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Montpelier is an inner suburban area of Brighton, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. Developed together with the adjacent Clifton Hill area in the mid-19th century, it forms a high-class, architecturally cohesive residential district with "an exceptionally complete character".〔 Stucco-clad terraced housing and villas predominate, but two of the city's most significant Victorian churches and a landmark hospital building are also in the area, which lies immediately northwest of Brighton city centre and spreads as far as the ancient parish boundary with Hove. Development was initially stimulated when one of the main roads out of Brighton was turnpiked in the late 18th century, but the hilly land—condemned as "hideous masses of unfledged earth" by John Constable,〔 who painted it nevertheless—was mostly devoted to agriculture until the 1820s. The ascent of Brighton from provincial fishing town to fashionable resort prompted a building boom in the next quarter-century, and Montpelier and Clifton Hill were transformed into districts of architecturally homogeneous streets with carefully designed, intricately detailed housing. Little demolition, infilling or redevelopment has occurred since, and hundreds of buildings have been granted listed status. The whole suburb is also one of 34 conservation areas in the city of Brighton and Hove. Historic buildings include The Temple—local landowner Thomas Read Kemp's house, now a private school—the former Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, currently being redeveloped, and large mid 19th-century houses such as Montpelier Hall. The area also has several set-piece residential squares and crescents such as Clifton Terrace, Powis Square, Vernon Terrace, Montpelier Crescent and Montpelier Villas. The architectural partnership of Amon Wilds, his son Amon Henry Wilds and Charles Busby—the most important architects in Regency era Brighton and Hove—designed many of these. Montpelier's range of churches includes some of the city's finest, but others have been demolished in the postwar period. ==Location and character== Montpelier is a centrally located inner suburb of the city of Brighton and Hove.〔 The Lanes, the ancient centre of Brighton, is about to the southeast, and central Hove is about to the west. London is to the north. There is no single official definition of the area covered by Montpelier and Clifton Hill, but most authorities (including Brighton and Hove City Council) define it as the area west of West Hill and east of the ancient parish boundary between Brighton and Hove. The Seven Dials area and the road junction of that name are to the north, forming the apex of the roughly triangular area, and the major city-centre shopping street Western Road lies to the south. Two roads form important through routes for cross-city traffic: Montpelier Road runs south–north from the city centre to Seven Dials, and the west–east Upper North Street links the city centre to Hove. Both are busy, but traffic is limited in the smaller residential streets. Dyke Road—the ancient route from Brighton to Devil's Dyke and Steyning〔 and eventually on to London—forms the conservation area's eastern boundary except at the southern end, where it extends east of the road to include St Nicholas' Church (Brighton's original parish church), Wykeham Terrace and other small parts of West Hill.〔 The land rises gently from the southwest to a summit at Clifton Hill.〔 Writing in 1833, J.D. Parry said that the hill "commands a magnificent view, and has very fine air". John Constable, who stayed in Brighton several times during the 1820s, was less impressed: he described it as "hideous masses of unfledged earth called the country". Nevertheless, he produced several paintings of the area, which provide a record of its appearance just before it became suburbanised.〔 Geologically, Montpelier is built on grassy downland and sheep-pasture, beneath which is chalk. This pattern is repeated across the rest of the city, most of the Sussex coast and for several miles inland. The chalk, "one of the most complete and accessible strata anywhere in Europe", was formed about 100 million years ago. As in other areas where chalk is prevalent, the soil above it is rendzina. Found in thin layers and with a high calcium content, it has a poor agricultural value. In common with the rest of Brighton, the area has a temperate climate: its Köppen climate classification is ''Cfb''. It is characterised by mild, calm weather with high levels of sunshine, sea breezes and a "healthy, bracing air" attributed to the low level of tree cover. Average rainfall levels increase as the land rises: the 1958–1990 mean was on the seafront and about at the top of the South Downs above Brighton.〔 Locally, a distinction is made between the northern part of the area towards the top of the hill—this area is known as Clifton or Clifton Hill—and the lower land to the south and west, as far as the Hove boundary and Western Road, known as Montpelier. The names are also used interchangeably, and some sources make further distinctions: the area around Powis Grove, Powis Villas, Powis Road and St Michael and All Angels Church is called Powis in one study of the area.〔 Although Montpelier first appears as the name of the area on a map of 1824, this still makes it the earliest Montpelier in England—predating those in Bristol, Cheltenham and elsewhere in taking and adapting the name of the French spa resort Montpellier.〔 The town was popular with rich English people in the 18th century for convalescence: it had an excellent climate and good medical facilities. The term "Montpelier Estate" is sometimes used for the area as a whole.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Montpelier, Brighton」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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