Category:Trafalgar Street, Brighton

Road sign [image info]

Wayfaring Street Art launch event [image info]

2015: View up Trafalgar Street, with Trafalgar Arches on the right [image info]

Google Earth view of Trafalgar Street, looking up the hill from Valley Gardens and St. Peter's Church [image info]

2016: The view down almost the whole length of Trafalgar Street, taken from outside the museum doorway [image info]

Trafalgar Street is a road extending from the front of Brighton Station Eastward to St. Peter's Church.

The Brighton station entrance can be difficult to see, since it emerges through a hole directly in front of the station bounded by railings, and could easily be be mistaken for a private service route or entrance to an underground car park.

The entrance to Brighton Toy and Model Museum is on the North side of the road, near the point where it emerges from underneath the station arches, to the East.

The Northwest wall of Trafalgar Street holds the Brighton Belle mural.

Historical significance

Trafalgar Street would seem to have been named after (in two senses of the word) the naval Battle of Trafalgar (1805), in which the British fleet commanded by Lord Nelson routed the combined French and Spenish naval forces. The street was initialy critically important to Brighton Station, as it was initially the station's only proper accessway, linking the station to Valley Gardens, the main road entrance to Brighton from London. This changed with the speedy creation of Queens Road, which led straight to the station with a less severe gradient, but then had to bridge across Trafagar Street. As the station became busier, the bridge was widened at least twice.

Trafalgar Street – history told in the langauge of pubs

The top end of Trafalgar Street continues uphill as Guildford Road, and at number 34 we have the Battle of Trafagar pub, with large letters painted on the front saying "1805".
As we pass down into Trafalgar Street, opposite the Toy Museum is the Prince Albert pub ("1848"). Prince Albert became Prince Consort when he married Queen Victoria in 1840. Trafalagar Street would have been a critical date for the street, as it marked the opening of the initial temporary station and preparations for the building and opening of the proper Mocatta station building and the London-Brighton line in 1841.
The original bridge over Trafalgar Street (circa ~1941-ish?) to connect the station to the new Queens Road designed to service it (named after Queen Victoria) was comparatively narrow, and there was another pub directly opposite the Museum – this probably disappeared when the bridge was widened.
Halfway down the street we find the Lord Nelson Inn (1850s?), another "Trafalgar" reference.
At the bottom of the street is the Great Eastern pub, featuring a photograph of Isembard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Eastern, the largest ship in the world when it launched in 1858.

2022 Trafalgar Street "Refresh"

As of early 2022, Trafalgar Street is currently undergoing a "refresh" as part of the "Welcome Back" government scheme to encourage people to rediscover their local high streets after the COVID lockdowns. This is being paid for by funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

Graffiti removal
A bright blue street "header" with carnival lettering at the top of the street by artist Dave Pop, to direct people to North Laine via Trafalgar Street.
Fun designs to wrap "street furniture" such as bollards, to capture the colourful vibe of Trafalgar Street, designed by local community art and design consultant, Richard Wolfstrome, and fabricated by Brighton-based Lollipop, scheduled to be rolled out from 24th March 2022.
A launch event on 2nd April 2022. On the day, visitors can obtain raffle tickets by making purchases at participating Trafalgar Street businesses, with the prize draw taking place at the toy museum at 7pm, for £25 gift vouchers redeemable at over twenty different Trafalgar Street establishments.