The Royal Pavilion, Brighton, East Sussex
Posted by: 
Norfolk12
N 50° 49.338 W 000° 08.262
30U E 701595 N 5633969
A beautiful building being restored by the local Council.
Waymark Code: WM9391
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 06/21/2010
Views: 19
The spectacular seaside palace of the Prince Regent (George IV) transformed by John Nash between 1815 and 1822 into one of the most dazzling and exotic buildings in the British Isles.
The Pavilion houses furniture and works of art including original pieces lent by HM The Queen and a magnificent display of Regency silver-gilt.
The Royal Pavilion Tearoom, with its fabulous balcony, overlooks the Pavilion gardens, which have also been returned to their original Regency splendour. also the Pavilion Shop.
The Royal Pavilion is a building, formerly a royal residence, located in Brighton, England. It was built in the early 19th Century as a seaside retreat for the then Prince Regent. It is often referred to as the Brighton Pavilion. It is built in the Indo-Saracenic style prevalent in India for most of the 19th Century.
History
The Prince Regent, who later became King George IV, first visited Brighton in 1783, as his physician advised him that the seawater would be beneficial for his gout. In 1786 he rented a farmhouse in the Old Steine area of Brighton. Being remote from the Royal Court in London, the Pavilion was also a discreet location for the Prince to enjoy liaisons with his long-time companion, Mrs Fitzherbert. The Prince had wished to marry her, and may have done so secretly; however this was illegal owing to her Roman Catholicism.
Henry Holland was soon employed to enlarge the building. The Prince also purchased land surrounding the property, on which a grand riding school and stables were built in an Indian style in 1803, to designs by William Porden.
Between 1815 and 1822 the designer John Nash redesigned the palace, and it is the work of Nash which can be seen today.
The palace looks rather striking in the middle of Brighton, having a very Indian appearance on the outside. However, the fanciful interior design, primarily by Frederick Crace and Robert Jones, is heavily influenced by both Chinese and Indian fashion (with Mughal and Islamic architectural elements). It is a prime example of the exoticism that was an alternative to more classicising mainstream taste in the Regency style.
Purchase by Brighton Council
After the death of George IV in 1830, his successor King William IV also stayed in the Pavilion on his visits to Brighton.
However, Queen Victoria disliked Brighton and the lack of privacy the Pavilion afforded her on her visits there (especially once Brighton became accessible to Londoners by rail in 1841) and after her last visit to Brighton in 1845, the Government planned to sell the building and grounds. The Brighton Commissioners and the Brighton Vestry successfully petitioned the Government to sell the Pavilion to the town for £53,000 in 1850 under the Brighton Improvement (Purchase of the Royal Pavilion and Grounds) Act 1850.
The town used the building as assembly rooms. Many of the Pavilion's original fixtures and fittings were removed on the order of the royal household at the time of the sale, most ending up either in Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
Although since the Second World War, the municipality of Brighton has spent a great deal of time, effort and money restoring the Pavilion to its state at the time of King George IV, most of the current fixtures and fittings are replicas of the originals.
Tourism
Queen Victoria disliked Brighton and the lack of privacy the Pavilion afforded her on her visits there (especially once Brighton became accessible to Londoners by rail in 1841) and after her last visit to Brighton in 1845, the Government planned to sell the building and grounds. The Brighton Commissioners and the Brighton Vestry successfully petitioned the Government to sell the Pavilion to the town for £53,000 in 1850 under the Brighton Improvement (Purchase of the Royal Pavilion and Grounds) Act 1850.
The purchase of the Royal Pavilion from Queen Victoria, by Brighton, marked the beginnings of the site’s tourism dominance through the Royal Pavilion’s transition from a private residence to a state owned public attraction. Today, the Royal Pavilion greets around 400,000 visitors a year and is the main tourist attraction in Brighton.
This suggests that the construction of the Royal Pavilion, started by George IV, impacted the city of Brighton to an extent that its effects are still seen today. During the early 19th century, when the Royal Pavilion was given its Oriental style, the British East India Company had been established by Britain for almost 200 years.
Due to the fact that countries like India and China were so closely associated with the economic well being of Britain, the strong influence of Orientalism, seen in the Royal Pavilion, can be attributed to the trading enterprise British East India Company.
details from various websites including wikipedia
Earliest Recorded Date of Construction: 01/01/1815
Additional Dates of Construction:
between 1815 and 1822 was redesigned and added to
Architectural Period/Style: Indo-Saracenic style
Architect (if known): Henry Holland and re designed by John Nash
Landscape Designer (if known): Henry Holland
Type of Building e.g. Country House, Stately Home, Manor:
Stately Seaside Home
Interesting Historical Facts or Connections:
Connected to the Royal Family.
but Queen Victoria disliked it.
Listed Building Status (if applicable): Grade 1
Main Material of Construction: stone
Private/Public Access: public
Admission Fee (if applicable): 14.00 (listed in local currency)
Opening Hours (if applicable): From: 10:00 AM To: 5:15 PM
Related Website: [Web Link]
Rating: 
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