Brighton Sewers

The Victorian sewers beneath Brighton comprise an extensive network of brick-lined tunnels. They are open to the public on pre-booked guided tours and have become a popular tourist attraction.

Our famous sewer tours have been revealing their Victorian secrets to visitors for more than 50 years. The award-winning tours run from May until September and are a popular attraction with visitors from across the world.

Tour guides will take you through 366 metres of the 48km of sewers, starting at the Brighton Palace Pier and emerging through a manhole in the middle of Old Steine Gardens.

History

Look closely at the brickwork and you'll see the fabled reason why Brighton’s beaches are cobbled and not sandy. The Victorian bricklayers took hundreds of tonnes of sand from the beach to make ‘pug’ to cement millions of bricks. Visitors can see shells encrusted into the mortar.

Until the mid-1800s, the bulk of Brighton’s household sewage drained into cesspools at the back of properties. This unpleasant arrangement changed in 1860 when the town council resolved to build a system that would drain into the sea.

The ingenuity of what the Victorian engineers designed and built has proved to be remarkable. With no hydraulic diggers or power tools, they relied on manual labour and built a sewer system that still serves Brighton. Indeed, the city would quite literally be in a mess without it.

For more than 50 years, visitors to Brighton have been able to tour the sewers – the only place in Britain where members of the public can walk beneath the streets to see a working legacy of Victorian wastewater engineering.  

All visits must be pre-booked online.

Our programme of talks gives community groups and Key Stage 2 schools an opportunity to meet our staff and learn first hand about the vital services we provide.