Brighton - Aquarium and Marine Parade

            The Postcard

A postally unused postcard published by Raphael Tuck and Sons Ltd. bearing an early image of the Brighton Aquarium.  The vehicles suggest the late 40's/early 50's.

Brighton Aquarium

The Brighton Aquarium is the oldest operating aquarium in the world, and is now (2019) called the Sea Life Centre.

The excellent website of brightonsarchitecture.com tells us that:

'The Aquarium was built to the designs of
Eugenius Birch, who designed Brighton's 
West Pier.  

Work began in 1869, and the building 
opened in 1872.  The project cost £133,000.

The Aquarium proved an initial success with 
the town's visitors.  In addition to the marine 
life on display, there was a conservatory, a 
reading room, and a roller-skating rink on 
the roof terrace.

However the success didn't continue, and 
in 1901, financial difficulties forced the sale 
of the Aquarium to Brighton Corporation.

In the Great War the building was in military 
occupation, and fell into disrepair.

Reconstruction work led to the alteration of 
much of Birch's original design.    Demolition 
of the eastern end of the old Aquarium 
started in 1927.  

Bertie Maclaren, Superintendent of Brighton 
Parks Department, with his usual proclivity for 
rescuing and recycling decorative fixtures and 
fittings from the town's demolished buildings, 
removed the four figures representing the 
seasons that adorned the clock tower.

They were moved to Preston Park rose garden.   
Two mythical beasts from the Aquarium were 
placed by the pool of the Rotunda in Preston 
Park, and bronze masks adorned various 
buildings around the park, although sadly 
many of these are now gone'.

There may have been other constraints at work here, but on the face of it, it seems a pity that council officials presumed to believe that they could improve upon a building designed by the man who created the architectural masterpiece of the West Pier.   
   

Taken on: May 26, 2012

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