2018 - Brighton Pavilion & Newhaven Fort

May 2018: Brighton Pavilion & Newhaven Fort

A total of 41 members of Oxted & District History Society and their friends enjoyed the dry and mainly sunny weather for their annual summer outing to Brighton Pavilion and Newhaven Fort organised by Peter Jarvis.

Travelling by coach from Oxted, the party first enjoyed an expertly guided tour of Brighton Pavilion, the coastal retreat of George IV, built between 1787 and 1822 at great expense. Designed by John Nash, the exterior has distinctive Islamic features, while the interior is in what was considered at the time to be in the Chinese style, with an abundance of dragons and other flamboyant fixtures and fittings.

After a lunch break, the party then visited Newhaven Fort, a Victorian structure (1864-1873) which replaced earlier forts on the site dating back to 1549. The Fort overlooks Newhaven Harbour, and was built to counter the threat from the French up until Napoleon III and subsequently the Germans in both World Wars