Duke was the Grand Falconer of England and occasionally displayed his falcons in the Regency Square garden. St Albans House had a nearby riding school which supposedly had the second largest unsupported interior space and the second largest dome in England, behind Westminster Abbey and St Paul's Cathedral respectively. (Part of the Bedford Hotel now occupies the site.) Two other famous characters paid an unintentional visit to Regency Square at the end of the 19th century: Oscar Wilde and his lover Lord Alfred Douglas crashed their horse and carriage into the railings of the gardens. Local newspapers reported the story with interest, but Wilde dismissed it as "an accident of no importance"—possibly a punning allusion to one of his best-known plays. Some of Regency Square's buildings are currently hotels. The Beach Hotel occupies numbers 2–4, the three houses north of St Albans House. Hotel Pelirocco occupies numbers 9 and 10; Hotel 360 is at number 12; and the West Pier Hotel (at numbers 14–15) and Topps Hotel (numbers 16–18) also occupy the west side of the square. There are three hotels on the north side: the Regency at number 28, the Prince Regent at number 29, and the Artist Residence at number 33. The east side has Adelaide House (number 51), Brighton House (number 52), Hotel Una (numbers 55–56), and the Queensbury Hotel (number 58). References Bibliography Residential buildings completed in 1828 Grade II* listed buildings in Brighton and Hove Houses in Brighton and Hove Regency architecture in England Squares in England Conservation areas in England 1828 establishments in England