Kemptown

Kemptown sits on Brighton’s seafront just east of the city centre, with St James’s Street running through the neighbourhood. The area grew around the Kemp Town Estate developed by Thomas Read Kemp in the 1820s; Lewes Crescent and Arundel Terrace curve down to the sea and back onto a private communal garden that opens behind the terraces. Narrow streets rise away from the beach and meet the seafront at small squares and side lanes, so the pattern of terraces, mews and short terraces is visible at close range.

Today Kemptown is a local centre of shops, cafes, antique dealers and pubs clustered along and off St James’s Street, with a concentration of music venues and bars nearby. Small independent galleries and vintage stores sit beside long‑established businesses, and regular bus routes link the area to central Brighton and Hove. The seafront here has the same shingle beach as the rest of Brighton, and the crescent of Regency houses remains a defining feature seen from the promenade.