The North Laine is the district immediately north of the Old Town. Historically, it was much larger than today's conservation area. In the past its borders were Church Street, the Valley Gardens, Ditchling Road, Viaduct Road and New England Hill, returning along Centurion Road and St Nicholas Road.
.Before about 1780, most of the town's housing and services were located in the Old Town. The rest of Brighton's parish was arranged as five large open fields (laines) owned in strips (paul-pieces) by a multiplicity of landowners. The North Laine was the area that most of the storage and manufacturing trades moved into as demand for land rose in the Old Town.
The word Laine derives from an Anglo-Saxon word meaning 'loan' or 'lease' and was always the local word for these large open fields which covered the length and breadth of Britain until the Agrarian Revolution of the 18th and 19th Centuries. These large open fields lasted longer in Brighton because the main activity in the area was the port and then tourism from the late 18th Century.
By the middle of the 19th century, the North Laine was a major manufacturing area for the retail outlets in the Old Town. It was also the area most used for saw-mills, foundries, stabling, slaughter-houses and food processing. The housing was mainly for skilled artisans and the local unskilled workforce.
During the period after WWII there was a steady decline in the manufacturing base of the area. The whole area was generally run down, leaving it as a typical inner-city, post-industrial neighbourhood.
Since the mid 1970's, the North Laine area has seen a major turnaround in its fortunes. This stemmed from the decision by the borough not to proceed with a large and destructive stilted highway that would have ripped through the heart of the area. The residents' forum that saw off the scheme became instumental in the formation of the conservation area, and is the focus of a strong urban conservation movement that has largely preserved the urban fabric of the Laine south of Trafalgar Street.
The North Laine is one of the great success stories of the city. A rundown post-industrial, inner-city district has turned into one of the most colourful and vibrant neighbourhoods. It styles itself the 'Bohemian quarter' but is undergoing intensive gentrification and 'loft style' living.
North Laines is the cultural quarter of the city and home to over 300 individual shops in less than half a square mile. A real mix of the ethnic, exotic and funky, from 50s kitsch to millennial fashions, muslin from Mesopotamia to furniture from Mexico, drums from Africa to cigars from Cuba. There's even a 'paint your own' pottery, and studios selling jewellery, sculpture, ceramics, glass, metalwork and paintings made by local artists and craftspeople.
For fashion, everything from up and coming designers to hemp shirts and vegetarian shoes can be found at here. Or browse for bargains in the weekend flea markets and bric-a-brac shops. Bagel bakery, funky café, French patisserie, and delicious deli are around in this distract for a relaxation or fulfill the stomach; a milkshake store which have more than 50 choices of items to choose from and mix them into a specific milkshake.
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