Seven Dials is an area surrounding a major road junction of the same name in Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, in the city of Brighton and Hove. It is located on high ground just northwest of Brighton railway station

Brighton railway station

Brighton railway station is the principal railway station in the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. The station master is Mark Epsom...

, and approximately ¾ mile north of the seafront.

The name derives from the seven roads which radiate outwards from the roundabout

Roundabout

A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...

-controlled junction. The roundabout itself is notable as an early example of this type of road junction in the UK.

Clockwise from the north, these are:

• Prestonville Road
• Chatham Place, leading to New England Road and Preston Circus - another major road junction
• Buckingham Place, leading to the railway station by way of a sharply curving downhill slope
• Dyke Road, one of the city's main roads - leading to the city centre
• Vernon Terrace, leading to Montpelier Road and the seafront
• Goldsmid Road, leading into Hove
• The northward continuation of Dyke Road, leading eventually to the Devil's Dyke
  Devil's Dyke, Sussex
  Devil's Dyke is a V-shaped valley on the South Downs Way in southern England, near Brighton and Hove. It is part of the Southern England Chalk Formation.Devil's Dyke is on the way to Brighton and is a big hill at the side of the road.-Geological history:...
  
   beauty spot on the South Downs
  South Downs
  The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
  
  

Development

The area began to be developed with a mixture of terraced houses and more substantial Victorian

Victorian architecture

The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...

 villas shortly after the London and Brighton Railway

London and Brighton Railway

The London and Brighton Railway was a railway company in England which was incorporated in 1837 and survived until 1846. Its railway runs from a junction with the London & Croydon Railway at Norwood - which gives it access from London Bridge, just south of the River Thames in central London...

 opened sections of its lines in the area. The route westwards to Shoreham-by-Sea (opened in 1840) ran through the area, while the Brighton Main Line

Brighton Main Line

The Brighton Main Line is a British railway line from London Victoria and London Bridge to Brighton. It is about 50 miles long, and is electrified throughout. Trains are operated by Southern, First Capital Connect, and Gatwick Express, now part of Southern.-Original proposals:There were no fewer...

 (1841) and the throat of Brighton station lie on the eastern edge.

Places of interest

• The Booth Museum of Natural History on Dyke Road http://www.booth.virtualmuseum.info/ was opened in 1874 by Victorian ornithologist Edward Thomas Booth (1840-1890). It houses a substantial collection of exhibits on all areas of natural history, particularly ornithology, zoology and botany.
• Brighton, Hove and Sussex Sixth Form College (BHASVIC) is a large sixth-form college at the corner of Old Shoreham Road and Dyke Road.
• Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital on Dyke Road http://www.bsuh.nhs.uk/AboutTheTrust/RACH.aspx is the region's main children's hospital.
• Sculptor and engraver Eric Gill
  Eric Gill
  Arthur Eric Rowton Gill was a British sculptor, typeface designer, stonecutter and printmaker, who was associated with the Arts and Crafts movement...
  
  was born in 1882 at 32 Hamilton Road, off Old Shoreham Road; he also lived at 53 Highcroft Villas, further north towards the Preston Village
  Preston Village, Brighton
  Preston Village is a suburban area of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex to the north of the centre. Originally a village in its own right, it was eventually absorbed into Brighton with the development of the farmland owned by the local Stanford family, officially becoming a parish of the town in 1928...
  
   area.

External links

• Guide to area in The Argus
  The Argus (Brighton)
  The Argus is a local newspaper based in Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, with editions serving the city of Brighton and Hove and the other parts of both East and West Sussex.-History:...