Regency Brighton and Palace Pier

Regency describes the years from 1811 to 1820 during which George III was judged to be incapacitated and his son, the Prince of Wales, acted as Regent. Architecturally, however, it flourished for more than three decades until it gradually withered during the reign of William IV. One of its main protagonists was John Nash, who transformed the Prince’s more modest pavilion with an amalgam of Mogul Indian, Scottish Baronial and Chinoiserie features. Palace Pier was opened in 1899 so of a later period but it fits well with the Regency buildings of the Old Steine area immediately inland with the dominant domes of the Royal Pavilion.