The Architecture of Brighton is in general of a very inferior description, not so much from want of expense, as of taste. The greater part of the town bears evident marks of having been got up in a hurry; and the elevations are apparently for the most part the work of carpenters or bricklayers. No where are so many pilasters and columns degraded, or so little attention paid to doors or chimney tops. One characteristic of most of the houses, except those which come under the class of third-rate, is a semicircular or segmental bow projected from the front next the street, from the foundation to the summit of the elevation in which the windows are placed. The object is to present an oblique surface to the wind, which, being very violent, is in danger of blowing in the glass. These projections also serve as buttresses to the front; and, were they carried up occasionally one story higher than the rest of the house, they would break the tame uniformity and vulgarity of the sky outline. The walls are very thin, and frequently framed in wood, filled in with a single brick in thickness, and covered externally with what is called brick weather tiling (Enc. of Cott. Arch., p. 228, 229.), which so exactly resembles brickwork, that no stranger could ever detect the difference. Ornamental weather tiling (Ibid.) is quite a different style of covering walls, and easily detected. There are symptoms of improvement in the shops; and the terminus of the railway, St. Peter's Church, and Mr. Attree's villa, are examples of good taste, which it is hoped will not be without their effect. The houses at the eastern and western extremities of Brighton are, in many cases, much superior to those in the interior and middle part of the town; and the upper and lower marine terraces at Kemptown, and the esplanades at the west end of the town, are grand and characteristic features.
