Marlborough Pub and Theatre

The Marlborough Pub and Theatre is a historic venue, situated at 4 Princes Street, Brighton. It has been associated, since the 1970s, with the LGBT community. The Marlborough's small theatre presents a diverse and critically acclaimed range of theatre, cabaret and music throughout the year, including during the Brighton Fringe Festival, LGBT History Month and Brighton Pride Arts Festival.

The Marlborough was built in 1787 as an inn called the Golden Cross. The cellar has a bricked-up passageway which, it is rumoured, provided a direct link between the inn and Royal Pavilion (left). According to Brighton lore, this was used by George, Prince of Wales to make discreet visits, either to a brothel or a theatre in the inn.

In the early 1820s, the inn was owned by James Ireland, a prosperous local woollen-draper and undertaker. Ireland also owned land on the Level where, on 1 May 1823, he opened his ‘Royal Gardens’ to the public. The pleasure gardens including a ladies’ bowling-green, an aviary, an ornamental grotto, a maze, and a small lake. Despite numerous attractions and special events, Ireland’s Gardens were not a financial success and he sold them in December 1826.

During James Ireland’s tenure, the Brighton Royal Catch & Glee Club, a popular subscription music society, met at the Golden Cross every Tuesday evening.

Ireland was succeeded at the Golden Cross by Robert Ellis and then, in the 1840s, by the brothers James and William Creech. In 1849, James Creech got into financial difficulties and, after borrowing money against the contents of the pub, all the property’s goods were seized and sold by the Sheriff of Sussex to pay Creech's creditors. Thanks to the subsequent debt collector's record, we have a detailed description of the inn's interior and furnishings in 1849. The 20-room inn offered drink, food, lodgings and recreations to gentlemen of comfortable means. On the top floor were four bedrooms, furnished with Japanned (black lacquered) and mahogany bedsteads, dressing tables, wash stands and chests of drawers; white dimity, leather-covered armchairs; and Kidderminster or Brussels carpets. On the second floor were three slightly bigger rooms, with four-poster beds. On the first floor were four comfortable sitting rooms, with open fires, velvet-covered oak chairs and mahogany tables. The third sitting room had a piano in a mahogany case. The first floor also had a ballroom (where the current theatre is). Its fittings included a mahogany board for the game of Racehorse Balls and 20 brown ware spittoons. The ground floor featured the bar, plus a parlour (with 20 iron spittoons) and a coffee room, with a writing desk. The bar featured an 18 x 3 ft counter and a spirit fountain with eight brass taps. The kitchen was well equipped, with numerous pans, fish steamers and a five-foot kitchen range.

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