to The Brighton, Hove and Sussex Society, ‘under the comforting influences of dainty viands and choice wines, the discomforts of an hour ago were quickly forgotten.’

Palace Pier, 1902 Image courtesy of James Gray Collection / The Regency Society

Kate Elms, Brighton History Centre

Brighton’s 1930s Show Homes

Front page of Modern Home News, 1934

Nearly eighty years ago, in December 1932, the corner of Prince’s Place and North Street, in the heart of Brighton, was transformed into a piece of tranquil suburbia. Amongst the banks and department stores stood a detached Elizabethan style house complete with garden.

In fact, this house was the property of Braybon’s, house builders, and was designed as a show house to promote their estates on the outskirts of the town.

The Brighton Herald commented:

‘ To passers-by in Brighton it must have seemed that a familiar wonder story of Christmas pantomime had suddenly come true … The exploits of the slave of Aladin’s lamp who built a palace in a night, had found rivalry in the achievements of Braybon’s Ltd. A single night had removed a hoarding and revealed a house’

The house was surrounded by a garden comprising of rockeries, a lily pond, a rustic bridge, pergola and shrubs and flowering plants. Inside were a drawing room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom and three bedrooms. It was described as an ‘all electric house’ in the ‘best Elizabethan style’.

Braybon's show house, North Street, Brighton, 1932. Image courtesy of James Gray Collection / The Regency Society

All this could have been yours for £795.

Sir Cooper Rawson MP, formally opened the house with a golden key and a banquet was held in the Grand Hotel afterwards.

Show house at Hill Brow Road, Withdean, 1934

The show house was removed in August 1934 for the building of Prince’s House and was re-erected in Hillbrow Road, Withdean where it stands today.

Braybon’s second attempt at building a show house in the centre of Brighton was not so successful. According to the 1934 March edition of Modern Homes News , Brighton Corporation had given permission for Braybon’s to build a show home on a vacant site in Western Road. Work had started and the brickwork was up to the first floor when the Corporation announced that they had leased the site to International Stores, grocers. The show house was never completed and Mitre House was built on the site in 1935.

Paul Jordan, Senior History Centre Officer