The Old Ship Hotel (also known as the Old Ship Inn and previously as The Ship) is a hotel in central

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

, UK, which contains the Old Ship Assembly Rooms, a Grade II* listed building. The building is the oldest hotel in Brighton, as the hotel is believed to have been built in 1559, with the assembly rooms being added in 1767.

History

The Old Ship Hotel is believed to date from 1559, as an unnamed house owned by Richard and John Gilham. It is the oldest hotel in

, and the first known record was in 1665. The building was purchased in 1671 by Nicholas Tettersell, who owned the boat Charles II used to get to France. The

assembly room In Great Britain and Ireland, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, assembly rooms were gathering places for members of the higher social classes open to members of both sexes. At that time most entertaining was done at home and there wer ...

s were built in 1767 in response to assembly rooms built at the nearby Castle Inn; the rooms were built by Robert Golden, with the

Adam style The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (173 ...

inspired by Robert Adam. The assembly rooms contained a ballroom on the first floor, which hosted the Prince Regent's Ball, as well as card and tea rooms. Until 1777, the building hosted the town's

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

. In the 18th century, the hotel was visited by

Frances Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...

and

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

; Johnson had an argument with the local priest, Henry Michell. In 1780, the assembly rooms hosted card evenings on Tuesday and Saturday, although the ballroom was later closed in 1814. The building was expanded in 1794, and the Ship Street corner block was added in 1835. In 1821, the magistrates' court was moved to the Old Ship, in 1831, Niccolo Paganini gave a concert in the assembly rooms, and in 1835, Gideon Mantell gave a lecture on

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...

and organic remains at the Old Ship Hotel.

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

stayed at the hotel in 1841, and other Victorian visitors to the hotel included

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

's wife,

Sims Reeves John Sims Reeves (21 October 1821 – 25 October 1900) was an English operatic, oratorio and ballad tenor vocalist during the mid-Victorian era. Reeves began his singing career in 1838 but continued his vocal studies until 1847. He soon establ ...

, Luigi Lablache, Marietta Alboni,

Julius Benedict Sir Julius Benedict (27 November 1804 – 5 June 1885) was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career. Life and music Benedict was born in Stuttgart, the son of a Jewish banker, and in 1820 learnt compo ...

Charles Santley Sir Charles Santley (28 February 1834 – 22 September 1922) was an English opera and oratorio singer with a ''bravura''From the Italian verb ''bravare'', to show off. A florid, ostentatious style or a passage of music requiring technical skill ...

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...

, and Henry Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk. By 1885, the assembly rooms had been turned into auction rooms. In the 1930s, the Old Ship began accepting

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

men in one wing of the hotel. The assembly rooms became a Grade II* listed building in 1952.

Notes

References

External links

Grade II* listing

Old Ship Hotel website
{{Brighton and Hove buildings 1559 establishments in England Hotels in Brighton and Hove Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove Grade II* listed hotels