Dr Richard Russell, who practised in nearby Lewes, popularised this well-known seaside town as a resort for sea water bathing, known rather more flamboyantly as
thalassotherapy on the opposite side of the Channel. The Royal Albion Hotel
stands on the site of Dr Russell's house and a commemorative plaque in his
honour was erected on the facade facing Brighton Pier. It reads: "If you
seek his monument, look around". Hove, not wishing to miss out on its
neighbour's success as a health resort, advertised a chalybeate spring called
St Ann's Well. A local doctor describing its properties in 1761 wrote that
persons of lax habits " labouring under the consequences of irregular living and
illicit pleasures are by the water greatly relieved". A pump room was built in
1830 and subsequently demolished in 1935 but the spring's brown waters are
still visible, the source of water for an ornamental fish pond.
The Brighton General Hospital Postgraduate Medical Library has a collection of antiquarian books belonging to the Brighton and Sussex Medico-Chirugical Society (approx 400 vols)
St Mary's Hospital. The medieval hospital (circa1290-1300) ministered to the soul as well as the body. St Mary's Hospital, a long building with a great tile roof, originally contained a space much like the nave and two side aisles of a church. The patients' cells were accommodated in the side aisles. The chapel, corresponding to a church chancel, was at one end of the nave like space. This is the plan of most medieval hospitals. The single sweep roof is typical of the period. The chimneys were added in the late seventeenth century.
A leper hospital dedicated to St James and St Mary Magdalen was built beyond the East Gate in 1118. It was close to the river Lavant where the lepers possibly bathed. The hospital was occupied until 1701, after which it became derelict and finally burnt down in 1781. The site is now occupied by a cottage with a commemorative plaque on its wall.
GRAYLINGWELL
The West Sussex Pauper Asylum, built between 1894 and 1897 now stands derelict. The building is Grade II listed and the grounds are on the English Heritage Register of parks and gardens of special historic interest in England.