A miniature town

Lewes Crescent is the centre piece of the Kemp Town estate. The estate, designed to be a miniature town of 250 houses, was initiated by Thomas Read Kemp in the 1820s.

The facades of Lewes Crescent were completed by 1828, but the interiors and backs were left to be developed by the first owners. The Crescent was designed by Charles Augustin Busby, one of the leading architects of Regency Brighton. The houses are grouped in threes, each group being at a slightly different floor level to allow for the hill beneath the crescent.

The Crescent is named after Lewes because Thomas Read Kemp was born there, and became, like his father, the Lewes MP.