Brighton Town Hall was built between 1830-1832 and replaced a smaller Town Hall on the same site. In the basement of the building are a number of Police Cells, which remained in use until the mid 1960s.
In 1844, Chief Constable Henry Solomon was bludgeoned to death by a petty criminal before witnesses in his own office. His assailant spent a night in the subterranean cells before being tried and publicly hanged.
In 2005 the cells were converted into a small museum of the Brighton Police Force, being the brainchild of the late Brighton Councillor John Drake. His wife adopted it as her mayoral project and the museum was opened on the 4th May 2005 by the Mayor of the City of Brighton and Hove, Councillor Mrs Pat Drake.