Brighton Royal Pavilion

The Prince Regent, later George IV, rented a farmhouse in Brighton in 1786 and had it enlarged repeatedly, finally handing it to John Nash, who between 1815 and 1823 wrapped it in a shell of Indian domes, minarets and pierced screens taken from Mughal architecture, while the interiors were done in a Chinese taste that has almost no relation to the outside. The banqueting room has a domed ceiling painted as a plantain tree from which a one-tonne chandelier hangs in the claws of a silvered dragon; the kitchen has iron columns with palm-leaf capitals. Victoria found it too public and sold it to the town in 1850, stripping the fittings, many of which were later returned. It served as a hospital for wounded Indian soldiers in the First World War.

Highlights

• The banqueting room - a dragon holding a one-tonne chandelier under a painted dome.
• The great kitchen - iron palm-tree columns and a copper batterie de cuisine.
• The Nash exterior - Mughal domes and minarets over a Regency frame.
• The music room - a scheme of gilded serpents and painted Chinese landscapes.

When to go

Year-round; the building is indoors and open daily with shorter winter hours. It is busiest in summer and during Brighton Festival in May. Booking a timed slot is advisable in season.

Practical notes

Photography is restricted inside. The building is smaller than the exterior suggests and the visit takes about two hours. Restoration is continual and rooms are sometimes closed or scaffolded.

Nearby

Brighton Palace Pier and the beach are five minutes south; the Lanes surround the pavilion.