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

Rare Discoveries at the Booth Museum

Edmontonia Dinosaur, a related species of the Ankylosaurus. Artist impression © Mariana Ruiz Villarreal (wikimedia commons)

Following the visit of a noted academic, a number of the fossils in Brighton Museum’s collections have been found to be preserved parts of armoured dinosaurs (nodosaurids) commonly known as anklyosaurs. Any examples of nodosaurid fossils are rare in the United Kingdom, so to have so many ‘discovered’ at one time is quite exciting.

The discovery started last year when Andy Ottaway, an occasional volunteer at the Booth Museum, came across a fossil he suspected to be part of an Ankylosaur. He contacted his colleague Dr William Blows, an expert on the nodosaurids (armoured dinosaurs) who was interested, but unable to visit at that time.

Dr William Blows

Jumping forward to April 2012, Dr Blows was invited to speak at the Brighton Geological Society meeting at Blatchington Mill. He took the opportunity to visit the Booth Museum collections and look at the possible ankylosaur bone, as well as looking through the other fossils associated with it. The fossil was a part of the collection of Arthur Foster Griffith, an alderman of Brighton, who donated large collections to Brighton Museum, and was involved with the Booth Museum. This particular collection was a large number of specimens from the Cambridge Green Sand formation. The specimens are all identified as belonging to the Upper Albian of the Cretaceous period dating them to between 99.6 and 112 million years old. Although the fossils have no record of when they were collected, it seems reasonable that Griffith, a lifelong Brightonian, may have collected or purchased them whilst at university at Cambridge in the 1870s.

Presacral

The bone initially thought to be part of an ankylosaur was formally identified as the anterior end of a pre-sacral rod. This was explained as a ‘series of fused dorsal vertebrae which is fused to the anterior end of the sacrum’. This pre-sacral rod is combined with the sacrum to form the synsacrum, a characteristic unique to nodosaurid dinosaurs.

Through Dr Blow’s further exploration of the collection, he was also able to identify a number of nodosaurid dermal scutes, which are hard plate scales on the animal’s skin (hence armoured dinosaurs).

Collar

His final discovery was a particularly rare series of fossils making up part of the cervical armour ring that was found around the dorsal surface of an nodosaurid neck. These had all been labelled simply as ‘deinosaurian’.

Dr Blows now hopes to publish our specimens as part of a scientific paper, giving our collections wider exposure in the scientific community. His talk to the Geological Society was also a great success and the nodosaurid skull casts he brought along as props were fascinating.

Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences

Practising Taxidermy at the Booth

I’ve been interested in Taxidermy since I was around 9 years old, when I went to visit a family friend’s home in Norfolk. This particular family friend is Emily Mayer; a very talented and successful Taxidermist. I was overwhelmed with the realisation that the animals I admired so much could have their beauty preserved after death, and I was completely in awe.

Georgia practising taxidermy

I started collecting taxidermy a couple of years ago, when I was finally in a position where I could afford to save up for the odd piece! This ‘collection’ only consists of a Pine Martin, a Japanese Courli bird (both bought at markets in Brighton) and a magpie so far, but it can only grow!

Back in September 2011, I was put in touch with Lee Ismail, Curator of Natural Sciences at the Booth Museum, because I decided that I wanted to learn how to do Taxidermy myself, so that I could appreciate and understand the art of it, and be able to put the skills to good use.

Lee has a collection of headless seagulls in the workshop freezer, so on my first day he started by letting me practice on its body whilst he supervised and worked on a woodpecker.

The level of detail and precision required was more than I could have imagined… Making sure you pull all the innards out without cutting through the skin is a job that requires patience and a strong stomach!

Despite the smell of the seagull’s guts, it was a really interesting experience.

Seagull Wing

Since then, I have done a seagull wing and a seagull foot, which is a bit simpler than the body as it’s just a case of pulling out some tendons. On my second or third session, I really enjoyed sewing up a seagull foot, which I then took home. I’m planning on mounting it in a frame and putting on my wall!

Last week, Lee got out an old buzzard which had been skinned a while back, but that still needed stuffing for use as a study piece for the Booth Museum. I really enjoyed making its body mould, as it involves measuring the exact size of the bird and making a shape out of wood wool, with cotton reel wrapped tightly around it to make it sturdy.

Once the shape was right, it was placed inside the bird and I sewed it up. With the wire now stuck through its legs, and up its neck and through the forehead, it was no longer the limp corpse of a bird. It was beginning to take form and look lifelike.

This made me very happy and excited; I can’t wait to carry on with it next time I’m at the Booth Museum again.

Georgia Flowers, Volunteer