At the end of the Pantiles, this is a lesson in modesty and adaptation. Built in 1678, the church was changed into a square shape in 1696, with the interior remodelled by Henry Doogood, Wren's plasterer.

The long promenade is backed by well-kept lawns and flower beds. The pier (1870) and remarkable 1935 bandstand add a pleasant touch to the seafront. The central part is defined by defence works dating from Napoleon's time; eastwards the great Redoubt and to the west, the Wish Tower on a headland with a fine view. The promenade leads to gardens with pleasant views across the bay to Hastings.

The cathedral took over a century to build (1091-1184) and has traces of every architectural movement of the Middle Ages. The nave is Norman, the porches, retro-choir and tall windows are Early English; the tower, side chapels and Lady Chapel are in Decorated style while the cloister, bell tower and splendid spire (rebuilt in 1861) are Perpendicular.

The Booth Museum of Natural History was founded in 1874 to display pioneering dioramas of stuffed birds in naturalistic settings. Today, with over 600,000 specimens (zoological, geological and botanical) in its collections, it is the country's largest natural history museum outside London. It also contains a geological section on the region's substratum.