Seven Dials, Brighton

Seven Dials is an area surrounding a major road junction of the same name in the city of Brighton and Hove. It is located on high ground just northwest of Brighton railway station, and approximately ¾ mile north of the seafront.

The name derives from the seven roads which radiate outwards from the roundabout-controlled junction. Clockwise from the north, these are:
* Prestonville Road
* Chatham Place, leading to New England Road and Preston Circus - another major road junction
* Buckingham Place, leading to the railway station by way of a sharply curving downhill slope
* Dyke Road, one of the city's main roads - leading to the city centre
* Vernon Terrace, leading to Montpelier Road and the seafront
* Goldsmid Road, leading into Hove
* The northward continuation of Dyke Road, leading eventually to the Devil's Dyke beauty spot on the South Downs

Development

The area began to be developed with a mixture of terraced houses and more substantial villas shortly after the London and Brighton Railway opened sections of its lines in the area. The route westwards to Shoreham-by-Sea (opened in 1840) ran through the area, while the Brighton Main Line (1841) and the throat of Brighton station lie on the eastern edge.

Places of interest

* The Booth Museum of Natural History on Dyke Road [http://www.booth.virtualmuseum.info/] was opened in 1874 by Victorian ornithologist Edward Thomas Booth (1840-1890). It houses a substantial collection of exhibits on all areas of natural history, particularly ornithology, zoology and botany.
* Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC) is a large sixth-form college at the corner of Old Shoreham Road and Dyke Road. The building opened in 1913 as the third home of the Brighton Grammar School. This had been founded (as the "Brighton Proprietary Grammar and Commercial School") in 1859 in a building on Grand Parade in the city centre; in 1868 it moved to a three-storey facility on Buckingham Road. Increasing pupil numbers necessitated the move to the present site. After being used as a military hospital during the First World War, it continued as the "Brighton, Hove and Sussex Grammar School" until 1975, when it became the city's main sixth-form college. [http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__5365_path__0p115p206p885p.aspx]
* Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital on Dyke Road [http://www.bsuh.nhs.uk/AboutTheTrust/RACH.aspx] is the region's main children's hospital.
* Sculptor and engraver Eric Gill was born in 1882 at 32 Hamilton Road, off Old Shoreham Road; he also lived at 53 Highcroft Villas, further north towards the Preston Village area.

Gallery

External links

* [http://www.theargus.co.uk/homes/areaguides/sevendial/ Guide to area] in "The Argus"