HERITAGE

Sir Herbert Carden
1867, Brighton
 
 Herbert Carden is known as the maker of Brighton. For over 40 years he was a visionary of Brighton Borough Council and was behind most of its important municipal initiatives including the towns telephone and tram systems.
He was extremely rich and used his wealth for the common good by buying large areas of downland surrounding the town to protect it from outsiders and preserve it for future development. He saved the town council a fortune by selling the land back to them for no profit.
By 1928, thanks to Cardens foresight and generosity, the County Borough of Brighton had increased from 2632 to 12,490 acres. It took in areas that are integral parts of the city today, including Patcham, Ovingdean, Rottingdean, Falmer, North Moulsecoombe and Hollingbury.
Although Carden had many good ideas about what was right for the town, some of them would have been disastrous. For example he wanted to knock down the Royal Pavilion to make way for a conference and entertainment centre.
He received the Freedom of the Borough in 1926 and was knighted in 1930.

Sir Winston Churchill
3 Nov 1874, Oxfordshire
 
One of Britain`s greatest statesmen and the country`s prime minister during the Second World War, Sir Winston Churchill first became a member of Parl-iament for Oldham in 1900. In 1904, having grown dis-enchanted with the Conservative party he joined the Liberals and held ministerial office between 1908-15 and 1917-22. He rejoined the Conservatives in 1924 and served as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1924-29. He was prime minister of Britain for most of the Second World War and in later years led the country between 1951-55.
Born into the English aristocracy and educated at Harrow, he attended the military college Sandhurst before embarking on an army career. During his early life he also reported for the Morning Post from the front line of the Boer War.
Churchill`s connections with Brighton began when he attended the Misses Thomp-son`s prep school in Hove. He was a frequent visitor to Brighton and in 1947 received the Freedom of the Borough. His last visit to the city was in 1952. The city`s main shopping centre, Churchill Square, is named after him.

George IV
12 Aug 1762
 
Brighton`s most famous royal resident and patron George IV first visited Brighton in 1786. As the eldest son of King George III his title at the time was Prince of Wales. He became Prince Regent in 1811 and retained this title throughout his fatherís periods of madness. On his fatherís death in 1820 he acceded to the throne as King George IV.
George was an extravagant, flamboyant hedonist and fled to Brighton whenever possible to escape the stuffy atmosphere of the London court. In Brighton he could indulge himself. He commissioned Henry Holland and John Nash to turn a farm house on the Old Steine into the extraordinary Royal Pavilion, installed his ësecretí wife Maria Fitzherbert in her own house next door and surrounded himself with the young, creative, artistic talents of the day. In his Brighton ëhomeí he entertained on a lavish scale, drank and ate to excess and generally lived life to the full.
His patronage and influence on Brighton was extensive and is still felt throughout the modern-day city. He gave the term Regency to an era and architectural style that help define the city as a cultural centre and is demonstrated in the beautiful squares and crescents of the Brunswick Estate, Palmeira Square and Adeleide Crescent, Sussex Square and Kemp Town. He visited some of the first races at what is now Brighton Racecourse.
He was a leader of fashion and a patron of the arts and today the city is regularly acknowledged as the most fashionable city in Britain that hosts the largest arts festival in England. He revelled in the tolerant and fun-loving atmosphere of Brighton and today 8 million people a year visit to do the same. He led the way as Londoners discovered the pleasure of escaping to the seaside for rest and relaxation. They still visit in their droves whatever the weather, whatever the time of year. George probably did more than anyone else to set Brighton up as the place to see and been seen in. The city has never looked back.

John Nash
1752, London
 
John Nash was employed in 1815 by the Prince Regent to transform his Brighton home into a residence that would reflect his status. Nash`s reputation had been built first on his picturesque country houses and by the time he started on the Royal Pavilion he had embarked on his plans and designs for Regent`s Park and Regent Street in London.
In 1813 he was given responsibility for the maintenance of the royal palaces, one of three ëattached architectsí who divided this work between them. Nash took on Carlton House, Kensington, St Jamesís and the royal lodges in Windsor Great Park. As the Prince Regentís personal architect he was also commissioned to remodel the Kingís Brighton ëhomeí. Nash was responsible for the main features of the palace that we see today, including the music room, the banqueting room, the great kitchen and the onion-shaped Indian dome above the main salon.
His alterations to the originally modest Marine Pavilion cost a staggering £148,773, and in 1822 Nash was dismissed in disgrace over excessive costs. He was interrogated six years later by a House of Commons committee about the national scandal of expenditure on Buckingham Palace.
When George IV died, Nash`s career was virtually over and he died just five years later with his reputation at its lowest ebb. Yet in his day he was the only architect with the enthusiasm and ability to carry through great schemes of metropolitan improvement. It was this ability, as demonstrated by Regent`s Park and Regent Street, that was his major contribution to English architecture.