The Brighton Pepperpot

Since 1829, the Pepper Pot, formely known as the Pepper Box, has dominated the skyline over Queen’s Park in Brighton. With the appearance of a 60-foot Victorian space rocket the tower’s history has been a mystery. There have been tales of smugglers, spies and kings using this structure for dubious means.

Thanks to the Friends of the Pepper Pot new evidence is appearing. It was designed by Sir Charles Barry as part of a huge private estate for the wealthy lawyer Thomas Attree. The tower was an elaborate camouflage to hide a water pump. The water was needed for the large gardens, buildings and glasshouses that were erected around Attree Villa.  

There is some confusion as to what pump mechanism was installed: a horizontal windmill or a steam engine or a water tower using gravitational pressure. However, the need for a pump quickly disappeared as mains water came to that part of Brighton when the estate was completed by 1836.

For over 180 years the uses of the Pepper Pot have not been properly recorded, except through folk memory and the odd clue in a guidebook or a newspaper article.  What is now emerging is that it was used by its two private owners ,Thomas Attree and George Duddell, as an observation tower and, later possibly a printing press.

When Brighton Corporation became the owners in 1892 the Pepper Pot was used for storage. Then a cast iron sewer vent tube was erected in the centre of the tower, which still exists today. By the 1920s the base had become a toilet block. During the early 1940s it was used by air raid wardens. After World War Two the tower was rented out to the Scouts and artists before being closed down, in the 1980s.

Today there is a determination from the Friends of the Pepper Pot for it not to crumble to a ruin like Attree Villa. Pressure on Brighton and Hove Council has caused a recent restoration on the exterior. It is now estimated that the annual maintenance costs will be £5000 a year to keep this tower from decaying. Ideas to generate income include creating a community centre, a café or even a bed and breakfast. 

The Pepperpot from Queens Park - 1863