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The 1820s were some of the busiest years of Brighton's development as a seaside resort. Here Constable shows the bustling life of the beach against a backdrop of Brighton's new hotels, residential quarters, and the newly-built Chain Pier.

Constable took his wife, Maria, to Brighton in 1824, to restore her health. By this time a good coach service existed from London, but Constable complained about the number of visitors: 'The magnificence of the sea... is drowned in the din and lost in the tumult of stage coaches - gigs - 'flys' & c. - and the beach is only piccadilly... by the sea-side.'