An article in The Observer on 22 October by their architectural correspondent, Steven Bayley, perpetuates the myth that Brighton first came to prominence on the strength of Dr Russell's promotion of the Sea Cure.
The real story is more interesting. The development of a sea front at Brighton, based on sea bathing, begins with Londoners buying properties for the purpose over twenty years before Russell set up his establishment in the late 1750s.
This first generation of Brighton sea bathers take up the practice as a means of engaging with the unconstrained forces of the ocean in order to replicate the habits of enquiring thought developed by the pioneering members of the Royal Society in the second half of the seventeenth century.
Russell enters the picture later on, trading on pre-scientific beliefs about intellectual efforts being powered by the production of "animal spirits". The Russell Sea Cure was based on the notion that a shock to the system would restore the "balance of humours within the body".
The idea that Russell was the first to popularise Brighton is a nineteenth century myth created when sea bathing was reduced to the status of recreational pastime, coincident with swimming becoming a mere sport.
The myth continues to do much harm to the city because nothing can
improve on the sea front whilst its true origins remain unacknowledged. Brighton sea front is one of the handful of iconic places in the world, and the model for all seaside resorts everywhere.
The greatest service that architectural writers could do for Brighton
would be to acknowledge the international significance of the sea
front and press for it to be designated as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site.
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