Kemptown is a small community running along the King's Cliff from the Old Steine to Black Rock in the east of

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Kent to the north-east, West Sussex to the west, Surrey to the north-west, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

it includes the

Kemp Town Kemp Town Estate, also known as Kemp Town, is a 19th-century Regency architecture residential estate in the east of Brighton in East Sussex, England. It consists of Arundel Terrace, Lewes Crescent, Sussex Square, Chichester Terrace, and th ...

residential estate known as Sussex Square and Lewes Crescent to its eastern end. It is wholly in the parliamentary constituency of Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven. As of the 2021 Census, the Kemptown Intermediate Zone (MSOA) area (which doesn't include the Kemp Town Estate or the gay village in St James' Street) has the highest percentage of residents identifying as LGB+ out of any MSOA in the UK with 20.11%. It was a local government ward called "Kemp Town" from 1894 to 1908, then called King's Cliff from 1908 with various boundaries until its abolition in 2003. It was recreated as a local government ward usually called Kemptown Ward in 2023 covering the area south of Edward Street and Eastern Road from the Old Steine to Black Rock including all of the Kemp Town estate.

History

The area takes its name from

Thomas Read Kemp Thomas Read Kemp (23 December 1782 – 20 December 1844) was an English property developer and politician. Life He was the son of Sussex landowner and Member of Parliament Thomas Kemp, and his wife Anne, daughter of Henry Read of Brookla ...

residential estate of the early 19th Century, but the one-word name now refers to an area larger than the original development and is traditionally called King's Cliff. Much of the housing is slightly later but still of the

Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

style, although there is also

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the st ...

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, the former burial chamber of Edward Sassoon. In the nineteenth century, Kemptown was home to the Brighton Institute for

Deaf and Dumb Deaf-mute is a term which was used historically to identify a person who was either deaf and used sign language or both deaf and could not speak. The term continues to be used to refer to deaf people who cannot speak an oral language or have som ...

Children, at 127-132 Eastern Road (now demolished), opposite

Brighton College Brighton College is a fee-charging, co-educational, boarding and day public school for boys and girls aged 3 to 18 in Brighton and Hove, England. The school has three sites: Brighton College (the senior school, ages 11 to 18), Brighton Co ...

. One of its inmates was Richard Aslatt Pearce, the first deaf ordained

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

clergyman.The Internet Archive: Anecdotes & Incidents of the Deaf and Dumb, by W. R. Roe (2009): "A deaf and dumb clergyman"
/ref> Since 1950, the locality has given its name to the Brighton Kemptown parliamentary constituency, covering a wider area of eastern Brighton and at times Peacehaven.

Location and surrounding areas

Central Brighton is to the west of the area. Travelling inland (north) from Kemptown one finds Queen's Park above the western portion of Kemptown. Further to the east are the Bristol Estate, Craven Vale estate, and

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

, 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 is an artificial marina in Brighton, England. It features a working harbour and residential housing alongside a variety of leisure, retail and commercial activities. The construction of the marina itself took place between 1971 ...

Community and facilities

Historically known as an actors' and artists' quarter, it has a sizeable

LGBT community The LGBTQ community (also known as the LGBT, LGBT+, LGBTQ+, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIA+, or queer community) comprises LGBTQ people, LGBTQ individuals united by LGBTQ culture, a common culture and LGBTQ movements, social movements. These Community, comm ...

and a network of streets with specialised shops, hotels, cafés and pubs. The annual

Brighton Pride Brighton and Hove Pride is an annual LGBT pride event held in the city of Brighton and Hove, England, organised by Brighton Pride, a community interest company (CIC) which promotes equality and diversity, and advances education to eliminate dis ...

Village Party takes place in the western part of Kemptown closing off parts of St James' Street, Marine Parade and surrounding streets. Community spaces predominately are based in religious buildings including The Crypt at St. George's Church, Fitzherbert Community Hub at St John the Baptist's Church, and community facilities at both St Mary Church Kemp Town and Dorset Gardens Methodist Church. The

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 University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust. The services provided at the hospital inc ...

is located on the northern edge of Kemptown. Kemptown Carnival was held each year but hasn't been held since 2019 with the 2023 production cancelled at the last moment.

Transport

Kemptown gained a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

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 passes the area along the beach.

References

External links