Kemptown
Encyclopedia
Black Rock (Brighton and Hove)
Black Rock is an area of wasteland located near Brighton Marina in the city of Brighton and Hove.-History:From at least the early 19th Century , Black Rock was the site of an inn and a few houses overlooking cliffs to the east of the then town of Brighton....
in the east of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
History
Thomas Read Kemp
Thomas Read Kemp was an English property developer and politician. He was the son of Sussex landowner Thomas Kemp, whose farmhouse in Brighton was rented by the Prince of Wales in 1786.-Biography:...
's Kemp Town
Kemp Town
Kemp Town is a 19th Century residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England, UK. Kemp Town was conceived and financed by Thomas Read Kemp. It has given its name to the larger Kemptown region of Brighton....
residential estate of the early 19th Century, but the one-word name now refers to an area larger than the original development and is more correctly King's Cliff. Much of the housing is slightly later but still of the Regency
Regency architecture
The Regency style of architecture refers primarily to buildings built in Britain during the period in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to later buildings following the same style...
style, although there is also Victorian architecture
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
and some more modern buildings. Conversions of grand Regency buildings into flats and bars has provided Kemptown with some distinctive properties; one club is housed within the Sassoon Mausoleum
Sassoon Mausoleum
The Sassoon Mausoleum is the former grave of Sir Albert Sassoon and other members of his family, including Sir Edward Sassoon, 2nd Baronet, of Kensington Gore. It stands at 83 St. George's Road in Brighton, England.-History:...
the former burial chamber of Edward Sassoon
Edward Sassoon
Sir Edward Albert Sassoon, 2nd Baronet was a British businessman and politician.-Biography:A member of the Sassoon family, he was born in Bombay, India, the eldest surviving son of Sir Albert Sassoon and Hannah Moise of Bombay, India.Edward Sassoon graduated from the University of London...
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Location and surrounding areas
Queen's Park, Brighton
Queen's Park is an administrative ward and a public park in Brighton, England.The area lies to the east of the centre of Brighton, north of Kemptown and south-east of Hanover. It is largely made up of Victorian terraced houses, with a smaller number of detached and semi-detached houses...
above the western portion of Kemptown. Further to the east are the Bristol Estate, Craven Hill estate, and Whitehawk
Whitehawk
Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove.The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originally developed by the local authority between 1933 and 1937 and...
, sometimes collectively known as "East Brighton". Returning south to the seafront, Kemptown's easterly neighbours are Black Rock and then Roedean. Also within walking distance is Brighton Marina
Brighton Marina
Brighton Marina is an artificial marina situated in Brighton, England. The construction of the marina itself took place between 1971 and 1979, although developments within it have continued ever since. The marina covers an area of approximately...
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Community and facilities
Historically known as an actors' and artists' quarter, it has a sizeable gay communityLesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual community of Brighton and Hove
The following are resources and events serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in the British city of Brighton and Hove....
and a network of streets with specialised shops, hotels and pubs.
There is a space available to the community in the crypt of St. George's Church, known as The Crypt, which was built with support from a European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
urban regeneration fund.
The Royal Sussex County Hospital
Royal Sussex County Hospital
The Royal Sussex County Hospital is an acute teaching hospital in Brighton, England. Together with the Princess Royal Hospital , it is administered by the Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust...
is based in Kemptown.
Transport
Kemptown gained a railway station in 1869. The line, featuring two viaducts and a tunnel, was built at great cost partly to block the route for other railways from London. The railway lost out to bus traffic (the route from Brighton was longer than the road journey) and was closed to passenger traffic in 1933, surviving for freight until the 1970s.There remain a number of bus services through Kemptown, and the Volk's Electric Railway
Volk's Electric Railway
Volk's Electric Railway is the oldest operating electric railway in the world. It is a narrow gauge railway that runs along a length of the seafront of the English seaside resort of Brighton...
passes the area along the beach.