Harrisons Vat

Harrison’s Hotel, 25 Kings Road, Brighton.

Blaster H. Capelli.

Harrison's Vat 4

Photograph made available by Sussex On Line Parish Clerks.

The Harrisons were big and wealthy landowners in the Brighton area . They owned the Harrisons Hotel at 25 Kings Road, Brighton (double click on the photo for a better view), which had previously been known as The Old Ship and Gun.  It is said they may be related to John Harrison who invented the chronometer that enabled seamen to find longitude. They are also purported to be descended from Geoffrey Harrison, who was a signatory to the death warrant of Charles I.

In 1984 Harrison’s Hotel was demolished, and a new hotel was opened in 1987 called the Ramada Renaissance Hotel. This was the first major hotel to be built in Brighton for 20 years, and was the culmination of the upsurge in the town’s conference and tourist trade since the opening of the Brighton Centre in 1977.

Harrison’s Vat is now known as the Thistle Hotel on Brighton sea front.