Viva Brighton Issue #59 January 2018

BITS AND BOBS
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A RIGHT ROYAL ENTRANCE:
THE NORTH GATE OF THE ROYAL PAVILION
The magnificent gateway at
the northern entrance to the
Royal Pavilion dates from 1832
and is an often overlooked and
underappreciated Brighton building.
As with the South Gate, we don’t
know exactly how it looked in the late
18th and early 19th century, during
the early years of the Royal Pavilion.
In architect John Nash’s ground
plan from 1826 both gates are called
‘lodges’ and are marked as small
square brick structures, perhaps in the
style of sentry boxes. As the North
Gate is so much in keeping with the
oriental style of the Royal Pavilion
itself, you may think it is also by Nash
and commissioned by George IV, but
the inscription tells a different story:
this is the work of the architect and
surveyor Joseph Henry Good, built
in the early years of the short reign
of George’s successor, his brother
William IV.
William had great plans for the Royal
Pavilion and engaged Good to not
only survey the entire estate but also
add numerous buildings, including
splendid gates at the north and south
entrances. It was reported that Nash
met with William IV, shortly after
George’s death, on his first visit to
Brighton as King in 1830, when he
was seen marking illustrations in the
gravel with his stick, so he may have
had some influence on the designs. Good’s South Gate,
complete with servants’ rooms and link corridors to the main
building and the servants’ dormitories, does not survive (see
Viva Brighton January 2017).
Good produced no fewer than 46 drawings and proposals
Royal Pavilion & Brighton Museums
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