Norfolk Square

Norfolk Square is situated off Western Road in the centre or Brighton. During the summer months it provides welcome and very pleasant respite from the busying atmosphere of town.
Once a den of iniquity being the domain of both street drinkers and those addicted to drugs Norfolk Square has now been reclaim by the local tenants. The tenants with very little help from the local council have turned the square into a delightful garden. Now full of shrubs and flowers and used by many local families. An ideal place for a summer picnic if you can’t face the hurly-​burly of Brighton beach.

According to my elderly neighbours, Norfolk Square used to be a den of inequity back in the day. Junkies and pot-​heads regularly used the park for shooting up and getting high and there were several working girls in the flats overlooking the square.
These days, Norfolk Square is much more pedestrian. There’s flowers planted around the outside and the small patch of grass is regularly cut and maintained. Occasionally, you’ll see a few old boys drinking bottles of cider but most of the time, the benches are taken with tourists tucking into fish and chips from Bankers opposite. The only danger seems to be trying to shoo off the swarms of hungry sea-​gulls!

Brighton has its fair share of parks, and Norfolk Square is one of the smaller, and one of the more central of these. A perfectly nice little place to sit and while away a couple of hours, Norfolk Square is nicely situated about halfway along Western Road, giving people going into and out of town somewhere to stop on the way, for a sandwich or cigarette, if the mood takes them. There’s plenty of places around to grab a bite to eat, from the sandwich shop in the square to various pubs around the outskirts (and fish and chips across the road), and a flower shop at the top of the square if you need/​fancy some floral stimulation.
That’s all, however, in the daytime: at night, I wouldn’t fancy walking through the square so much. Like most of the parks around Brighton, it becomes a haven for a large and varied collection of semi-​illegal activities, although recent efforts to wipe this out with the addition of 24 CCTV cameras seem to have made a big difference. Still, for now, Norfolk Square is a lovely, sunny spot in the daytime; in the evening, give it a miss.

Previously known as the Blacklands, Norfolk Square is the original site of Brighton’s regency brick manufacturers. Situated on Western Road it is less scenic than Brighton’s other squares, however, it can be a great place for a quick chill in the summer. The stairs at the top of the lawn are great for perching on, particularly when you’re tucking into a sandwich purchased from Banjos (the tiny sandwich shack in North-​East corner of the square). As it’s so central it tends to be frequented by a less-​than-​distinguished crowd, which means it’s not the place to go for a mini rural escape.

Norfolk Square is a small, but quite nice little garden area, offering a nice break from the hustle and bustle of Western Road. There’s a few benches to rest upon, and I’ve enjoyed just sitting there for a few minutes enjoying a drink or snack purchased nearby. It can be pretty relaxing, in spite of the general city noise you get, and during the day it’s surprisingly peaceful here. At night however, I didn’t feel quite so safe, despite the square’s 24 hour CCTV protection. I haven’t noticed any illegal activites going on, such as drug use or other such illicit activity, so I don’t think that’s so much of a problem, but you do see the odd drunkard busily devouring his lager of choice. Also, disappointingly for animal lovers, dogs aren’t allowed in the square, which is somewhat of a shame, but on the positive side, that does mean you don’t have to be quite so wary about where you tread.

This is a small square, and one of Brighton’s more intimate places of Regency architectural interest, at the boundary of Brighton and Hove (just in the former).
Developed from the 1820s onwards, it has some handsome bow-​fronted terraced houses on the east and west sides although, like many of Brighton’s squares, the crush of car parking diminishes the architecture somewhat. Nevertheless, they have nice wrought iron balconies, and on the west side is a good view down towards the sea and the impressive art deco bulk Embassy Court.
The north side of the square is, rather less attractively, formed by the busy Western Road, with a bus stop, and two small pavilions having been recently built to frame the square, although their brick architecture doesn’t really match the original.
The gardens have been recently restored, although they have something of a reputation as a resting place for drunks on week-​ends evenings. More positively, there is a small recycling facility located in the north east corner.