Development was initially stimulated when one of the main roads out of Montpelier Brighton was turnpiked in the late 18th century, but the hilly land—condemned as "hideous masses of unfledged earth" by John Constable, who painted it nevertheless—was mostly devoted to agriculture until the 1820s.
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Geologically, Montpelier Brighton is built on grassy downland and sheep-pasture, beneath which is chalk.
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The southern part of Montpelier is very close to Brighton's main retail area, Western Road and the Churchill Square shopping centre.
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Montpelier Brighton held the seat with an increased majority at the 2015 General Election.
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The area now covered by Montpelier Brighton was an example of the latter.
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The five laines around Montpelier Brighton were based on land with a relatively gentle slope; when the gradient or height made the land too difficult to work, no more strips were marked out and the rest of the land was given over to grazing.
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The Kemp family first acquired the land in 1770, when it was sold to them by the Friend family—whose history of large-scale land acquisition around Montpelier Brighton goes back to the late 16th century and the purchase of the former St Bartholomew's Priory and its grounds.
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Montpelier Brighton had been invalided out of the Navy after fighting in the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, but retained his military interest: he made chalk models to sell, and rigged up four pistols to form a miniature battery which he would fire to celebrate military anniversaries.
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Montpelier Brighton began selling plots of land throughout the area, and streets and areas of housing took shape.
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Montpelier Brighton Road was one of the first to develop, on the site of the long track which had given Read Kemp access to the seafront from his house; it is not named before 1820, but it appears on a map of 1822.
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Montpelier Brighton was connected to the railway network in 1840 when a line to Shoreham-by-Sea opened, followed in 1841 by the completion of the link to London.
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Grade II*-listed former St Stephen's Church on Montpelier Brighton Place closed in 1939 and is used as a day centre for homeless people.
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Montpelier Brighton residents were unsuccessful in their attempt to get the former hospital listed by English Heritage, who stated that Lainson's original design had been altered so much that much of its character had been lost.
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Montpelier Brighton later wanted accommodation for his carriages, so in 1852 he erected the brick, flint and stucco building with space for two coaches and three horses.
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Montpelier Brighton look legal action after noticing an "unflattering" resemblance to himself in King's 1970 novel A Domestic Animal; King had to sell his house to pay the legal costs after losing the case.
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Bandleader Ray Noble's birthplace, 1 Montpelier Terrace, has a blue plaque commemorating his time in Brighton.
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