Behind the scenes with staff and volunteers
From the inhabitants of the Borough of Brighthelmstone: “To his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. May it please your Royal Highness. We, the Chief Magistrates and other Inhabitants of the ancient Borough of Lewes, beg leave to present our unfeigned congratulations to your Royal Highness, on your late nuptials with her serene highness the Princess Caroline of Brunswick”.
From The Sussex Weekly Advertiser, 1795
Ulex europeus, Gorse
Give yourself 5 minutes of pure pleasure and swing through the Royal Pavilion Gardens. The spring / early summer garden is looking marvellous this year, about a month ahead of itself due to recent hot, sunny weather.
The tapestry of the many shades of green, the seemingly ‘accidental’ contrasts of structure, form and leaf shape, highlighted by patches of luminous yellows – much as we see in our Downland countryside – are both tranquil and pleasing. Plants are arranged in a supposedly ‘haphazard’ fashion in order to appear more natural, and importantly, more attractive to the many garden birds and are punctuated by clumps of gorse (Ulex europaeus) spilling over like pools of sunlight.
Pause downwind for a moment, especially if the sun is shining, to catch a whiff of the rich, coconut perfume and listen to the humming of the bees.
Ulex europeus, Gorse
Gorse, also known as Furze, is native to much of Western Europe. It is a thorny evergreen which flowers throughout the winter but most strongly in the spring when a carpet of yellow blossom covers each bush. There are two forms, the common single flowered gorse and the double flowered form – Ulex europaus ‘Flore Plena’. Both can be seen in many locations throughout the Royal Pavilion Gardens.
The photographs are of the double flowers. Gorse brings to the Gardens that touch of natural influence so admired by gardeners in Regency times.
Finally, a tip for gardeners: when pruning your gorse into shape, save the clippings to strew around your choice new plants. The spiny prickles are a strong deterrent for slugs and snails with their supersoft bodies.
Veronica, Volunteer Gardener, Royal Pavilion Gardens
The superb stables erecting at Brighton for the Prince of Wales, are forwarding with great activity; but we understand they cannot be finished during the ensuring season, although a part of his Royal Highness’s stud will be stabled there. The exterior of the above structure is of an octagon figure, with two grand entrances to the east and west; the interior is an elegant rotunda, having twelve separate stables, containing together 42 spacious stalls; each stable has a very large fan light over its door, pointing to the centre; above the stables are apartments for grooms, hay lofts, and granaries and the whole is capt and lighted by a noble dome. On the North side, a covered ride of several hundred feet in length is to be added; and on the south a grand tennis court. The outside windows are very like Gothic, but we understand the general architecture is denominated Moorish.
From The Sussex Weekly Advertiser, 1 April, 1805
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