[1][2] The land was originally occupied by "the world's largest conservatory", the Anthaeum—a visitor attraction planned by botanist, author and building promoter Henry Phillips.

The giant dome's collapse and total destruction on the day it was due to open in 1833 made Phillips go blind from shock, and the debris occupied the site for many years.

Work began in the early 1850s and was largely complete in the mid-1860s, although commercial and residential buildings such as Palmeira House and Gwydyr Mansions continued to be added at the northern end throughout the late 19th century.

There was Celtic and Roman occupation of the area,[3] and a Bronze Age barrow was found close to Palmeira Square's northern end when the land was being developed.

Inside was a wooden coffin, a stone axe, a bronze dagger and the Hove amber cup,[4] a relic of international significance now held at the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery.

[9] In the early 19th century, its fashionable reputation increased[10][11] as neighbouring Brighton began to grow rapidly as a high-class seaside resort.

Brunswick Town was the first result of this, and when Sir Isaac Goldsmid, 1st Baronet, bought the rest of the land (over 216 acres (87 ha)) in 1830 he continued Hove's residential expansion by commissioning Decimus Burton to design Adelaide Crescent[6][13] and by agreeing to fund the construction of "the world's largest dome" at its northern end.

It was built between 1832 and 1833 but collapsed spectacularly the day before its scheduled opening date,[14] making Phillips go blind from shock[15][16] and apparently distressing Goldsmid so much that he abandoned any further plans for development of his land[15] for 20 years—during which time the wrecked glass and iron structure lay where it fell at the north end of the incomplete Adelaide Crescent.

[22] Early residents included a wine merchant, a factory owner, and Lady Emily Fletcher who shared the house with her mother, five children and nine servants.

St John the Baptist's Church, a flint-built Decorated Gothic Revival building with a landmark spire, was designed by William and Edward Habershon.

Work began in 1852,[24] and the site (at the northwest corner of Palmeira Square, where it joined Church Road) "compels traffic to take an abrupt turn before proceeding westward".

The luxury flats, in a Flemish Renaissance Revival style[32] which contrasts with their Italianate neighbours,[29] had an integrated bank, barber's shop and residents' restaurant.

[34] On 2 June 1953—the day of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II—a floral clock commemorating the event was unveiled in the centre of the Palmeira Mansions Enclosures.

Its slightly raised circular design may[35] be a reference to the nearby Bronze Age barrow, which was destroyed by building work at the north end of the square in 1857.

About 35,000 flowers were initially planted, and special temporary floral designs were sometimes put in—for example, to commemorate Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.

's Football League Third Division South title win in 1958, the Queen's Silver Jubilee of 1977 and the Brighton and Hove in Bloom competition in 1998.

[45] Other residents of the square at various times have included diplomat and author Shane Leslie and Peter Birkett, who designed boats in which Richard Branson won transatlantic races in 1986 and 1989.

[53] Brighton & Hove City Council's report on the area's character states that Palmeira Square contributes to "one of the finest examples of Regency and early Victorian planning and architecture in the country".

[29] Palmeira Square's style, marking the transition from Regency into Victorian Italianate, has been likened to the terraces around London's Hyde Park that were built at the same time.

[4] Another author, comparing the houses with those of Adelaide Crescent, wrote of "an undisguised Victorianism of a vigorous and healthy, but nevertheless decidedly inferior, quality".

A cast iron balcony surrounds the first-floor bay windows and is supported by the top of the Doric-columned entrance porch, which has a stuccoed balustrade.

[29] The terrace on the east side is identical,[17] again having 17 five-storey houses with hipped slate roofs hidden behind parapets, three-window ranges with sash windows and heavy Doric porches.

[30] As on the west side, the house in the centre projects slightly from the terrace and has a larger square bay window rising through the first and second floors, forming a loggia which is supported on a colonnaded porch with rustication.

[49][50] Number 33, the other end of the western section of Palmeira Mansions, is listed separately at Grade II* for its "outstanding" and "remarkable collection of fittings from the 1880s"[51] (A.W.

[29] These include multicoloured marbled floors, staircases, handrails, panelling, columns and dado rails; lincrusta wallpaper; gilded ceilings in a Moorish style; stained glass in various styles; ostentatious chimneypieces, including one by Doulton and others with "riotous swirling motifs"; an overmantel made of Venetian glass; decorative light fittings depicting cherubim and serpents; ceramic tiles by Arts and Crafts designer Walter Crane; and a Rococo-style former ballroom.

An opulent set of mansion flats designed by local firm Clayton & Black in 1890, it is in the Flemish Renaissance style and combines ashlar and red brick in its "busy" façade.

The entrance has Classical elements, with Tuscan columns in antis beneath a pediment; elsewhere, there elaborate gables, turrets and canted bay and oriel windows.

[20][33] Opposite, Zephania King's ornate Tudor Revival-style branch building for the London and County Bank (now offices), with tall chimneys and gables, was completed in 1890.

[29] The flint and ashlar building is Decorated Gothic Revival in style and has a later tower (built in the 1870s) topped with a tall stone broach spire.