Royal Pavilion

This seaside palace was built as a pleasure retreat for the prince who became King George IV, its exterior a fantasy of Indian domes and minarets. Inside, the decoration turns to an equally lavish Chinese style, with a banqueting room lit by a chandelier hung from a carved silvered dragon. It later served as a hospital before the town bought it. A distinctive detail is that dragon chandelier, a one-tonne fixture clutched in the claws of a winged serpent above the banqueting table, epitomising the building's exuberant excess.