Brighton Cells

Overview

Finally decommissioned in the 1960s the old Police cells of Brighton were used as a council storage facility. Now the location is open as the Brighton Police Museum and is home to several artefacts relating to the Police force and the cells. Through time there have been a number of reports from inmates, staff, council workers and visitors, with a distinct consistency in their reports. A tall dark shadow figure said to be the ghost of Henry Solomon, Brighton’s first Chief Constable, who was brutally murdered by an inmate wanders the passageways. The figure of a monk has also been seen on the lower levels, this location was built upon a former monastery. The sound of a whispering woman has also been heard by people visiting the cells.

History

The old police cells in Brighton have been there since 1830.

Henry Solomon was appointed the Chief Constable of Brighton Police in 1838. He was murdered in 1844. Solomon’s death was brutal, unexpected and apparently without motive. The catalyst was the arrest, on 14 March 1844, of petty criminal John Lawrence, who had been spotted attempting to steal a roll of carpet from a shop inSt James’s Street. Lawrence was taken to the police station, where Solomon began to question him. Reports suggest that Lawrence became agitated during this process and that Solomon asked him to sit by the fire for a few moments to gather his thoughts. Lawrence impulsively grabbed a poker from the hearth and struck Solomon over the head with it, causing, according to theBrighton Gazette, ‘a mortal fracture, rupture and wound’. Although there were three other officials in the room at the time, it seems no one was able to restrain him. Solomon was treated by doctors at the scene, before being taken to his home in Prince’s Street, near theRoyal Pavilion. He died the following morning.

Local papers described the incident in graphic detail, including the moment Solomon ‘fell bleeding to the floor’. There was even speculation that he may have survived had he been wearing a top hat.

He remains the only police constable to have been murdered in his own police station. It’s also worth mentioning that the Town Hall also housed the Fire Station and the Magistrates Court along with a live in caretaker who would have lived upstairs. Young children have been heard upstairs.

Below is a list of the Chief Constables of Brighton Police from when it was established to when it moved to John Street and became part of Sussex Police in 1967.

Brighton Police merged with Sussex Police late 1967, and moved to new headquarters in John Street. The Cells were opened to the public in 2005.

Mens Cells

The Old Corridors