Brighton history

Brighton was one of the first great seaside resorts of Europe. A fashion for sea water cures around the middle of the 18th century coincided with the beginnings of modern seaside tourism generally, and the result was the transformation of the old fishing town of Brighthelmstone into the modern sea resort of Brighton.

George IV built the city's most famous landmark, the Royal Pavilion, and his patronage made Brighton famous and fashionable. By the time of the arrival of the railway connection between London and Brighton in 1841, the age of modern tourism had truly descended on the bright city by the sea, bringing an estimated 250,000 annual visitors already before 1850.