Oldalképek
PDF
ePub

beams; scores of laughing, chubby, thoughtless children, skilled manifestly in the art of ingeniously tormenting maids, tutors, governesses, and mamas; prawn-sellers and shell-fish hawkers a few, and flymen a multitude, all idly vociferating, whilst, intent on their customary constitutional walk, the morning habitués of the promenade swing lustily past. Let us mingle with the throng, and obtain a closer intimacy with the principal features of the place.

Kemp Town-the most magnificent range of private dwellings in the kingdom-is on the estate of Thomas Read Kemp, Esq., of Black Rock, at the eastern extremity of Brighton, and is fronted by an esplanade, which is a delectable spot whereon to cultivate the intellectual. On a clear day, the eye may reach from Beachy Head to the Isle of Wight, catching between the points many a bold outline of cliff and crag. The cliff is here 150 feet high, and the tunnel under the road, cut through the rock from the centre of the crescent lawn, is a very ingenious mode of shortening the distance to the lower esplanade, retained for the exclusive use of the occupants of those noble mansions above, amongst whom are the Duke of Devonshire, the Marquis of Bristol, and most of our fashionable noblemen. Before the erection of the cliffwall, one continued fortification, as it may be called, extended from the bottom of Middle-street. The road was rugged and dangerous enough to cause terrible disasters during foggy and inclement seasons; the wayfarer had a tremendous chance of walking into one of the frequent chasms intersecting the road, or over the uneven cliff, by the miscalculation of one fatal and unwary step. This wall cost a hundred thousand pounds in erection. The materials of the close compost of which it is constructed are boulder stones, lime, and sand, reduced to a

consistency, and forming a concrete cement. At the base it is upwards of fourteen feet in thickness, and diminishes to about two feet towards the top. From Kemp Town a brisk walk over odoriferous downs brings us to Rottingdean, a village rather peculiar than either pretty or picturesque. It is famous chiefly for its wells, which are empty at high water, and full to overflowing at ebb tide. There is, however, an excellent inn for the accommodation of company, unexceptionable in the quality of its fare.

Returning past the old Steyne, we arrive opposite Mahomed's baths, in the busiest part of Brighton. Here we find fishermen mending their nets, boats laid up for repair, the fish-market, and vendors engaged in every characteristic employment to be met with in a maritime town. Here also are pleasureboats and sailing-vessels to be hired, where, if a party club together, a few hours' sail may be compassed for a dozen shillings. The fish-market is supplied by about one hundred boats, which sail usually in the morning or evening, remain at sea all night, and next morning spread their marine food on the beach by hundreds of thousands. The principal herring season is from October to Christmas,

and mackarel is in its

Three men generally

fulness of supply from May till July. suffice for one boat, and sometimes clear considerable sums by their cargo. From here the Market Hall is but a short distance; it stands on the site of the old Town Hall, and was built in 1830. It answers every purpose in being spacious, unconfined, and well supplied daily with fresh and fine comestibles. The new Town Hall-a vast pile of building, with three double porticos-cost £30,000, and has a handsome assembly-room on the upper story, rendered available for divers purposes of provincial legislation and amusement.

A few, very few, years back, the Battery was on the western verge of the town, and beyond it the several houses seemed to be fairly in the country. A quiet hotel or two, and a bathing establishment reminded us that we were still in Brighton, and a solitary villa, belonging to the Countess St. Antonio-a kind of Italianized cottage, with two wings, then the scene of many a gay rout, notwithstanding its humility—just kept the fashion of the place in mind as, many a time and oft, we lingered on the rough and barren road to Shoreham, strewn with the flowers of hoar antiquity.

The line of extension has now become almost interminable, and most conspicuous in this elongation of the western esplanade is Brunswick-terrace, built from the designs of Mr. Busby, a son of Dr. Busby, of musical memory. The terrace consists of forty-two splendid houses, and has a very majestic aspect. Between the two great divisions of the frontal line lies Brunswick-square, open to the sea towards the south, and the whole is fronted by an artificial esplanade, which extends a mile in length. Along this delightful walk the votaries of fashion are wont to exercise their "recreant limbs," and recruit their wasted energies with the invigorating seabreeze.

The chain-pier, which has been for years entitled to the first consideration of the Brighton visitor, is well worthy of being still considered its greatest lion. Erected under the superintendence of Captain Brown, R.N., this light and elegant structure was commenced in October, 1822, and opened to the public in the November of the year ensuing, at a total expenditure of £30,000. We are not over partial to the dry details of admeasurement generally, but as the dimensions of the pier may prove interesting to the promenader

thereon, we subjoin the particulars, in as brief a form as is consistent with the information to be conveyed :

The exact length is 1,134 feet, and the promenade is 13 feet wide, enclosed on each side with a neat iron railing. The four iron towers supporting the chains are erected on platforms, raised on piles, driven nearly ten feet into the solid rock, but rising nearly thirteen feet above high-water mark. These towers are 200 feet distant from each other. On each side of the pier are two double suspension chains, each consisting of wrought iron rods or links, two inches in diameter, and very ingeniously connected. Those at one end pass into tunnels formed in the cliff, the size of which gradually increases, and are secured to a plate of iron placed perpendicularly, at the north end, much larger than the opening of the cylinder. After passing the towers above-mentioned the chains are firmly fixed to the substantial timber frame-work of the pier head, an extensive platform, raised on piles, and paved with Purbeck stone.

Hazlitt has said "there is something in being near the sea like the confines of eternity. It is a new element, a pure abstraction." The mind loves to hover on that which is endless and ever the same, and the wide expanse that is here visible gratifies this feeling to the uttermost. The approaches to the pier are handsome and spacious, and the reading-room at the north end, with its camera above, is a delightful lounge for the promenader, who, having inhaled health by instalment of breathing, may therein plunge into the world of fiction, and enjoy a perusal of the last new novel with the zest of a marine atmosphere.

Churches, chapels, and meeting-houses, of all ages and for all denominations, are plentifully strewn over the town. The

most modern is the handsome church of St. Peter's, erected about twenty years ago, in the best pointed style, by Mr. C. Barry, the well-known architect of the new Houses of Parliament. But the oldest, and perhaps the most interesting, is the ancient parish church of St. Nicholas, standing on the summit of a hill at the north-west extremity of the town. It is an excellent sea and land-mark, and is said to be as old as the reign of Henry the Seventh. Tradition gives to the curious sculptured font in this place a Norman extraction. Below the copper gilt vane of the steeple is hoisted the British flag on gala occasions, and from the churchyard, covered with old monuments, we gain one of the best views of this picturesque watering-place. The tomb of Captain Tettersell here, or rather a stone of black marble erected to his memory, contains an inscription to the following effect:

P.M.S.

CAPTAIN NICHOLAS TETTERSELL,

Through whose prudence, valour, and loyalty Charles II., King of England, after he had escaped the swords of his merciless rebels, and his forces received a fatal overthrow at Worcester, September 3, 1651, was faithfully preserved and conveyed to France, departed this life 26th July, 1674."

Another curious monument tells us of Phoebe Hessel, who served as a private soldier, despite her sex, in various parts of Europe, and fought at the battle of Fontenoy, under the command of the Duke of Cumberland, terminating her life at Brighton in her 108th year. A monument to the memory of Mrs. Crouch, erected by Michael Kelly, the composer, and another to Sir Richard Phillips, the founder of the interrogatory system of education, and consistent advocate of a vegetable diet, are also among the interesting features of the place, which, without any disparagement to the spruce churches and

« ElőzőTovább »