Towards the exit, St Anne's Well Gardens.

Image: © Simon Carey Taken: 29 Jan 2006

The square contains the north western portion of this park with a long and interesting history. The spring in the southern portion of the park burst into life in the 18th century just at a time when spas were becoming fashionable. A pump house was erected in 1800 and closed towards the end of the century as the spring was reduced to a trickle again. By that point financier Sir Isaac Goldsmid had acquired the land and landscaped the park and it was his descendants who sold the area to Hove Council who opened it to the public in 1913. The park also has a part to play in cinema history as George Smith, who acquired the leasehold in 1892, made short films in one of the buildings in the grounds and in the process produced the first cinematic close up shot in history. This view looks towards the western entrance of the gardens with the tennis courts to the right and a just viewable lych gate that leads to a scented garden for the blind on the left. Beyond the entrance the line of sight follows Somerhill Avenue before ending at Palmeira Court.

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