A day at the seaside: A cultural history of the beach holiday
The soft murmurs of the sea, white sandy beaches and heavenly repose – for many vacationers, these are the perfect ingredients for a successful summer holiday! But how did we come to travel to the sea for recreational purposes? A brief glimpse at the cultural history of the seaside resort Brighton on the South coast of England shows the invention of the beach holiday as mass cultural practice.
We need your cookie consent In order to view this magazine, you have to accept the use of cookies on our website. Please find more information on that in our Privacy Policy. Alternatively, you can view the magazine in a new tab.
The seaside resort and beach holiday as we know it today emerged as part of the growing concern for the pursuit of health among the upper classes of eighteenth-century English society. Spa towns – first precursors of the seaside resort – developed at the beginning of the 18th century, when medical entrepreneurs first advocated the healing powers of water. Seaside tourism to Brighton really began in 1750 with Dr Richard Russell, when sea-bathing was not considered a pleasurable pastime, but was rather prescribed to treat serious medical conditions. Originally, patients dipped only reluctantly into the ice-cold waters of the Channel – mostly naked. In their attempt to adhere to contemporary norms of social propriety, the noble classes used bathing machines that allowed them to change into swimwear and wade into the water without being seen naked by prying eyes. Nonetheless, it seems to have had healing effects: Sea-bathing became a highly popular and ritualised activity amongst the British upper classes (even in winter).
Soon British aristocrats discovered the beach not only as a place of medicine and well-being, but also as a place of pleasure and luxury. Thus, the Prince of Wales and later-to-be King George IV established himself in Brighton in 1783 and attracted the fashionable jet-set for his frivolous festivities. It was said he enjoyed gambling, horse races and mistresses more than the seawater cure. At the beginning of the 19th century this trend began to spread to the continent, among others to the German coast: In 1802, Travemünde developed as the first seaside resort on the western Baltic sea; in 1813 the first bathing machines were used in Haffkrug.
The 19th century: Beach holiday as mass tourist
Travelling to the seaside became a mass phenomenon for all social classes in the wake of the expansion of the British railway system. After the opening of the railway line between London and Brighton in 1841 the coastal town developed into one of the most popular seaside resorts along the British coastline. While travelling was highly restricted to the social elites due to high expenses for carriage drives and was a powerful marker of social status until the 18th century (e.g. the Grand Tour), the railway line as an inexpensive way of transport made it suddenly possible for members of the working and middle classes to go on holidays or day trips. For journey times to the »London by the sea« – as Brighton was often called – were drastically reduced by the advent of the railway.
Soon tradespeople realised the vast economic potential of mass tourism to coastal towns: In the 1850s, Thomas Cook offered as first commercial travel organisation package travels per train to Brighton. By 1860, Brighton was already welcoming 250.000 visitors a year per train. Another reason for the massive influx of seaside visitors: In the wake of industrialization, leisure time was far more regularised and organised. With five free days a year, »wakes week« during the summer months, factory workers especially from the North of England suddenly had the time to take a pleasurable holiday. By the way, Queen Victoria was not really amused about such a democratisation of travelling, for Brighton began to lure according to her the »wrong type of people« to its beaches.
Victorian bathing culture and architecture
Beach promenade, deck chairs, hotels and piers – Brighton’s maritime topography still bears witness to Victorian bathing culture and the emergence of the seaside holiday during the 19th century. Such a distinct seaside architecture was designed in order to cater to touristic desires: Grand hotels, tea rooms, souvenir shops and theatres were built along the beach promenade, and last but not least the iconic sight of the seaside resort was constructed: the pier. After its opening in 1899, the Brighton Pier offered a lot of pleasurable activities for seaside visitors with its ice-cream parlours, cotton candy shops and music halls. Going to the seaside was nowhere more associated with enjoyable leisure time than at those »pleasure palaces« – as contemporary journalist G.R. Sims called the piers. For the first time, the architecture of the pier allowed its tourists to conquer the unruly waters of the English Channel by foot. Thus, the beach was turned into a pleasure zone – a liminal space between land (culture) and sea (nature), which enabled a suspension of everyday obligations and inversion of social demarcations.
The 20th century until today
Until the 1930s, British seaside resorts were highly popular and spread across the world to become a global phenomenon. Especially during the heydays of the British Empire, the seaside resort was exported to the shores of British colonies. During the 1960s, its significance waned due to the fact that more and more tourists could afford packaged travels to other climates, such as the Mediterranean Sea.
But this also belongs to the past. Brighton attracted more than 8 million tourists to its beaches in 2015, amongst others myself. When I last visited Brighton, its pier still offered spectacular beach pleasures and entertainment just like in Victorian times. But a little melancholy pervades my walk along the beach promenade: The decrepit steel skeleton of the West Pier (having been burnt down by a fire in 2003) towers almost like a spectre over the waters of the Channel. As a nostalgic relict the ruin becomes a signifier for passing time; it memorializes the seaside’s glorious times, while at the same time pointing towards its own decline. As I walk along the promenade, however, I do it just like my Victorian ancestors: I enjoy a carefree summer time!
Brighton was not the only resort for nobles and rich. Other places for bathers: Hastings, Scarborough, Margate, Ramsgate or Bath.
